OLIBANUM. 



137 



two vessels of gold and silver, ten talents of frankincense (Xi^avwroi) 

 and one of mjTrh. 



The emperor Constantine made numerous offerings to the church 

 under St. Silvester, bishop of Rome A.D. 314-335, of costly vessels and 

 fragrant drugs and spices/ among which mention is made in several 

 instances of A romata and Aromata in incensum, terms under which 

 olibanum is to be understood.^ 



With regard to the consumption of olibanum in other countries, it 

 is an interesting fact that the Arabs in their intercourse with the 

 Chinese, which is known to have existed as early as the 10th century, 

 carried with them olibanum, myrrh, dragon's blood, and liquid storax,^ 

 drugs which are still imported from the west into China. The first- 

 named is called Ju-siang, i.e. milk perfume, a curious allusion to its 

 Arabic name Lubdn signifying 7)iilk. In the year 1872, Shanghai 

 imported^ of this drug no less than 1,360 peculs (181,333 lb.). 



Collection — The fragrant gum resin is distributed through the 

 leaves and bark of the trees, and even exudes as a milky juice also from 

 the flowers; its fragrance is stated to be already appreciable in a certain 

 distance. Cruttenden,' who visited the Somali Country in 1843, thus 

 describes the collecting of olibanum by the Mijjertheyn tribe, whose 

 chief port is Bunder Murayah (lat. 11° 43' N.)«:— 



" During the hot season the men and boys are daily employed in 

 collecting gums, which process is carried on as follows : — About the end 

 of February or beginning of March, the Bedouins vdsit all the trees in 

 succession and make a deep incision in each, peeling off a narrow strip 

 of bark for about 5 inches below the wound. This is left for a 

 month when a fresh incision is made in the same place, but deeper. 

 A third month elapses and the operation is again repeated, after which 

 the gum is supposed to have attained a proper degree of consistency. 

 The mountain-sides are immediately covered with parties of men and 

 boys, who scrape off the large clear globules into a basket, whilst the 

 inferior quality that has run down the tree is packed separately. The 

 gum when first taken from the tree is very soft, but hardens quickly. 

 .... Every fortnight the mountains are visited in this manner, the 

 trees producing larger quantities as the season advances, until the 

 middle of September, when the first shower of rain puis a close to the 

 gathering that year." 



The informations due to J. M. Hildebrandt, who \*isited the 

 Somali in 1875, are in accordance with Cruttenden's statements. The 

 former says, that the latest crops are greatly injured by the rains, the 

 drug being partly dissolved by the water. 



Carter ^ describing the collection of the drug in southern Arabia, 



^ These remarkable gifts are enumerated 

 by Vignoli in his Liber PontificalU, Rome, 

 1724-55, and include beside ■Olibanum, 

 Oleum nardinum, Oleum Cyprium, Balsam,, 

 Storax Isaurica, Stacte, Aromata cassice. 

 Saffron and Pepper. 



^ The ancient name of Cape Gardafui was 

 Promontorium Aromatum. 



* Bretsctmeider, Ancient Chinese, &c. 

 Lond. 1871. 19. 



* Returm of Trade at the Treaty Ports in 

 China for 1872, p. 4. 



® Trans. Bombay Geograph. Sac. vii. 

 (1846) 121. 



^ See sketch of the Somali coast. Pharm. 

 Jotirn. viii. (13 Apr. 1878) 806. 



^ See my paper on Luban Mati and Oli- 

 banum, Pharm. Joum. viii. (1878) 805, also 

 Hildebrandt's note in the " Sitzungs- 

 Bericht der Gesellschaft naturforschender 

 Freundezu Berlin, "19th Nov. 1878, 195.— 

 F.A.F. 



