CHAP. XV. INCENSE. 339 



called Bed* by the Egyptians, signifying the dissipa- 

 tion of melancholy; and the " Kuphi is a mixture 

 composed of the sixteen following ingredients, 

 honey, wine, raisins, Cyprus, resin, myrrh, aspala- 

 thus, seselis, sthoenanthus, asphaltus, saffron, and 

 dock (?)t, the greater and lesser juniper (?), car- 

 damums, and (aromatic) reed." 



Some resinous substances have been found in 

 the tombs at Thebes ; but it does not appear if 

 they were used for incense, or other purposes, and 

 one of those brought to England by Lord Claud 

 Hamilton is probably mastic, used by women in 

 the East at the present day, and probably also in 

 former times, to sweeten their breath. According 

 to the chemical examination made of it by Dr. 

 Ure, " it has a specific gravity of 1*067, and 

 dissolves both in alcohol and oil of turpentine, 

 which circumstance, with its topaz yellow colour," 

 leads him " to believe it to be mastic," a gum 

 resin that exudes from the lentiscus, well known 

 to be common in the island of Scio. The other 

 is thus described by Dr. Ure : " it has a ruby red 

 colour and the remarkable density of 1'204, being 

 much more than any resinous substance known at 

 the present day. It intumesces when heated over 

 a lamp, and burns much like amber. Like it, also, 

 it affords a musky odour, when heated with nitric 

 acid. It dissolves in alcohol and wood spirit, in 



* Bal signifies the " eye,'' or the " end^' in Coptic ; Xlf^^^X " '^ myrr/ij' 



■f The Greek name is XmraBoQ. Deniocrates substitutes for " seselis, 



asphaltus, saffron (Qpvov) and Inpnfhus" " bdelh'um, spikenard, crocus 



and cassia," and for " cardanuim," "cinnamon." ( Hrfc note, Squire's 



translation of Plutarch, de Is. s. 81.) 



z 2 



