STYRAX OFFICINALE. 185 
This free, (the Hrvpa^ of Dioscorides) we imagine, was originally 
confined to Syria and the Levant, from whence it was introdnced 
into Italy, and the south of France, where it may now be considered 
naturalized j but the resinous drug which it produces, is only to be 
obtained in perfection from the trees growing in Asiatic Turkey. It 
was first cultivated in England by Gerarde, about the year 1590, but 
It IS by no means a common tree to meet with in our gardens, nor 
does the climate of England appear to favour its growth, the 
storax issues in a fluid stale from incisions made «in the bark of the 
trunk, or branches of the tree, and as it was formerly the custom to 
collect and export this balsam in reeds, it obtained the name of Styrax 
Calamita, under which name it is noticed by Galen. 
This species of storax seldom exceeds the height of from fifteen 
to twenty feet. The branches are irregular, alternate, round, leafy, 
and, when young, somewhat downy ; the leaves are deciduous, pe- 
tiolate, and arise alternately on the branches ; their form is ovate or 
elliptical, entire, and somewhat pointed, of a fine smooth shining green 
on the upper surface, and covered with hoary stellated down°on the 
under; the flowers terminate the young lateral shoots, and grow in small 
clusters, containing from two to five or six flowers each ; the calyx 
IS white and downy ; the corolla is monopetalous, white, funnel- 
shaped, and divided at the limb into five deep, oblong, obtuse pointed 
segments ; the filaments are ten, and placed in a regular circle ; the 
anthers are yellow, erect, and oblong; the germen is oval, and'sup- 
ports a slender style, crowned with a simple stigma; the fruit is a 
pylpy pericarp, containing one or two nuts, of an oval compressed 
form, concave on one side, and convex on the other. The flowers 
appear in May and June. 
Sensible and Chemical Properties. There are two kinds 
of storax met with in the shops ; the best, at least the purest, is in 
compact masses of a red or yellowish colour, interspersed with 
whitish tears ; it has a very fragrant odour, and a bitter, somewhat 
pungent, aromatic taste ; it readily melts with a gentle heat. The 
common storax is in larger masses, much lighter, and bears very little 
resemblance to the former. It is in fact a composition of the pure 
balsam and saw dust, the ingredients being in greater or less relative 
proportions, according to the honesty, or rather dishonesty of the 
manufacturer. It is purified by dissolving it in rectified spirits, and 
straining ; the spirit is then distilled off by a gentle heat, until the 
balsam has acquired a proper consistence. When thus purified, it 
possesses more fragrance, and is by many preferred to the former 
kind, which we may conclude, has in most instances undergone some 
VOL. I. 2 c 
