206 LEGUMINOS^. 



History — As in the case of Balsam of Tolu, it is to Monardes of 

 Seville that we are indebted for the earliest description of the drug 

 under notice. In a chapter headed Del Balsamo,^ he states that at the 

 time he wrote (1565) the drug was not new, for that it had been 

 received into medicine immediately after the discovery of New Spain. 

 As the conquest of Guatemala took place about 1524, we may conclude 

 that the balsam was introduced into Europe soon afterwards. 



Monardes further adds, that the balsam was in such high estimation 

 that it sold for 10 to 20 ducats (£4 10s. to £9) the ounce ; and that 

 when taken to Rome, it fetched even 100 ducats for the same quantity. 

 The inducement of such enormous prices brought plenty of the drug 

 to Europe, and its value, as well as its reputation, was speedily 

 reduced. 



The description given by Monardes of extracting the balsam by 

 boiling the chopped wood of the trunk and branches, raises a doubt as 

 to whether the drug he had in view was exactly that now known ; but he 

 never was in America, and may have been misinformed. Evidence that 

 our drug was in use, is afforded by Diego Garcia de Palacio, who, in his 

 capacity of Auditor of the Royal Audiencia of Guatemala, wrote an 

 account to Philip II., king of Spain, describing the geography and pro- 

 ductions of this portion of his majesty's dominions. In this interesting 

 document, which bears date 1576 and has only recentl}'^ been published,'' 

 Palacio tells the king of the great balsam trees of Guaymoco and of the 

 coasts of Tonala,* and of the Indian method of promoting the exudation 

 of the balsam by scorching the trunk of the tree. Prior to the conquest 

 of the country by the Spaniards and for a short time after, balsam 

 formed part of the tribute paid to the Indian chiefs of Cuscatlau, to 

 whom it was presented in curiously ornamented earthen jars. 



The idea of great virtues attaching to the balsam is shown by the 

 fact that, in consequence of representations made by missionary priests 

 in Central America, Pope Pius V. granted a faculty to the Bishops of 

 the Indies, permitting the substitution of the balsam of Guatemala for 

 that of Egypt, in the preparation of the chrism used in the Roman 

 Catholic Church. This document, bearing date August 2, 1571, is still 

 preserved in the archives of Guatemala.^ 



In the 16th century, the balsam tree grew in the warm regions of 

 Panuco and Chiapan in Mexico, whence it was introduced into the 

 famous gardens of Hoaxtepec near the city of Mexico, described by 

 Cortes in his letter to Charles V. in 1552.^ 



A rude tigure of the tree, certainly a Myroxylon and probably the 

 species under notice, was published in the Thesaurus Heruni 3fedicarum 

 Novce Hispanice of Hernandez,*' who also says that it had been trans- 



1 Occurring in the first book of the work Squier, the very same as those mentioned 



quoted in the Appendix, which was pub- with admiration by Palacio. 



lished separately at Sev'ille in 1565. ■* It may be foxind in extenso in the original 



- Squier, Documents and Relations con- Latin in PAajm. t/o?//7i. ii. (1861)447 as well 



cerning the Discoverij and Conqtiest of as in Hanbury's Science Papers, 1876. 294. 



America, New York, 1859. — Frantzius, ^Clavigero, Hist, of Mexico, English 



San Salvador iind Hond%iras im Jahre trans, i. (1787) pp. 32. 379. 



1576. Berlin, 1873. « Rome, 1628; 2nd ed. 1651. fol. 51; the 



•' The ancient name of the Balsam Coast ; book written in the town of Mexico, bears at 



Guaymoco is a village between Sonsonate the same time .also the title given in the 



and San Salvador. The i^illars of wood of Appendix. 

 Myroxylon in the church are, perhaps, says 



