BALS] 



&§z Ereatfurj) of ISotaug. 



120 



produce Balm of Gilead, or Balm of Mecca, 

 sometimes called Opobalsamum, a gum 

 resiu obtained by incision into the bark, 

 and considered by the antients as a panacea 

 for almost all the ills that flesh is heir to. 

 B. Eataf, one of the plants supposed to 

 yield Myrrh, has a red resinous wood, 

 which is a common article of sale in 

 Egypt. B. africanum, a species found in 

 Abyssinia and "Western Africa, yields a 

 resin known as African Bdellium, and the 

 Indian drug of the same name is the pro- 

 duce of another species of this genus, B. 

 Roxburghii, or of the closely allied one 

 Amy, -is. Bdellium is like myrrh in its pro- 

 perties, but is not considered so good ; it is 

 moister than myrrh, not brittle, and has 

 not so agreeable an odour. It is rarely 

 used in this country. 



B. Mulcul yields a resin known in Scinde 

 under the name of Googul, and in Persia 

 as Mukul. The late Dr. Stocks has shown 

 that this is identical with the Bdellium of 

 Dioscorides and of the Scriptures. The 

 tree producing it is abundant in Scinde, 

 in rocky ground, and the resin is collected 

 by making incisions into the tree and 

 letting the resin fall on the ground, hence 

 it is mixed with much dirt and many im- 

 purities. The resin has cordial and stimu- 

 lant properties. It is given as a medicine 

 to horses in Cabul ; it is also used as a 

 plaster for boils. It is burnt as incense, 

 and is mixed by builders with the mortar 

 used in the construction of houses, when 

 durability is an object. A similar resin 

 with the same native name is obtained in 

 other parts of India, from other species of 

 the genus. 



Balsamodendron Mukul. 



B. pubescens, according to Dr. Stocks, 

 furnishes Bayee Balsam, which is brittle, 

 but tasteless and inodorous. The bark 

 of this tree peels off in thin layers like 

 that of the Birch. As is so frequently 

 the case, there is considerable doubt as to 

 the plants producing these several gum- 

 resins, though it is agreed on all hands 

 that the plants, whatever their species 

 may be, belong to this genus; nay, it is 

 not unlikely that more than one species 

 may furnish the same kind of resin. B. 

 zeylanicum is cultivated in this country as 

 an ornamental stove plant. [M. T. M.] 



BALSAMORRHIZA. A genus of the 

 composite family (Composite?). Seven spe- 

 cies are enumerated, all of them dwarf 



perennial herbs, with chiefly radical leaves, 

 which are heart-shaped with long stalks, 

 or pinnatifid. Their stems are simple, 

 usually bearing a solitaryflower-head,which 

 is about two inches in diameter, having 

 the appearance of a small sunflower. All 

 the florets are yellow in colour, and the 

 greater part of the species are covered with 

 a whitish pubescence. They are found on 

 the west side of the Rocky Mountains, in 

 Oregon and California. The thick roots of 

 B. Hookeri, which is found on gravelly 

 banks of the Columbia river, yield a copi- 

 ous pellucid resin, which has a powerful 

 turpentine-like odour, while those of B. 

 incana and helimithemoides are eaten by 

 the Indians in Oregon. They are cooked 

 on hot stones, and have a sweet and rather 

 agreeable taste. The name is given from 

 the occurrence of a balsamic resin in the 

 roots of some of the species. [A. A. B.] 



BAMBOO. The common name of Bam- 

 busa. Bamboo-canes are the stems of dif- 

 ferent kinds of Bambusa. — , SACRED, of 

 the Chinese : Nandina domestica. 



" BAMBUSA. A genus of grasses, typical 

 of the tribe Bambusacece. This tribe is re- 

 markable among those belonging to the 

 great family of grasses, in consequence of 

 the gigantic size some of its species attain. 

 The flowers are hexandrous, more rarely 

 triandrous, and are produced in panicled 

 spikelets. Occasionally some are neuter, 

 and others male only. Steudel describes 

 thirty-three species, which are all natives 

 of warm countries, and have an extensive 

 range over the surface of the globe. It is 

 B. arundinacea, which is generally con- 

 sidered to be the species the largest and 

 best canes are produced from, but frequent 

 errors regarding it no doubt occur, and 

 the canes of other species are mistaken for 

 it. B. vulgaris, with culmi inermes, appears 

 to be the species which is generally culti- 

 vated in British gai-dens, whereas the B. 

 arundinacea is described with culmus spino- 

 sus. In the East and West Indies the canes 

 frequently grow from fifty to sixty feet 

 high ; and even in this country they have 

 been known to grow forty feet in one sea- 

 son, in some of the large Palm-houses. 

 The finest known species is, perhaps, B. 

 httifolia, a native of the Orinoko, which 

 produces much thicker and larger canes 

 in every way than those of B. vulgaris or 

 B. arundinacea. A fine plant of the large 

 sort is growing in the Botanic Garden at 

 Berlin. 



The variety of purposes to which the 

 Bamboo is applied is almost endless. The 

 Chinese use it, in one way or other, for 

 nearly every thing they require. The sails 

 of their ships, as well as their masts and 

 rigging, consist chiefly of Bamboo, manu- 

 factured in different ways. Almost every 

 article of furniture in their houses, in- 

 cluding mats, screens, chairs, tables, bed- 

 steads, and bedding, are made of the same 

 material. < See Library of Entertaining Know- 

 ledge.) A similar extensive use of the hol- 

 low reed is made in Japan, and also in 



