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~ Chemica PREPARATIONS AND Drucs. bs 73 
from iat to ten years old: fled the. leaves, which are three-pointed when young 
3 and five-pointed when matured. The leaf colour changes according to the season, 
in winter being pronouncedly — green and in summer of a purple hue. As. the tree 
. _ blooms only in winter, it was impossible to include the flowers, as, these eiiaepe ie 
3 "were collected in the summer. 
_ Shortly after the discovery of Aeichicdl the fragrant balsam of the American 
4 See tree became celebrated throughout Europe. Its praises were sung by Monardes, 
3) and it was used as a source of supply by the Old World for perfume, incense, oint- 
4 _ ment and medicine.. Whole shiploads were sent from Mexico to Spain and so widely 
was it used that early writings state that the odour permeated the atmosphere of 
whole towns and villages. Its use has declined considerably during the past century, 
__ possibly owing. to the difficulty experienced in iis. collection ell to the wider — 
_ distribution. of manufactured perfumes. a 
4% For many years now its Old World prototype, liquid gum styrax of Asiatic origin, 
Prom Liquidambar. Orientalis, L., has formed the chief source of supply for the entire 
- world. With the beginning of the World War and the accompanying scarcity of im- 
_ ported materials, it became exceedingly scarce and a large portion of the supplies 
that found their way to these shores were of inferior quality, having been deprived 
q of some of their natural aromatic constituents. As the balsam is a valuable perfume — 
material for soaps as well as toilet preparations in general and is an important 
"ingredient of many pharmaceutical preparations, ‘it became necessary to. turn to our 
4 own resources for a future supply. _ 
; Although this. tree is widely pisosbuted throughout our southern states and its 
; _ Product, the so-called ‘ ‘sweet gum”, has been long and favourably known, the scarcity 
— and high cost of labour during the ae four years made it impossible to utilize this — 
- source except. for small and unimportant parcels. In Honduras, however, were found 
| Present all those conditions of labour and adequate natural ressources most favourable 
4 for the collection of the balsam on a large scale and it is from this source, therefore, 
that our domestic manufacturers have indirectly oe their supplies of the Noe Cat . 
~ gum for the past three or four years. ae | 
‘Unfortunately, ‘these Honduran forests are pedals difficult of access, and 
the difficulties attendant upon the collection of the gum are so great that only the © 
_ poorest natives can be induced to engage in the enterprise. The cost, accordingly, 
— is somewhat higher than _formerly prevailed for the Asiatic grade, but consolation 
a exists in the fact that this product of our own continent is richer in aromatic con- 
stituents, and, in general, superior in quality to any offered here prior to the war. 
. On ‘the section of bark illustrated is seen a slight excrescence which, in time, 
develops into a pocket in which the balsam is secreted. When these pockets are 
" located near the basis it is unnecessary to destroy the tree, but many are high up, 
in which case the tree must be felled. The labourers generally work in groups of 
_-four and a full day is frequently required to bring down one well matured tree. On 
| an average, not more than one tree in every one hundred Square yards will be found 
_ worthy of attention, the others not containing balsam, due to age or other conditions 
of growth. The balsam-bearing tree is easily recognized by the excrescence above 
me tioned, but it requires an expert in the business to judge from the outward appear- 
_ ance if the pocket actually has any balsam in it. The pockets contain from one to 
four bottles, the bottles holding about 2 Ibs. each. 
Once the tree is felled, a cut is made in the excrescence and, as in the collection 
of the oy of the ORE tree, a small gutter inserted, the free end leading into a con- 
