206 
BRITISH PHARMACEUTICAL CONFERENCE. 
Concerning the nature of the balsam before exudation from the tree, and 
the alteration it undergoes in the charring process, we must remain in igno¬ 
rance until fresh specimens of the bark, wood, and balsam obtained during 
the season of collection can be examined. The balsam collected directly from 
the tree should be immediately secured in a well-closed bottle, so as to exclude 
the action of air upon it. It would also be interesting to know if a balsamic 
resin could be extracted without charring the wood, for it is asserted by De 
Laet, as Hanbury has shown, that the charring is only a custom of Indian 
origin, the Spaniards extracting balsam without the aid of heat. The result 
of making deep incisions into the trunk of the balsam trees should also be 
ascertained. Possibly a resin similar to balsam of tolu might be thus ob¬ 
tained. The resin which spontaneously exudes from the Salvador Myroxylon, 
is not balsamic, as I have shown in a former paper, published in the £ Phar¬ 
maceutical Journal’ for December, 1863. 
ORIGINAL AND EXTRACTED ARTICLES. 
ON THE EXTRACTION AND PRESERVATION OE AROMATA. 
BY CHARLES R. C. TICHBORNE, F.C.S., 
CHEMIST TO THE APOTHECARIES’ HALL OP IRELAND, ETC. 
{Read at the Rath Meeting of the British Pharmaceutical Conference , Sept. 1864.) 
Some time ago I noticed in my garden a vegetable curiosity of some interest. 
As I was desirous of preserving this lusus naturx , I submerged it in some weak 
glycerine, considering that that fluid would be less likely to shrivel the tender 
stems, and also remembering that it had been found most efficient in the pre¬ 
serving of animal tissues.* 
The glycerine answered its purposes admirably, preserving the delicate parts 
in all their contour , and at the same time preventing decomposition. 
I immediately saw that this property of glycerine might be made available 
for certain pharmaceutical processes where it is desired to preserve, or to extract 
the aromata of vegetable products, i. e. it is applicable to the preserving of 
elder, orange, or rose flowers ; and also as will be shortly explained, it may be 
substituted for the oils and fats used in the process termed enfieurage. 
Flowers for making the officinal Aqua Sambuci may be preserved for an inde¬ 
finite period, the following being the mode of operating:—The elder-flowers 
should be gathered when the corolla is fully expanded, but not too far gone; 
they should then be plucked from the stem and packed firmly in wide-mouth 
bottles or jars without crushing them, and finally be well covered with gly¬ 
cerine and corked. It is not necessary that the glycerine should be pure 
for this purpose, but it should be devoid of odour and have a high gravity 
(about 1*240 at 60° F).f The common glycerine made from soap or plaster has 
generally a slight odour, which must be got rid of before it is used for this pur¬ 
pose. When they are wanted for the distillation of the water, the flowers with 
the glycerine are put into a still, or what is preferable, the glycerine is ex¬ 
pressed and is then found to be saturated with the otto. Water is then added, 
the quantity being regulated by the original weight of the preserved flowers, or 
the amount it is determined to distil. I have preserved flowers for two years, 
* Experiments of M. De Marquay, ‘ Journal de Cliimie Medicate.’ 
f Pure distilled glycerine lias generally a specific gravity of about 1*260 at 60° F., but 
ordinary glycerine may be concentrated upon a water bath until it has a specific gravity of 
1*240. 
