EXUDATIONS, JUICES, ETC. 
249 
of benzoic acid and an aromatic oily liquid, apparently 
an ester of benzoic acid. 
Sumatra benzoin contains in addition but about 20 
per cent, of benzoic acid and nearly as much cin- 
namic acid, and also benzaldehyde, styrol, styracin, 
etc., giving the drug the odor of styrax. 
Allied Products. — Penang and Palembang ben- 
zoins are obtained from Sumatra and Java, respec- 
tively, and somewhat resemble the Sumatra benzoin, 
but they apparently do not contain cinnamic acid and 
yield benzoic acid, in the preparation of which they are 
principally employed. 
MYRRH A (Myrrh). 
The dried gum-resin from the stem of Commiphora 
Myrrha, and probably other species of Commiphora 
(Fam. JBurseracese), a large shrub indigenous to North- 
eastern Africa (chiefly Somali Land) and Southern 
Arabia. The gum -resin exudes spontaneously or 
from incisions made in the bark ; it is first of a yellow- 
ish color but soon hardens, becoming darker, and is 
then collected. There are two principal commercial 
varieties of Myrrh, the one known as African or Somali 
Myrrh, and the other as Arabian or Yemen Myrrh, the 
former being considered the better. 
Description. — In irregular agglutinated tears or 
masses of variable size ; externally rough and uneven, 
yellowish or reddish brown, covered with a yellowish 
powder; brittle, the fractured surface wax} 7 , granular, 
oily, slightly mottled, somewhat translucent in thin 
pieces; odor balsamic; taste aromatic, bitter and acrid. 
Myrrh forms a brownish - yellow emulsion when 
triturated with water (distinction from other gum- 
resins) ; an ethereal solution treated with bromine 
vapor becomes purplish (distinction from East Indian 
