442 COMPOUND PRODUCTS. CHAP. I. 



no smell ; its taste is caustic ; it is considered as a 

 poison, but is occasionally employed in medicine. 



Olibanum. This substance is obtained from the 

 Juniperus lytia y which grows in Arabia, particu- 

 larly by the borders of the Red Sea. It is the 

 frankincense of the ancients. It exudes from in- 

 cisions made in the tree, and concretes into masses 

 about the size of a chesnut. It is brittle, trans- 

 parent, and of a yellow colour. It has little taste, 

 but when burnt diffuses an agreeable odour. 



Sagapenum The plant from which this sub- 

 stance is obtained is not well known ; but it is 

 supposed to be the Ferula persica. The substance 

 itself is brought from Egypt, Persia, or India. It 

 is generally in the form of agglutinated tears. Its 

 colour is yellow ; its taste hot and bitter ; and its 

 smell alliaceous. 



Gamboge, or Gumgutt. This substance is the 

 produce of- the Mangostana Cambogia* a tree 

 which grows in the East Indies. It exudes from 

 incisions of the bark, and is brought to Europe in 

 large cakes or cylindrical masses. Its colour is 

 yellow, and its fracture vitreous ; but it has no smell, 

 and very little taste. It forms with water a yellow 

 turbid liquid, but is soluble almost entirely in al- 

 cohol. In medicine it is a violent cathartic. 



Myrrh. It is not yet ascertained from what 

 plant this substance is procured ; but it grows in 

 Abyssinia and Arabia : Bruce says it belongs to 



* Vcntenat, Tab. du Reg. V?g. vol. iii. p. H6. 



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