342 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



inner bark and their contents change to a balsam, due to the decom- 

 position of the cell sap or metamorphosis of the cell-walls. In the 

 course of a week or so, the maximum yield of balsam is obtained, and 

 it soaks into the rags which have been applied to the bark. The 

 rags are then collected, thrown into vessels containing water and 

 boiled, until the balsam is liberated, and settles to the bottom. 

 The water is decanted and the balsam poured into gourds or tin 

 containers, the latter when filled, weighing from 10 to 40 K. and are 

 usually shipped direct to Hamburg. 



Description. A dark brown, viscid liquid, ruby-red and trans- 

 parent; in thin layers, free from stringiness or stickiness; of an 

 empyreumatic, aromatic vanilla-like odor, and a bitter acrid persist- 

 ent taste. Soluble in alcohol, chloroform, and only partially soluble 

 in ether and petroleum benzin. Upon digesting 1 gm. of Peru bal- 

 sam with 10 c.c. of petroleum ether in a reflux condenser for ten 

 minutes, and filtering, the ethereal solution should yield on evapora- 

 tion a residue that is not colored bluish-green with nitric acid; nor 

 should 3 c.c. of the petroleum ether solution give a green or bluish- 

 green color upon shaking it with 3 c.c. of a solution (1 in 1000) of 

 copper acetate (detection of Colophony). 



Constituents. A volatile oil known as Cinnamein or Peru Balsam 

 Oil, from 62 to 64 per cent and consisting chiefly of benzyl benzoate 

 and a small quantity of benzyl cinnamate and other aromatic com- 

 pounds. Peru Balsam also contains 0.05 per cent of vanillin; from 

 30 to 38 per cent of resin esters, consisting chiefly of a cinnamic ester 

 of peru-resinotannol and a small quantity of a benzoic ester of peru- 

 resinotannol; free cinnamic acid peruviol, and dihydro-cinnamic 

 acid. The Peru balsam is valued according to the content of volatile 

 oil or cinnamein which it contains. 



Literature. Zornig, Arzneidrogen. 



BALSAMUM TOLUTANUM. Balsam of Tolu or Tulo Balsam. 

 A balsamic resin obtained from Toluifera Pereirae (Fam. Leguminosae, 

 sub-fam. Papilionaceae), a tree growing in the lower Magdalene River, 

 Colombia. The balsam is largely produced in the province of Tolu 

 and from which it derives its name. According to Tschirch the plants 

 yielding Tolu and Peru balsams are physiological varieties of the 

 same species. Balsam of Tolu is usually considered to be a patho- 

 logical product similar to balsam of Peru ; this, however, seems to be 

 doubtful in view of the manner in which the balsam is obtained. It 

 is collected after the same manner as that of the coniferous oleo- 

 resins, V-shaped incisions are made through the bark, extending 

 into the wood, sufficiently to place a calabash cup so as to receive the 



