COPAIBA 341 



There are two principal commercial varieties: (1) Para or Maran- 

 ham Copaiba obtained from Copaiba Langsdorffii and C. coriacea, 

 which is optically laevogyrate. (2) Maracaibo or Venezuela Copaiba 

 from Copaiba officinalis and Guyanensis, which is more viscid, darker 

 in color and dextrogyrate. 



Description. A pale yellowish to yellowish-brown, viscid liquid, 

 more or less transparent and highly refracting, sometimes slightly 

 fluorescent, having a distinct aromatic odor and a bitter, acrid, per- 

 sistent taste. It is soluble in absolute alcohol, chloroform, ether, and 

 carbon disulphide. When gently heated it should not emit an odor 

 of oil of turpentine or colophony. Upon mixing 3 gm. of the oleo- 

 resin with 2 c.c. of petroleum ether it should yield a clear solution 

 (distinction from Gurjun Balsam). Upon mixing 1 gm. of Copaiba 

 with 3 c.c. of alcohol, heating to boiling for one minute and allowing 

 it to cool, the liquid should remain clear without the separation of 

 oily globules (absence of liquid paraffin or castor oil). 



Constituents. Volatile oil from 40 to 65 per cent, containing 

 caryophy llene, which also occurs in Oil of Cloves ; resin acids from 35 

 to 40 per cent; a small quantity of a bitter principle and an indiffer- 

 ent resin acid, resene. 



Allied Plants. Trinidad Copaiba is obtained from Copaiba 

 Jacquini and possesses a terebinthinate odor. African Copaiba, 

 obtained from an unknown tree of western Africa, contains 10 per 

 cent of water and yields from 40 to 45 per cent of a volatile oil, which 

 is free from caryophy llene. 



Adulterants. Oil of turpentine, Gurjun balsam, castor oil, olive 

 oil, liquid paraffin, colophony and styrax. 



BALSAMUM PERUVIANUM. Balsam of Peru or Peru Balsam. 

 A balsam obtained from Toluifera Pereirse (Fam. Leguminosae, sub- 

 fam. Papilionacese), an evergreen tree with a short, thick trunk, 

 growing in the mountainous forests on the coast of Salvador, Central 

 America. Tschirch considers the tree yielding Peru balsam merely as 

 a physiological variety of the same tree yielding Tolu balsam, Tolu- 

 ifera Balsamum Pereirse. The balsam is formed by reason of mechan- 

 ical injuries to the trees. Schizogenous secretion canals occur only 

 in the young twigs, petioles and leaves, but are not formed in the older 

 bark. The process of producing the balsam is an ancient custom, 

 and is in essential points the following: During the rainy season in 

 November and December the bark of the balsam trees is beaten 

 with a hammer on all sides, leaving uninjured areas between, this 

 being done so as not to kill the trees. The injured bark soon cracks 

 and can be stripped off in rather long pieces. The cell-walls of the 



