SACRED BOTANY — BALM TKEE, MYRRH, BDELLIUM. 
W 
which is as much esteemed by the Orientals of the present day as it was by the ancients. The fresh 
balsam is of moderate consistence, of a light yellow colour, the odour agreeable, the taste bitterish, 
aromatic, heating. Though formerly highly extolled, its medicinal qualities appear to have no 
importance beyond what is possessed by the finer turpentines ; and its heating qualities render it very 
unfit for eases when inflammatory action exists. 
Tzeri, translated "balm," in our version, has been alluded to as of doubtful meaning. No evidence 
has yet been adduced which serves to connect it with the balsam tree ; and it is at least probable, that 
it has reference to some other tree, not recognized, which produces a balsamic secretion. Tzeri was 
probably a produce of Gilead, or of the northern parts of Syria; since it is included in the presents 
sent to the governor of Egypt, by Jacob : " Carry down the man a present ; a little balm (tzeri)" &c. 
(Gen. xliii, 11) ; and also formed part of the merchandise of the Ishmaelites who bought Joseph ; they 
" came from Gilead . . . bearing spicery and balm (tzeri) . . . going to carry it down 
to Egypt" (Gen. xxxvii, 25). That it was a natural production of Palestine seems the more probable, 
as among the merchandise in which " Judah and the land of Israel" traded with Tyre, balm (tzeri) is 
mentioned (Ezek. xxvii, 17) ; and that it possessed medicinal properties seems equally clear from the 
remaining well-known passages in which tzeri occurs : " Is there no balm in Gilead?" "Go up into 
Gilead, and take balm : " " Take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed " ( Jer. viii, 22 ; xlvi, 1 1 ; 
li, 8). 
Wc come next to Myrrh, which is taken as the equivalent of the Hebrew mor, and the Arabic 
mur. This substance is frequently mentioned 
in the Bible. Pure myrrh (inor-deror) was to 
be one of the ingredients of the " holy anoint- 
ing oil " for the service of the tabernacle (Exod. 
xxx, 23) ; and this is the earliest notice of it 
that we possess. Myrrh — oil of myrrh — is 
next mentioned as employed in the purifica- 
tion of Esther and her companions, in the harem 
of the Persian king at Shushan (Esth. ii, 12). 
It is also referred to as a perfume : " All thy 
garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia" 
(Ps. xlv, 8) ; " My hands dropped 
witli sweet-smelling myrrh" (Cant, v, 5) : 
" His lips, like lilies, dropping sweet-smelling 
myrrh" (ver. 13) — which Luther translates 
" spontaneously profluent myrrh." In later 
times, we find myrrh mentioned among the 
gifts brought by the " wise men of the East" 
to the infant Jesus (Matt, ii, 11) ; and again it 
occurs, in the sacred narrative of the events of 
the crucifixion and entombment : " They gave 
him wine to drink, mingled with myrrh, but 
he received it not" (Mark xv, 23). Mcodemus 
" brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes," for 
the purpose of embalming the body (John xix, 
39). 
This substance, celebrated among the ancients 
as a perfume and fumigator, burned in their 
temples, employed in embalming the bodies of 
then dead, and- esteemed for its medicinal qualities, is considered to be the resinous exudation of 
another species of Balsamodcndron — B. Myrrha. Ancient authors mention Arabia, India, Abyssinia 
Egypt, &c, as producing myrrh. Among the Egyptians, myrrh was called bal; and it is curious that 
in the present day, throughout India, it is known by the name of bol. Ehrenberg found near Gison, on 
the borders of Arabia Felix, a small free off which he collected pieces of myrrh, which, when analysed, 
were acknowledged to be genuine. This tree was the Balsamodendron Myrrha ; and it is farther 
interesting that specimens of what appears to be the same tree, have been brought from the confines 
of Abyssinia. 
This Balsamodendron Myrrha, forms a low thorny ragged-looking tree, with smooth ashen grey 
bark, the ultimate branches short and thorny, bearing imperfectly ternate leaves composed of obovate 
^?&73~ -^^- 5^? 
