VII. 



On Olibanum or Frankincense. 



BY H. T. COLEBROOKE, ESG. 



AT is generally agreed, that the Gum-resin, called 

 Olibanum, is the Frankincense which was used by the 

 Ancients in their religious ceremonies. But there is^ 

 not the same agreement as to the plant supposed to pro- 

 duce it. LiNNiEUS has referred it to a species of Ju- 

 niper * : and accordingly botanists of his school \, and 

 the Chemical writers :}:, concur in affirming, that Oli- 

 banum is the produce of the Lycian Juniper. But this 

 tree s a native of the south of France, as well as the 

 Lev.»nt and Siberia : and the French Botanists deny, 

 thiit it yields the resinous Gum in question '^ ; and re- 

 mark, that Ltnn^us made the assertion without proof. 

 Their remark is, I believe, well founded. No proof 

 appears to have been alledged ; and both Nieeuhr 

 and Bruce considered it as an imdecided question, 

 which they endeavoured, though unsuccessfully, to in- 

 vestigate I]. I therefore apprehended, that the evidence. 



* His pupil Gahn, In a treatise on officinal plants, written and 

 published in 1/53, and inserted in Fund. Bot. vol. 2, has so stated 

 it, without specifying the species. This was probably grounded on 

 the Materia Medica of LiNN.TLus published in IJ-lQ. Murray cites 

 tliat work of Lixk^us, for theobseivation, thai it Is yet uncertain 

 whether Olibanum be produced from the Juniperus Lycia. Appar. 

 Medic. T. 1. p. 55. 



t Martyn's Botan. Diet. 



X Fourcroy^ Syst, Chirn. T. 8. p. 30. Thompson, 4, p. 344. 



§ Les botauistes ignorent quel est I'arbre d'ou decoule cette re- 

 sine precieuse. Linnneus a avaiice, sans preuve, qu'elleetoit pro- 

 duite par une espece de genevrier. 



Diet: D'Hist. Nat. published in 1803. 



II NiEBUHR says, "We could learn nothing of the tree, from 

 which incenses distils ; and Mr. Forskal does not mention it. I 

 know, that it is to be found in a part of Hadramaut, where it is 

 called Oliban," t^^^g' Transl. vol. 2. p. 350.) 



