By digestion with alcohol it is separated into two portions ; the one soluble in this fluid, and the other in- 
soluble; the former composes about three-fourths of the whole, and is pure resin; the latter, in most of its 
properties, resembles caoutchouc. The nature of this insoluble portion was first discovered by Kind, 
an apothecary at Berlin, whose observations have since been confirmed by Mr. Matthews. Mr. Brande, 
however, has observed that when this insoluble substance is dried, it becomes brittle, in which respect it 
differs from caoutchouc. From these experiments, and those of Dr. Wollaston, there can be little doubt 
that it is a peculiar vegetable principle. Mastic is perfectly soluble in sulphuric ether, from which it is 
precipitated by alcohol in the form of a white curd. When distilled, either with water or alcohol, according 
to Dr. Thomson, no volatile oil is obtained from this substance. It should be chosen clear, of a pale yellow 
colour, and of an agreeable odour when heated or rubbed. 
Medical Properties and Uses. — Although the principal consumption of mastic is among varnish 
makers, it has been long introduced into medicine under the character of an astringent and diuretic in obsti- 
nate coughs, dysentery, and internal ulcerations; but it probably possesses no powers of any kind but what 
may be ascribed to its moderately stimulant effect upon the organs of secretion. By means of mucilage and 
syrup, mastic dissolved in alcohol, is rendered miscible with water, and supposed to possess the virtues of 
turpentine in an inferior degree. The Arabians regard it as astringent and tonic, and Avicenna speaks of its 
discutient qualities; he moreover says, “Tussi et sanguinis rejectione prodest. Stomachum roborat et 
jecur.” In pharmacy it is sometimes employed as an adjunct to pills, to render them less immediately 
soluble in the stomach, and consequently more progressive in their operation. The wood (Lentisci lignum ) 
is received into the materia medica of some of the foreign pharmacopoeias, and highly extolled in gouty, and 
dyspeptic affections. In the arts mastic is much used, in combination with lac, elemi, and other resins, in 
the composition of varnishes ; and the jewellers mix it with turpentine, and ivory black, and place it under 
the diamond to add to its lustre. Virey, in his “ Histoire Naturelle des Mddicamens,” informs us, that 
from the kernels of the mastic-tree an oil may be obtained which is fit for table; and according to Desfon- 
taines and Duhamel the Pistacia atlantica , and P. chia yield resins which resemble mastic. 
Mr. Field says, in his Chromatography, a book most amusing to the general reader, as well as 
instructive to the artist, “ It is true that other soft resins are sometimes substituted for that of mastic, 
and that very elaborate compounds of them have been recommended and celebrated, but none that possess 
any evident advantage over the simple solution of mastic in rectified oil of turpentine. Correggio and Par- 
migiano, according to Armenini, used a varnish of common white resin mixed with naphtha. Other old 
masters are said to have employed mastic and sandarac dissolved in nut, poppy, or linseed oils, and this 
seems evident from the difficulty of removing varnishes from very old pictures. Mastic varnish is easily 
prepared, by digesting in a bottle during a few hours, in a warm place, one part of the dry picked resin 
with two parts or more of the oil of turpentine. A sufficient quantity of this, cleared, varnish to gelatinize 
or set up either of the before-mentioned drying oils of linseed, constitutes the transparent macgilp of the 
painter, &c. If, instead of drying oil, the simple pure linseed oil be used with about an eighth of acetate 
or sugar of lead dissolved in water, or ground fine, we obtain variously the opaque mixture called gumtion. 
This, the most celebrated production of the island of Scio, is considered of so much importance 
there, that the inhabitants of the villages that furnish it, had, when under their turkish masters, many pe- 
culiar privileges. They acknowledged no other chief than the aga or lord who farmed that production ; 
they were exempt from contributing their labour gratuitously on public occasions, being obliged only to 
convey the mastic to the town, and to furnish beasts of burden to this aga when he travelled about the 
villages in order to collect it. “We had an opportunity/’ says M. Olivier, “of seeing the aga on his tour, 
preceded by military music, followed by several tchocadars , and surrounded by a great number of villagers, 
eager to attend on him. Had we not been previously informed, we should much rather have taken him for 
a military commander than a simple farmer of taxes.” 
The culture of the lentisk is simple, and attended with little trouble ; it consists much more in cleans- 
ing than in turning the soil. The cultivators do not prune this tree, but, on the contrary, endeavour to 
prevent the stem from growing in a handsome form, as it has been found from experience that the lentisks 
which trail yield much more mastic than those the stems of which are straight and shooting. 
It may readily be imagined that all the Greeks in the island of Scio, would gladly have become cul- 
tivators of the lentisk, by which they would gain exemption from the petty and harrassing tyranny to which 
others were constantly subjected; but while it was prohibited under the severest penalties to offer the mastic 
for sale to any but the aga who farmed it, the cultivation of the lentisk was forbidden out of the limits 
traced by the government. 
Dose. — T he dose may be from gr. x. to 3SS. twice a day. 
