116 
pliny's KATFRAL HTSTORT. [BooL' XII. 
ATIONS USED IN ALL SPICES AIN^D AEOMATICS ; THE YAEIOITS 
TESTS OF THEM AJ^D THEIR HESPECTIVE VALUES. 
In the vicinity, too, of India, is Eactriana, in which region 
we find bdellium,^^ that is so highly esteemed. This tree is of a 
black colour, and about the size of the olive ; it has leaves like 
those of the robur, and bears a fruit similar to that of the wild 
fig, and in nature resembling a kind of gum. This fruit is 
by some persons called brochon, by others malacha, and by 
others, again, maldacon. When of a black colour, and rolled 
up in cakes, it bears the name of hadrobolon. This substance 
ought to be transparent and the colour of wax, odoriferous, 
unctuous when subjected to friction, and bitter to the taste, 
though without the slightest acidity. When used for sacred 
purposes, it is steeped in wihe, upon which it emits a still 
more powerful odour. The tree is a native of both India and 
Arabia, as well as Media and Eabylon ; some persons give to 
the bdellium that is imported by way of Media, the name of 
peraticum.^"'^ This last is remarkable for its brittleness, while, 
at the same time, it is harder and more bitter than the other 
kinds ; that of India, on the other hand, is moister, and gummy. 
This last sort is adulterated by means of almonds, while the 
various other kinds are falsified with the bark of scordastum, 
that being the name of a tree^^ the gum of which strongly re- 
sembles bdellium. These adulterations, however, are to be 
detected — and let it suffice to mention it here, in relation to all 
other perfumes as well — by the smell, the colour, the weight, 
the taste, and the action of fire. The bdellium of Eactriana 
is shining and dry, and covered with numerous white spots 
resembling the finger-nails ; besides which, it should be of a 
certain weight, heavier or lighter than which it ought not to 
be. The price of bdellium, in its pure state, is three denarii 
per pound. 
Fee remarks, that it is singular that a resinous gum, such as bdel- 
Kara, should have been used in commerce for now two thousand years, 
and yet its origin remain unknown. Ksempfer and llumphus are of 
opinion, that the tree which produces it is the one known to naturalists as 
the Borassus flahelliformis of Linn^us, or the Lontarus of others. It is 
imported into Europe from Arabia and India, and is often found mixed 
with gum Arabic. 
65 UepuTLicdv; from TepaTu yrjg, "the remotest parts of the earth," 
from which it was brought. 
The modern name of this tree is unknown. 
