BALM OF GILEAD. 109 
Those Ishmaelitish merchants, who were the purcha- 
sers of Joseph, are said to have been travelling from 
Gilead, on the eastern side of Canaan, to Egypt, 
having their camels laden with " spicery, balm, and 
myrrh." It was then, and it still is, considered one of 
the most valuable medicines that the inhabitants of 
those countries possessed. The virtues, however, which 
have been ascribed to it, exceed all rational bounds of 
credibility. 
The mode in which it is obtained is described by Mr. 
Bruce. He says that the bark of the trees is cut, for 
this purpose, with an axe, at a time when the juices are 
in their strongest circulation. These, as they ooze 
through the wound, are received into small earthen 
bottles ; and every day's produce is gathered, and 
poured into a larger bottle, which is closely corked. 
When the juice first issues from the wound, it is of light 
yellow colour, and somewhat turbid appearance ; but a 
as it settles, it becomes clear, has the colour of honey, 
and appears more fixed and heavy than at first. Its 
smell, when fresh, is exquisitely fragrant, and strongly- 
pungent, not much unlike that of volatile salts ; but, if 
the bottle be left uncorked, it soon loses this quality. 
Its taste is bitter, acrid, aromatic, and astringent. 
The quantity of balsam yielded by one tree never 
exceeds sixty drops in a day. Hence its scarcity is 
such that the genuine balsam is seldom exported as an 
article of commerce. Even at Constantinople, the 
centre of trade of those countries, it cannot, without 
great difficulty, be procured. In Turkey it is in high 
esteem as a medicine, an odoriferous unguent, and a 
cosmetic. But its stimulating properties upon the skin 
are such that the face of a person unaccustomed to use 
it becomes red and swollen, and continues so for some 
days afterward. The Turks also take it in small quan- 
tities, in water, to fortify the stomach, and excite the 
animal faculties. 
