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BUBON GALBANUM. 
This species of Bubon is a native of Africa, about the Cape of 
Good Hope; it is a perennial plant, flowering in June and July* 
It was first introduced into Britain by Gerarde in 1596. 
This plant rises to the height of eight or twelve feet ; the lower 
part of the stem is woody, and covered with a purplish bark, the 
upper part is round, jointed, branching, leafy, and covered with a 
glaucous-coloured exudation ; the lower leaves are tripinnated, and 
stand upon vaginal footstalks: the upper ones are trilobed, and 
irregularly serrated, but some near the base are entire, and others 
upon the upper branches are somewhat wedge-shaped ; the princi- 
pal umbel terminates the stem, and is large, plano-convex, and 
composed of numerous radii ; the lateral umbels are few, and grow 
upon slender pendant branches : the involucres are composed of 
twelve narrow, lancet-shaped, membranous, whitish leaflets, which 
are bent outwards ; the involucels of six leaflets only ; the flowers 
are all fertile, first open at the circumference of the umbel, and 
followed successively by those towards the centre ; the corolla is 
composed of five petals of a greenish yellow colour, and have their 
points turned inwards; the stamens are longer than the petals, and 
support yellow anthers ; the germen is round, and narrow at the 
base ; the two styles are short and tapering ; the seeds are two, of 
a brownish colour, oblong, channelled, smooth, and have a thia 
membranous border. 
The ofticinal gum Galbanum of the shops is supposed to be the 
produce of the plant we have described ; but it is very probable 
that the Galbanum, as imported, is obtained from different species 
of Bubon, of which there are several. The gum is obtained partly 
by its spontaneous exudation from the joints of the stem, but more 
generally, and in greater abundance, by making an incision in the 
stalk a few inches above the root, from which it immediately issues, 
and soon becomes sufficiently concrete to be gathered. The gum is 
brought to this country from Turkey and the East Indies, in separate 
tears about the size of a hazel-nut, or in softish ductile masses of a 
pale brownish yellow colour, intermixed with distinct white hard 
tears ; it is also often mixed with stalks and" other impurities. The 
separate tears are considered the best, and the masses when good 
should be of a brownish yellow colour, of the consistence of wax, 
softening by heat, and becoming brittle by cold. 
Sensible and Chemical Qualities, &c. Galbanum has 
a strong unpleasant odour, and a warm, bitterish, acrid taste. When 
triturated with water it forms a milky liquor, but does not perfectly 
dissolve, for on standing for a short time a considerable proportion 
