F A B A C E jE. 265 



1. C. officinalis, Linn. — Leaflets 2 — 5 pairs, incurved, ovate inequilateral, obtusely acu- 

 minated, with pellucid dots. 



Linn., Sp. PL 557 ; Woodville, iii. t. 37 ; Stokes, ii. 520 ; Stephenson 

 and Churchill, iii. 158. 



Common Name. — Officinal Copaiva-tree. 



Foreign Names. — Le Copaier officinal, Fr. ; Copaiba, It. ; Westindischer 

 Copaivabaum, Ger. 



Description. — A large and handsome tree, with numerous, crooked, small branches and 

 a nearly smooth, brownish-gray bark. The leaves are alternate, pinnated, composed of 

 from-two to five pairs of ovate-lanceolate, smooth, inequilateral, coriaceous leaflets, which 

 are not exactly opposite, and are supported on short petioles. The flowers are in axillary 

 panicles at the ends of the branches, and divided into about eight alternate common pedun- 

 cles; the flowers, which are white, being almost sessile. The calyx is composed of four 

 oblong, acute, spreading, concave sepals, somewhat united at base and tomentose within. 

 The petals are wanting. The stamens are filiform, incurved, somewhat longer than the 

 sepals, and bearing oblong incumbent anthers. The ovary is roundish, compressed and 

 hairy, crowned with a thin incurved style furnished with an obtuse stigma. The legume 

 is ovate, sub-compressed and coriaceous, containing a single elliptical seed. 



This species is found in several places in South America, particularly in 

 Venezuela, and also in some of the West India islands. It affords one of the 

 varieties of the Copaiva of commerce, but of inferior quality. Langsdorff 

 (Travels) says, in speaking of Saint Catharine's : " The tree which yields co- 

 paiva balsam, or balsam of Tolu, Copaifera officinalis, is here called olio 

 breto, or black olive. It abounds in the forests, but very little use is made of 

 it. I was assured, that when the incision is made to procure the balsam, 

 which is done only in the very hot summer months, a strong sound is heard, 

 and the sap, or balsam, rushes out in a stream, as when a vein is opened in 

 the human arm." The greater part of the balsam imported comes from the 

 different Brazilian ports, but some from Carthagena, Maracaibo, &c, from 

 each of which places it differs in quality ; that from Para, generally being 

 the best. 



When good, this balsam is clear and transparent, and rather more consis- 

 tent than olive oil. It is of a pale-yellowish colour, a peculiar, and to most 

 persons a disagreeable smell, and a bitter, pungent, nauseous taste. By age 

 it becomes thicker, until at last it assumes the solidity of a resin. But as 

 before said, much difference exists both as to colour, consistence, and the re- 

 lative proportions of its constituents. Thus the Para balsam, of good quality, 

 is thin, light-coloured, and limpid, whilst that from the West Indies is in gene- 

 ral, thick, dark, and not transparent. 



Several analyses have been made of Copaiva by Hoffmann, Stoltze, and 

 Gerber, which show that it contains volatile oil, a yellow resin [copaivic acid), 

 and a brown, soft resin ; the two first vary in their relative proportions, ac- 

 cording to the age and quality of the article, but the resin always forms at 

 least one half of the balsam. When Copaiva is distilled with water, the vola- 

 tile oil readily passes over. Nitric acid acts on it with much energy ; when 

 mixed with magnesia, the copaivic acid unites with the magnesia, forming a 

 copaivate of that base, which has considerable consistence ; this property is 

 not peculiar to copaiva, as some of the terebinthinse act in the same manner, 

 and sometimes when the balsam is apparently of the best quality, no solidi- 

 fication takes place on the addition of the alkali. It is stated by Dr. Cooke 

 (Journ. Phil. Coll. Pharm.w.), that the best test for its purity, or its capacity 

 for solidifying, is in its perfect solubility in Spts. Etheris Nit. fort. He says 



