142 
pltjsty's i^atubal history. 
[Book XIL 
and cassia, cancamum^^ and tarum are imported ; but these 
substances are brought by way of the ^N^abataean Troglodytae, 
a colony of the Nabataei. 
CHAP. 45. (21.) — SEEICHATUM AI^D aABALITTM. 
Thither, too, are carried serichatum^ and gabalium, aroma- 
tics which the Arabians rear for their own consumption, and 
which are only known by name in our part of the world, 
though they grow in the same country as cinnamon and cassia. 
Still, however, serichatum does reach us occasionally, and is 
employed by some persons in the manufacture of unguents. It 
is purchased at the rate of six denarii per pound. 
CHAP. 46. MYEOBALANUM. 
In the country of the TroglodytsD, the Thebais, and the parts 
of Arabia which separate Judaea from Egypt, myrobalanum^^ is 
commonly found ; it is provided by JSTature for unguents, as 
from its very name would appear. Prom its name, also, it is 
evident that it is the nut of a tree, with a leaf similar to that 
of the heliotropium, which we shall have to mention when 
speaking of the herbs. The fruit of this tree is about the size 
of a filbert. The kind that grows in Arabia is known as, 
Syriaca, and is white, while, on the other hand, that which 
grows in the Thebais is black : the former is preferred for the 
quality of the oil extracted from it, though that which is pro- 
^2 A gum resin of some unknown species, but not improbably, Fee 
thinks, the produce of some of the Amyrides. Sprengel thinks that it was 
produced from the Gardenia gummifera. 
53 Aloe-wood. 
5* According to Poinsinet, these Arabic words derive their origin from 
the Slavonic ; the first signifying a cordial drug," or ^' alexipharmic," and 
the other a drug which divides itself into tablets." It is impossible to 
divine what drugs are meant by these names. 
55 Signifying the unguent acorn," or "nut." There is little doubt 
that the behen or ben nut of the Arabians is meant, of which there are 
several sorts. It is used by the Hindoos for calico printing and pharmacy, 
and was formerly employed in Europe in the arts, and for medical par- 
poses. It is no longer used as a perfume. The "oil of ben" used in 
commerce is extracted from the fruit of the Moringa oleifera of naturalists. 
It is inodorous ; for which reason. Fee is of opinion that the name signifies 
*'the oily nut," and quotes Dioscorides, who says, B. iv., that an oil is ex- 
tracted from this balanus, which is used as an ingredient in unguents, in 
place of other oils. Fee also says that at the present day it is used by per- 
fumers, to fix or arrest the evanescent odours of such flowers as the jasmine 
and the lily. 
