GALBANUM. 



663 



of seven or eight feet. The leaves are pinnated, 

 consisting of several pairs of pinnae, which are 

 oblong, serrated, and tovpards the base appear 

 unformed on the upper side. The flowers are 

 small, of a yellowish colour, and terminate the 

 stem and branches in flat umbels. The fruit is 

 •elliptical, compressed, and divided into two parts 

 containing two flat seeds, encompassed with a 

 narrow border. It is a native of the south of 

 Europe, and flowers in June and July. It was 

 cultivated in this country in 1731, by Miller, 

 who observes that its roots ai'e large, sweet, and 

 accounted very nourishing, and recommends it 

 for cultivation as an esculent vegetable. It bears 

 the cold of any climate well, and sometimes 

 matures its seeds, its juice also manifesting some 

 of those qualities for which it was at one time 

 so celebrated; but it is only in the waim regions 

 of the East, and where this plant is a native, 

 that its juice concretes into the gummy, resinous 

 drug, called opoponax, which means "all juice, 

 and a cure for all complaints." 



This substance is obtained by means of inci- 

 sions made at the bottom of the stalk of the 

 plant, from which the juice gradually exudes, 

 and hardens into a gum. That which is imported 

 from Turkey and the East Indies, is in the form 

 of little round di'ops or tears; but more com- 

 monly in iiTegular lumps, of a reddish yellow 

 on the outside, with specks of white, internally 

 of a paler colour, and frequently variegated with 

 large white pieces. 



This gum resin has a strong, disagreeable 

 smell, and a bitter, acrid, somewhat nauseous 

 taste. It readily mingles with water, by tritur- 

 ation into a milky liquor, which, on standing, 

 deposits a portion of resinous matter, and becomes 

 yellowish. With rectified spirits it forms a gold 

 coloured tincture, which tastes and smells strongly 

 of the gum. 



Formerly, this substance was much employed 

 by physicians, and esteemed for its purifying, 

 cleansing, and aperient virtues; but as it was 

 commonly prescribed in conjunction with other 

 medicines, its real efi^ects are not very well ascer- 

 tained. More modern experience has nearly 

 altogether discarded it as a medicine of little 

 power. Dr CuUen classes it with the antispas- 

 modic or nervous drugs, and prescribed it in 

 hypochondriacal affections, uterine diseases, and 

 asthma, connected vHth a sluggish habit of body. 

 It still continues a famous medicine in the East, 

 and is reckoned a cure for all diseases. 



Galbanbm (hvihongalbanum). Natural family 

 umhelliferce; pentandria, digynia, of Linnseus. 

 This is a perennial plant, a native of Africa. 

 The stem is shining, smooth; the leaflets ovate, 

 wedge-shaped, acute, and finely serrated on the 

 edges. The umbels of the flowers are few, the 

 seeds shining. The whole plant abounds with 

 a milky juice, which sometimes spontaneously 



exudes from the joints of the old plants; but is 

 more frequently obtained by cutting them across 

 some inches above the root. The juice which 

 flows from the wound soon hardens, and forms 

 the gum galbanum, which comes to this country 

 from Syria and the Levant. The best sort con- 

 sists of pale coloured pieces, about the size of a 

 hazel nut, which upon being broken, appear to 

 be composed of clear white tears, of a bitterish, 

 acrid taste, and a strong peculiar smell. But it 

 most commonly occurs in agglutinated masses, 

 composed of yellowish, and reddish, clear, white 

 tears, which may be easily torn asunder; of the 

 consistence of firm wax, softening by heat, and 

 becoming brittle by cold, and mixed with seeds 

 and leaves. 



Galbanum is almost entirely difi^usible in 

 water, but the solution is milky; nor does wine 

 or vinegar dissolve it perfectly. When distilled 

 with water, a considerable quantity of essential 

 oil is obtained, in the proportion of six drams 

 of oil to one pound of the gum. 



The ancients were acquainted with this sub- 

 stance; and Pliny describes it under the name 

 of hubonion. It is recommended by the older 

 physicians in pectoral complaints, and exter- 

 nally as a cure for swellings of the glands, and 

 to promote their suppuration. 



Indian Rubber Tkee (siphonia elastica). 

 Natural family eupliorhiacece ; moncecia, mono- 



delphia, of Linnseus. This is a large, straight 

 tree, growing to the height of fifty to sixty feet, 

 at the upper part sending off numerous branches, 

 covered with rough bark. The leaves are placed 

 on long footstalks; they are ternate, elliptical, 

 and somewhat pointed; entire, veined, smooth, 

 and on the under side whitish. The flowers are 

 male and female on the same tree, small, and 

 stand on dividing racemes at the end of the 

 branches. The capsule is large, woody, three- 

 celled, and contains oval spotted seeds. This tree 

 is a native of South America, and grows abun- 

 dantly in the woods of Guiana, in the province of 

 Quito, and along the borders of the river Ama- 

 zon, in the kingdom of Mexico. The juice of 

 this tree furnishes the well known substance 

 called Indian rubber, or caoutchouc. 



