83 TOLUIFERA PEREIR^E 



wash with a soft creamy lather. Such soap is also regarded as 

 useful in winter for chapped hands. 



OTHER PRODUCTS OP THE BALSAM OF PERU TREE. Besides the 

 true Balsam of Peru as now described, another balsamic substance 

 is obtained in Salvador, by pressure without heat, from the fruit 

 of the Balsam of Peru tree, after the removal from it of the fibrous 

 portions of the epicarp and mesocarp. It is called Balsamo bianco 

 (White Balsam) ; this has been sometimes confounded with 

 Balsam of Tolu, from which, however, it is readily distinguishable. 

 When first obtained this balsam is a yellow, semi-fluid, and 

 somewhat granular substance ; which on standing separates into 

 a whitish, opaque, crystalline, resinous deposit, and a superior trans- 

 lucent more fluid portion. Its odour is not particularly agreeable, 

 but has been compared to melilot. White Balsam when examined 

 by Stenhouse, yielded a neutral crystalline resin which he termed 

 Myroxocarpin ; this occurs in the form of thin, colourless, taste- 

 less prisms, an inch or more in length, insoluble in water, but 

 soluble in hot alcohol or ether. White Balsam is scarce and 

 valuable, and is not found in commerce. 



Another product called Balsamito is obtained by digesting 

 the fruit of the Balsam of Peru tree in rum. It is a clear 

 liquid, having the colour of sherry, an odour resembling the 

 tonquin bean, and a bitterish taste. It is regarded as stimulant, 

 diuretic, and anthelmintic ; and is much used internally in colic, 

 hysteria, &c. ; and as an external application to gangrenous or 

 indolent ulcers, and as a wash to remove freckles from the face. 

 It is not an article of commerce. 



Per. Mat. Med., vol. ii, pt. 2, p. 307 ; Per. Mat. Med., by B. & R., 

 p. 827 ; Pharmacographia, p. 181 ; U. S. Disp., by W. and B., 

 p. 163; Piesse's Art of Perfumery, 3rd edit., p. 123; Amer. 

 Journ. of Pharm., vol. xxxii, p. 303; Hanbury, in Pharm. 

 Journ., vol. v, 2nd ser., pp. 241 and 315 ; Attfield, in Pharm. 

 Journ., vol. v, 2nd ser., p. 248; Stenhouse, in Pharm. Journ., 

 vol. x, 1st ser., p. 286. 



