THE LIGNALOE-WOOD OF MEXICO. 
591 
called Lign Aloe, and of an essential oil distilled from it. As many inquiries 
have been made respecting these substances, a short account of them may 
prove acceptable. 
At the outset I may state that the wood and oil in question have been im¬ 
ported from Vera Cruz, in Mexico, the tree itself growing near the city of 
Colima, capital of the State of that name, and therefore have not the slightest 
claim to be regarded as the true Lign Aloes of the Bible, now well known to 
be the produce of Aquilaria Agallocha, Roxb., a tree of South-Eastern Asia. 
The specimens of the Mexican Lignaloe above referred to are portions of 
this recent importation. The oil was first offered up for public sale in 1S67 
by Messrs. Sargant and Son, Drug Brokers, of Mincing Lane, London, the 
wood being disposed of by private contract, at a much later date. 
The wood which was brought over in the form of squared logs consists of 
a central portion of irregular outline, and of a pale ferruginous-brown, sur¬ 
rounded with wavy, darker band-like markings, while the contiguous outer 
portion (not merely alburnum) is of a dull iron-grey. The first named may 
have been living wood when the tree was felled, while the second had pro¬ 
bably long lost its vitality. 
Both the wood and even twigs of the tree are rich in an essential oil, of a 
lemon-like odour. 
This remarkable Mexican wood has already attracted the attention of phar¬ 
macologists. Guibourt, in his ‘ Histoire des Drogues/ iii. 491, notices it 
under the name of Bois de Citron du Mexique, in terms which may be thus 
translated:— 
This wood bears iu Mexico the name of Lignaloe. Deceived by this name, a 
French trader, several years ago, brought a somewhat large quantity to Bordeaux, 
and was greatly disappointed that no one was willing to purchase it from him at 
the price of 18 or 20 francs the kilogramme. This wood should nevertheless have 
a certain value for perfumery. It is internally white, with very irregular, slightly 
brownish longitudinal veins. It is very light and porous, and has a very strong 
odour of citron. It contains so great a quantity of essential oil, that one would 
say that it had been impregnated with it by immersion. This essence condenses in 
drops against the sides of the jar containing the wood, and entirely soaks the card 
label placed with it. A description of the wood, attributing it to an Amyris , may 
be found in a small work entitled ‘ Ensayo para la Materia Medica Mexicana/ pub¬ 
lished at Puebla in 1832. 
A copy of tbe work to which M. Guibourt refers is in the library of Mr. 
D. Hanbury, to whom I am indebted for a sight of it as well as for the fol¬ 
lowing translation of the passage alluded to :— 
Lignoaloe or Linanite (Amyris?) is produced in abundance in the Misteca and 
meridian of Matamoras. From the information I have been able to obtain respect¬ 
ing this plant, and some seeds of it I have received, there is great probability that it 
belongs to the genus above referred to. Its wood is light, of a yellow colour, more 
or less marked with veins of the same hue, of a very aromatic odour, especially 
when rasped or reduced to chips, resembling Rhodium wood, for which it is com¬ 
monly substituted in the shops. Its volatile oil has a moderately agreeable smell, 
on account of which it is used in perfumes, 
A little further information on the same subject is imparted by the German 
traveller Heller, who, in the supplement to his volume of ‘ Travels in Mexico,’ 
enumerates various medicinal plants indigenous to that country, and among 
them the following :— 
Amyris Tecomaca , DC. ( A . maritima , M 09 . et Sess.), and A. ambrosiaca, M 09 . 
et Sess. ( Idea serrata, DC.). 
[Translation.]— Lignaloe or Linanue of the Mexicans, affords a volatile oil used 
