LIQUID STORAX. 139 



PREPARATION OF LIQUID STORAX. 1857. 



BOTANICAL ORIGIN. The tree from which Liquid Storax is 

 obtained, is Liquidambar orientale, Miller (L. imberbe Aiton), 

 as is proved by specimens of the leaves and fruits procured at 

 my request by Mr. Maltass (see wood-cut). 



LOCALITIES. South-west of Asia Minor. Forests in the dis- 

 trict of Sighala near Melasso ; forests near Moughla, and near 

 Giova and Ulla in the Gulf of Giova ; also near Marmorizza 

 and Isgengak opposite Rhodes. 



Mr. Maltass passed through a dense forest of Liquidambar Account by 

 between the village of Caponisi and the town of Moughla on a tass ' 



the 7th or 8th of May, 1851. He describes it as consisting of 

 trees resembling the plane, but evidently of a different species, 

 the leaf being smaller, arid each tree far denser in foliage than 

 the plane usually is. " I also observed," says he, " that most of 

 the larger trees had the [outer] bark stripped off from the trunk 

 and the inner bark scraped off. I gathered some of the fruit 

 and leaves, and proceeded on my journey towards Moughla, my 

 road lying for upwards of an hour through this beautiful forest. 

 I observed that the trees were from twenty to thirty feet in 

 height, but whenever there was a break in the forest and the 

 trees had sufficient air and space, they were of larger growth, 

 many of them being forty feet high, more especially in the 

 immediate vicinity of streams of water. My guide assured me 

 that in some places in the forest in the direction of Melasso, 

 he had seen some of these trees sixty feet in height. He 

 eould not tell me the name of the tree, but stated that an oil 

 was produced from it called Buchur, and that the trees were 

 mutilated to obtain it." 



EXTRACTION OF THE LIQUID STORAX. In June and July, the Extraction of 

 outer bark is stripped off on one side of the tree and (according to Li(luid Storax ' 

 Lieut. Campbell) made into bundles and reserved for the purpose 

 of fumigation. The inner bark is then scraped off with a semi- 

 circular or sickle-shaped knife and thrown into pits until a 



