Chap. 54.] 
BALSAMTJM. 
147 
scent is something quite indescribable. Some persons call this 
plant erysisceptrum/^ and others, again, sceptrum. The proof 
of its genuineness is its red or fiery colour ; it is also compact 
to the touch, and has the smell of castoreum : it is sold at 
the rate of five denarii per pound. 
CHAP. 53. MAEON". 
In Egypt, too, grows marum,'''^ though of inferior quality 
to that of Lydia, which last has larger leaves, covered with 
spots- Those of the other are shorter and smaller, and give 
out a powerful scent. 
CHAP. 54. (25.) — balsamum; opobalsamum; and xtlobal- 
SAMUM. 
But to all other odours that of balsamum"^' is considered 
preferable, a plant that has been only bestowed by jN"ature 
upon the land of Judaea. In former times it was cultivated in 
two gardens only, both of which belonged to the kings of that 
country : one of them was no more than twenty jugera in 
extent, and the other somewhat smaller. The emperors Yes- 
pasianus and Titus had this shrub exhibited at Eome ; indeed, 
it is worthy of signal remark, that since the time of Pompeius 
Magnus, we have been in the habit of carrying trees even in 
our triumphal processions. At the present day this tree pays 
us homage and tribute along with its native land, but it has 
been found to be of altogether a different nature to that which 
70 Or "red sceptre," probably so called from the flowers clustering along 
the whole length of the branches. 
'^^ A liquid matter extracted from the beaver. 
. Generally regarded as identical with the Teucrinm Marum of Linnseus, 
a sweet-smelling shrub found in the south of Europe and the East, by us 
commonly known as "herb mastich," somewhat similar to marjoram. 
Fee says that the marum of Egypt is a kind of sage, the Salvia jEthiopis 
of Linnaeus. 
''^ Balsam (or balm of Mecca, as it is sometimes called) is the produce 
of two trees, probably varieties of one another, of the terebinth family, 
belonging to the genus Amyris. So far from being a native solely of 
Judaea, Bruce assures us that its original country was that which produces 
myrrh, in the vicinity of Babelmandel, and that the inhabitants use the 
wood solely for fuel. In Judtea it appears to have been cultivated solely 
in gardens ; and it was this tree which produced the famous balm of Gilead 
of Scripture. The balsam trees known to us do not at all correspond with 
Pliny's description, as they do not resemble either the vine or myrtle, nor 
are their leaves at all like those of rue. 
