F A B A C E JE. 249 



persistent curved style. It contains a single seed, which is crescent-shaped, and enveloped 

 in a liquid balsam, which at last becomes resinous. 



This tree is a native of several parts of South America, in low, warm situ- 

 ations, and flowers from August to October. It is known to the natives of 

 Peru under the name of Quinquino, and its bark and fruit by that of Quin- 

 quina ; by the Mexicans Hoitziloxitl, and by the Brazilians Cabureiba. The 

 tree abounds in a balsamic juice, which flows copiously on an incision being 

 made into the bark. This balsam was long known and described before any 

 accurate account of its source was published, as it was not until 1781 that 

 Mutis sent specimens, under the name of Myroxylon, to the younger Linnaeus, 

 who described them in his Supplementum. It was afterwards more fully 

 noticed by Ruiz, and at a still later period by Lambert, in his work on Cin- 

 chona. 



The balsam soon attracted the attention of the Spaniards, and almost all 

 the works published on the natural products of America notice it. Hernan- 

 dez says that the tree was cultivated by the Mexican Emperors, and that if the 

 bark be wounded at any time of the year, but especially at the close of the rainy 

 season, a balsam distils from the incision, of a dark or blackish orange 

 colour, of an acrid and somewhat bitter taste, and a most powerful but highly 

 agreeable smell. Monardes states that there are two modes of obtaining it, 

 one by incision into the tree, and the other by boiling the bark and branches 

 in water ; the first of these operations affording a white liquid balsam, and the 

 second a dark one. Ruiz observes that it is procured by incision at the begin- 

 ning of the spring, when the weather is showery ; it is collected in bottles, 

 where it keeps liquid for some years, and is called White liquid balsam. But 

 when placed in mats or calabashes, as is done in Carthagena and the moun- 

 tains of Tolu, it hardens, and is then termed dry balsam, or balsam of Tolu. 

 He goes on to say, that according to Bomare, an extract can be made 

 from the bark by boiling it in water; it always remains liquid and of a 

 dark colour, and is known by the name of Black Peruvian Balsam. These ac- 

 counts by no means agree, and it has been doubted whether the dark-coloured 

 balsam is the product of coction, as it appears to be a natural exudation, as 

 stated by Herdandez. From all that can be gathered on the subject, it would 

 seem that the article known under. the name of Balsam of Peru, may be ob- 

 tained from more than one species of Myrospermum, and this is confirmed 

 by the statement of Guibourt, that he had received specimens collected by 

 M. Bazire, in San Salvador, from a species of this tree with a fruit differing 

 widely from that of the M. peruiferum. Moreover, the balsam as found in 

 commerce, presents varieties that seem to show a difference of origin. 



Balsam of Peru, as usually met with, has the consistence of honey, is of a 

 transparent brown or blackish colour, an agreeable smell, and a hot acrid taste. 

 It is inflammable, but creates much smoke in burning ; when boiled with water 

 for some time, benzoic acid, or as stated by Fremy, cinnamonic .acid is de- 

 posited from the fluid on cooling. It is soluble in alcohol, but soon forms a 

 deposit. Many analyses have been made of it, with somewhat contradictory 

 results. The last is that of Fremy (Ann, de Chim.) ; he found it composed 

 of an, 1. Oily matter, which he calls cinnameine, containing, in solution, a 

 crystalline substance, metacinnameine ; 2. Cinnamonic acid ; 3. One or more 

 resins ; — these results, however, have been doubted by several chemists. 



Medical Properties, SfC. — This balsam is very similar in action, on the 

 system, to other analogous substances ; it is stimulant and expectorant, and 

 diminishes excessive secretion from the mucous membranes. Applied ex- 

 ternally, it acts as a topical stimulant, and hence has been found useful in 

 indolent ulcers. Internally it is principally administered in chronic affections 



