BAM 
styrax officinalis, a tree which grows in the 
Levant, and it is said also in Italy. Some- 
times it is in the state of red tears ; and 
this is said to be the state in which it is ob- 
tained from the tree. But common storax 
is in large cakes, brittle, but soft to the 
touch, and of a reddish brown colour. It 
dissolves in alcohol. 
3. Dragon’s blood. — This is a brittle sub- 
stance of a dark red colour, which comes 
from the East Indies. There are two sorts 
of it ; one in small oval drops or tears of a 
fine deep red, which becomes crimson when 
the tears are reduced to powder ; the. other 
is in larger masses, some of which are pale 
red, and others dark. It is probably ob- 
tained from different kinds of trees ; the 
calamus draco is said to furnish most of 
what comes from India. The dracsena 
draco and the pterocarpus draco are also 
said to furnish it. Dragon’s blood is brittle 
and tasteless, and has no sensible smell. 
Water does not act upon it, but alcohol 
dissolves the greatest part, leaving a whitish 
red substance, partially acted upon by 
water. The solution has a fine deep red co- 
lour, which stains marble, and the stain pe- 
netrates the deeper the hotter the marble is. 
It dissolves also in oils, and gives them a 
deep red colour also. When heated it 
melts, catches flame, and emits an acid 
fume similar to that of benzoic acid. When 
digested with lime, a portion of it becomes 
soluble in water, and it acquires a balsamic 
odour. 
Balsam. See Pharmacy. 
BALSAM1NA, in botany. See Impa- 
TIENS. 
BALSAMITA, in botany, a genus of the 
Syngenesia dEqualis class and order. Recep- 
tacle naked ; calyx imbricate. Four spe- 
cies, found in Crete, Nice, Barbary, and 
Italy. 
BALTIMORA, in botany, so named by 
Linnaeus in honour of Lord Baltimore, a 
genus of tire Syngenesia Polygamia Neces- 
saria class and order. Natural order, com- 
posite oppositifoliae : corymbiforc® Jus- 
sieu. Essential character: calyx cylindric, 
many-leaved : ray of the corolla five-flower- 
ed ; receptacle chaffy. One species, B.'recta, 
which is a native of Maryland ; an annual 
plant, about two feet high ; it flowers in 
June and July. 
BAMBOE, or Bambou, a plant in the 
Indies, which multiplies very much by its 
root, from which springs a branchy tuft after 
the manner of the European reeds. It is 
of the largest kind of cane, and decreases 
BAN 
gradually tu the top, where it bears a blos- 
som like our reeds. The bamboe is a species 
of arundo. See ARUNDOi 
The bamboo-cane grows naturally almost 
every where within the tropical regions ; it 
is common in many parts of Asia, as China, 
Cochin-China, Tonquin, Cambodia, Japan, 
Ceylon, the Peninsula of India and the 
islands. This useful plant has been long in- 
troduced into the West Indies. There are 
some fine specimens of bamboo in the 
Botanical Garden at Liverpool. Scarcely 
any plant serves for more useful purposes 
than the bamboo where it grows naturally. 
In the East Indies great use is made of it in 
building, and the houses of the meaner peo- 
ple are almost entirely composed of it. 
Bridges are also made of it, masts for their 
sailing vessels, boxes, cups, baskets, mats, 
and a great variety of other utensils and 
furniture. Paper is also made from it by 
bruising and steeping it in water, and thus 
forming it into a pulp. It is the common 
fence for gardens and fields, and is frequent- 
ly used as pipes for conveying water. The 
leaves are generally put round the chests of 
tea which are sent to Europe from China, as 
package fastened together, so as to form a 
kind of mat. The tops of the tender shoots 
are frequently pickled in the West Indies. 
In the cavities of the bamboo is found at 
certain seasons a concrete white substance, 
which the Arabian physicians hold in high 
estimation. 
BAN, in law, a public notice applied par- 
ticularly to the publication of intended mar- 
riages, wbich must be done on three several 
Sundays previously to marriage, that if any 
shew just cause against such marriage they 
may have an opportunity to set forth their 
objections. 
BANARA, in botany, a genus of the 
Dodecandria Monogynia class and order. 
Natura order, columniteras ; tiliacse, Jus- 
sieu. Essential character : calyx six-parted, 
permanent; corolla six-petalled; germ seat- 
ed on a glandule ; stigma headed ; berry 
globose, one-celled, and many-seeded. One 
species, B. guiannois, a tree of ten feet or 
more in height, and about seven inches in 
diameter, with a greyish bark, and a whitish 
light wood ; a native of the island of Cay- 
enne ; flowering in May, and bearing fruit 
in July. 
BANDAGE, in surgery, a fillet, a roller, 
or swathe, used in dressing and binding up 
wounds, restraining dangerous haemorrhages, 
and in joining fractured or dislocated bones. 
See Surgery. 
