[98] 



boiled turpentine to sweeten the breath and stimulate the appetite. 



The mastic tree, Pistacia lentiscus, Linn,, is a very common small tree in 

 woodlands and in arid regions of southern Provence where it grows ten or twelve feet tall. 

 Its leaves are alternate and consist of eight to ten firm smooth persistent oval leaflets 

 borne on a common winged petiole. The male flowers are in loose purple spikes set in the 

 axils of the leaves. The female flowers produce small red rounded drapes that turn brown 

 ■ •i hl.iv I i-.li .1-. lliv\ ii|vn 



FLOWERS: in April. 



MANGE: I've found the tree to be very plentiful close to Grasse and Draguignan. 



NOMENCLATURE. Lentiscus, from lentescere, to be viscous, sticky. German, 

 mastixbaum. English, mastick-tree. Portuguese, aroeira. In Constantinople, xikudia. 



USES. Mastic is a resinous substance that exudes naturally, or from incisions 

 made in the mastic tree, mainly in the Levant or on the island of Chios. The mastic trees 

 of Provence produce less, or of a very much poorer quality, than do those of the Levant. 

 Mastic formerly was widely used in pharmaceutical preparations, but nowadays it's rarely 

 used. The Turks and all of the Levantines chew mastic almost continually to strengthen 

 their gums and to make their breath sweeter and more pleasant. Toumefort reports that 

 the fruit of the mastic tree yields an oil that the Turks prefer to olive oil for roasting, and 

 that they also include it in their medications. 



In some parts of the south the leaves of the mastic tree are used for tanning 



leather. 



CULTIVATION. In the south of France all the pistachio trees are cultivated in open 

 ground. But in the north care must be taken to provide them with good exposure, 



