83 TOLUIFERA PEREIR^E 



inches long, made of stout pieces of rope fixed together with 

 twine, open at the middle and looped at both ends to receive two 

 sticks. The rags are placed inside the bag and the whole is twisted 

 round by means of the sticks, and the balsam thus squeezed out. 

 A washerwoman wringing out a wet cloth fairly represents the 

 process. The balsam thus procured is added to that in the boiler. 

 When the boiler has cooled the water is decanted, and the balsam 

 is poured into tecomates or gourds of different sizes, and sent to 

 the market. Sometimes, in order to purify the balsam, it is left 

 for several days in the boiler, when the impurities float to the 

 surface, and are skimmed off. 



The second year the balsam is obtained from the same trees 

 by bruising the bark, &c., that was left untouched in the previous 

 year ; and as the bark is renewed in two years, the same tree will 

 yield an annual supply of balsam for very many years, provided a 

 rest of five or six years be allowed at intervals of about twenty 

 years. 



Balsam of Peru is principally exported by way of Acajutla on 

 the Pacific Coast ; but also, to some extent, by Belize and other 

 ports on the Atlantic side of Central America, whither it is 

 brought across the country. Balsam of Peru is exclusively the 

 produce of the state of Salvador in Central America. The balsam 

 was originally supposed to be the produce of Peru, hence its 

 name ; an error which arose from its originally coming to Europe 

 indirectly by way of Peru. The quantity of balsam now 

 exported is uncertain, but some years since the annual produce 

 was computed at about 25,000 pounds. Balsam of Peru was 

 formerly exported in large earthenware jars, which were wrapped 

 in straw, and sewed up in raw hide ; but it is now usually imported 

 in tin canisters or drums, which are much less liable to 

 breakage. 



General Characters and Composition. Balsam of Peru is a 

 viscid liquid, about the consistence of treacle, and of a nearly 

 black colour when seen in bulk, but when examined in thin 

 films, it is transparent, and of a deep orange or reddish-brown 

 colour. It has an agreeable balsamic odour, which is more 



