Red Sea,] 



ORIENTAL COMMKRCE. 



71 



ARTICLES TO RE PROCURED AT MOCHA, WITH DIRECTIONS. 



Acacia, the inspissated juice of a thorny plant, growing in Arabia, and 

 other parts : — two sorts arc known, Vera and Germanica. The former is a 

 gummy substance, usually firm, but not very dry. It is met with in round 

 masses, enclosed in thin bladders, from four to eight ounces weight ; out- 

 wardly a deep brown, inclining to black ; of a lighter brown within, inclin- 

 ing to red or yellow. The Germanica is a juice expressed from the unripe 

 fruit of the sloe bush, and differs from the preceding, in being harder, hea- 

 vier, darker, sharper in taste, yielding its astringency to rectified spirit ; 

 whereas the other is not at all dissoluble by spirit. The Vera should have 

 little or no smell ; applied to the tongue, it should soften quickly, imparting 

 a rough, not very ungrateful taste, followed by a sweetness. If quite pure, 

 it dissolves totally in water ; if otherwise, the impurities remain. 



Acohus, ou Calamus Auomaticus, (Bnch, Hind. Vacha, San.) is a 

 reed, or knotty root, about the size of a little finger, several inches long, 

 reddish externally, internally white, full of joints, somewhat flatted on the 

 side, of a loose spongy texture; smell strong, taste warm, bitterish, and 

 aromatic. They should be chosen tough, cleared from fibres, and free from 

 worms, to which it is very subject. 



Asph altum is a solid shining bitumen, of a dusky colour outside ; within 

 of a deep black, found in many parts of Egypt. A thin piece appears of 

 a reddish colour, when placed between the eye and the light. It has no 

 smell when cold, but acquires a slight one by friction ; when exposed to 

 heat, it liquifies, swells up, and bums with a thick smoke, the smell of 

 which is strong, acrid, and disagreeable. It is occasionally adulterated 

 with pitch; but the fraud may be discovered by means of spirits of wine, 

 which dissolve the pitch, and only take a pale colour with Asphaltum. 



Balm of Gileau, or Balsam of Mecca, is a resinous juice that dis- 

 tils from an evergreen tree, or shrub, growing between Mecca and Me- 

 dina; it is much used by the Asiatic ladies as a cosmetic. The tree is 

 scarce ; the best sort is said to exude naturally, but the inferior kinds 

 are extracted from the branches by boiling. It is at first turbid and 

 white, of a strong pungent smell, a bitter and acrid taste ; upon being 

 kept some time, it becomes thin, limpid, of a greenish hue, then of a 

 golden yellow, and at length of the colour of honey. This article, being 

 scarce and valuable, is very liable to adulteration. The following me- 

 thods are recommended to discover imposition : — Cause a drop or two of 

 the liquid balsam to fall into a glass of clear water ; if the drop go to 

 the bottom without rising again to the surface, or if it continue in a 



