SECT. XV. RESINS. 435 



is of a pale yellow colour and strong smell, and is 

 somewhat semi-transparent. 



Tacambac. This resin is the produce of the 

 Fagdra octandra and Populus balsamifera. It is 

 brought from America in large oblong masses wrap- 

 ped in flag leaves. Its colour is light brown. It is" 

 brittle, but easily melted by heat, and it has been 

 found to be soluble in alkalies and nitric acid. 



Labdanum. This resin is obtained from the 

 Cistus creticus, a shrub which grows in Candia, 

 and other Grecian islands. The surface of the 

 leaves is covered with a viscid juice, which js col- 

 lected by means of a sort of rake furnished with 

 thongs of leather, to which the juice adheres. It 

 is afterwards scraped from the thongs with a knife. 

 It is very soft, and always mixed with sand and 

 dust. Its colour is blackish, its odour fragrant, 

 and its taste bitter. When dissolved in alcohol it 

 leaves behind it a little gum. It is employed as an 

 astringent. 



Opobalsamum, or Balm of Gilead. This resin, 

 which has been so much famed for its medical vir- 

 tues, is the produce of the A my r is Gileadensis, a 

 shrub which grows in Judaea and in Arabia ; but 

 it is so much valued by the Turks that its importa- 

 tion is prohibited. This is the Balm of Gilead so 

 much celebrated in Scripture. Pliny says it was 

 first brought to Rome by the generals of Vespasian.* 



* Lib. xii. 25. 





