128 FERULA GALBANIFLUA 



from Ferula galbaniflua, Buhse (I. P.). GALBANUM; the gum-resin 

 of an undetermined plant (U. S. P.). 



Collection and Commerce. According to Geoffroy, galbanum is 

 usually obtained by making an incision into the stalks a little 

 above the root, from which it issues in a fluid state in drops, but 

 in a few hours it becomes dry and hard enough to gather. 

 Landerer also says that it is obtained by making an incision 

 into the plant, under which a mussel shell is placed to collect 

 the juice as ' it exudes. E. Hirschsohn in a recent memoir, 

 from the fact that most kinds of commercial galbanum con- 

 tain pieces of root, likewise expresses his belief that it is 

 obtained by incision of the root, and collection of the exuded 

 juice after it has hardened. Buhse, however, states that the 

 inhabitants of the district he visited, do not incise the plant at 

 all, but that the juice, which is milk-white in colour, exudes spon- 

 taneously from the stem, particularly near its base, and at the 

 points of insertion of the leaves. The juice soon concretes into 

 tears, which are at first milk-white like it, but ultimately, by 

 exposure to light and air, assume a yellow colour. It seems 

 probable, therefore, that the collection may vary in different 

 districts. 



Some galbanum is stated to be exported by way of Bombay ; 

 but it is principally obtained from the Levant, and a large 

 quantity is said by Ludwig to reach Russia by Astrachan and 

 Orenburg, or according to Goebel by Nishnei-Novgorod and 

 Astrachan. That which comes to us by way of Bombay and 

 the Levant is the ordinary kind seen in this country, and is con- 

 sidered by Martiny to be a distinct variety from that which reaches 

 Kussia by Astrachan. The former he terms Levant Galbanum, 

 the latter Persian Galbanum. 



General Characters, Varieties, and Composition. The ordinary 

 Galbanum, which is sometimes known as Levant Galbanum, is 

 found in commerce in the two forms of tear and mass ; the latter 

 variety being by far the more common. Galbanum in tear occurs in 

 distinct roundish or irregular- shaped tears, which vary in size 

 from a lentil to that of a hazel nut, although rarely exceeding 



