526 
P I S T A C I A. 
trees, fixty years old, only yielding two pounds nine 
ounces and fix drams; but in the eaftern part of Cyprus 
and Chio the trees afford fomewhat more, though ffill fo 
little as to render it very coftly, and on this account it is 
commonly adulterated, efpecially with other turpentines. 
The belt Chio turpentine is generally about the confid¬ 
ence of thick honey, very tenacious, clear and alnioft 
tranfparent, white inclining to yellow and of a fragrant 
fmell, moderately warm to the tafte, but free from acri¬ 
mony and bitternefs. For the medicinal qualities of 
turpentine, fee Pinus larix. 
3. Piltacia lentifcus, the mafric-tree: leaves abruptly 
pinnate; leaflets lanceolate. Three varieties. 
a. P. lentifcus vulgaris, or common mallie-tree, rifes 
to the height of eighteen or twenty feet, the trunk being 
covered with a grey bark. It fends out many branches, 
which have a reddifti-brown bark. The leaves have three 
or four pairs of fmall leaflets, of a lucid green on their 
upper, but pale on their under fide : the midrib has two 
narrow' borders or wings running from one leaflet to ano¬ 
ther. The male flowers come out in loofe clufters from 
the fides of the branches, are of an herbaceous colour, 
appear in May, and foon fall off: they are generally on 
different plants from the fruits, which alfo grow in cluf¬ 
ters, and are fmall berries, of a black colour when ripe. 
Fabricius remarks, that the male plant in time produces 
hermaphrodite flowers with three lfamens and five ftyles, 
which are followed by fruit. It is obferved by Gouan 
that the buds are different from thofe of the other forts; 
the branch-bearing buds being terminating ; the flower¬ 
ing-buds in both fexes axillary and in pairs : hence the 
aments are alfo in pairs, clofe, and almoft united at the 
bafe, and equal: the female aments are longer and nar¬ 
rower, the males thicker and fhorter. The leaves have 
five leaflets on each fide, which are nearly equal, but 
variable; fome being lanceolate, or oblique, fo that one 
fide is gibbous downwards, the other upwards, fome 
emarginate, and moll frequently alternate. 
The maftic-tree is a native of the South of Europe, 
and the Levant. Desfontaines informs us that it is very 
common in Barbary, both wild on the hills and cultivated 
in gardens ; but that it is little if at all refinous, though 
the branches and bark of the trunk were wounded at 
different feafons of the year; that the wood however 
yields an aromatic fmell in burning; and that the berries 
yield an oil fit both for the lamp and the table. In the 
iiland of Chio the officinal maffic is obtained mod abun¬ 
dantly, by making tranfverfe incifions in the bark of the 
tree, whence the maftic exudes in drops, which are fuf- 
fered to run down to the ground, and after they are con¬ 
creted they are collected for life. Thefe incifions are 
made at the beginning of Auguff, when the weather is 
very dry; and are continued till the end of September. 
Maftic is a refinous fubltance, brought to us in fmall 
yelloivifli tranfparent brittle grains, or tears : it has a 
light agreeable fmell, efpecially when rubbed or heated : 
on being chewed, it firlt crumbles, foon after flicks toge¬ 
ther, and becomes foft and white, like wax, without im- 
preffing any confiderable tafte. It totally diffolves, except 
the earthy impurities, which are commonly in no great 
quantity, in rectified fpirit of wine, and then difcovers a 
degree of warmth and bitternefs, and a ftronger fmell 
than that of the refin in fubftance. Boiled in water, it 
impregnates the liquor with its fmell, but gives out little 
or nothing of its fubftance ; diftilled with water, it yields 
a fmall quantity of a limpid eflential oil, in fmell very 
fragrant, in tafte moderately pungent. Rectified fpirit 
brings over alfo in diftillation the more volatile odorous 
matter of the maftic. It is a common practice with the 
Turkifh women to chew this refin, efpecially in the morn¬ 
ing, not only to render their breath more agreeable, but 
to whiten the teeth and ftrengthen the gums; they alfo 
mix it with their fragrant waters, and burn it with other 
odoriferous fubftances in the way of fumigation. It is 
ufed in Europe by japanners, in fome of their varnifhes. 
As a medicine, maftic is confidered to be a mild corrobo¬ 
rant and aftringent; and, as poflefling a balfamic power, 
it has been recommended in hasmoptylis, proceeding from 
ulceration, fluor albus, debility of the ftomach, and in 
diarrhoeas and internal ulcers. Chewing this drug has 
likewife been laid to be of ufe in pains of the teeth and 
gums, and in fome catarrhal complaints ; it is now, how¬ 
ever, feldom ufed either externally or internally. The 
wood of this tree is received into the materia medica in 
fome foreign pharmacopoeias, and is highly extolled in 
dyfpeptic, gouty, haemorrhagic, and dyfenteric, affeCtions. 
It was cultivated here in 1664, as appears in Evelyn’s 
Kalendar; and flowers in May. The only tree which 
Dr. Woodville obferved to flower in England, was a 
male plant in the apothecaries garden at Chelfea. 
/ 3 . P. anguftifolia, the narrow-leaved maftic-tree. This 
rifes to the fame height as.the preceding, but differs from 
it in having a pair or two of leaflets more to each leaf, 
much narrower and of a paler colour. Gouan fays it dif¬ 
fers from the common maftic only in having the leaflets 
fmaller by half, five or feven on each fide, fharper, more 
alternate, and the petioles more concave above. Native 
of the country about Marfeilles, and fome other places in 
the fouth of France. 
y. P. Atlantica, the Atlas maftic-tree : leaves decidu¬ 
ous, unequally pinnate; leaflets lanceolate, fomewhat 
waved ; petioles winged. This is a large tree, with a 
thick, wide, roundifh head. Bark on the fmall branches 
grey. Leaflets feven or nine, very finooth, quite entire. 
Male flowers terminating, in thyrfoid racemes; with a 
fmall ovate deciduous filky fcale, excavated above, at the 
bafe of each branchlet. Calyx three or five-parted; fta- 
mens five, but fometimes, though feldom, feven; antheras 
oblong, two lobed, blunt, deep red, with the pollen yel¬ 
low. Females in loofe panicled racemes. Scales narrower 
than in the males; ftyles purple. 
Native of Barbary : very common in fandy uncultivated 
fields near Cofla ; where many being in rows, it is plain 
that this tree was once cultivated there : alfo, at the foot 
of the mountains near Mayane, Tlemfen, &c. From the 
bark of the trunk and branches flows at different feafons 
of the year, but efpecially in fummer, a refinous juice, 
hardening in the air, of a pale yellow colour, of an aroma¬ 
tic fmell and tafte that is not unpleafant, fcarcely to be 
diftinguifhed from oriental maftic, and known by the fame 
name, heule, among the Moors. It is infpiflated into la¬ 
mellae round the branchlets, or into irregular globules, 
differing in thicknefs and fhape, frequently as big as the 
end of the finger or thumb, fome of which drop from the 
tree, and are found fcattered on the ground. The Arabs 
collect this fubftance in autumn and winter, and make 
the fame ufe of it as of the maftic from Scio ; chewing it 
to give a pleafant fmell to the mouth, and brightnefs to 
the teeth. At the foot of Mount Atlas this tree is larger 
than any other which grows there ; but the refinous juice 
is fofter, and of a much lefs pleafant fmell and tafte, than 
that which flows from the trees of the defert, which is 
probably occafioned by the climate being cooler, and the 
foil more moift and fertile. The leaves have frequently 
thick round red galls on them, refembling berries. The 
Moors eat the drupes; and bruife them to mix with their 
dates. 
Propagation and Culture. The piftachia-nut tree is pro¬ 
pagated by the nuts, obtained from abroad, planted in 
pots filled with light kitchen-garden earth, and plunged 
into a moderate hot-bed : when the plants appear, admit 
a large fhare of air to them, to prevent their drawing up 
weak; and by degrees harden them to bear the open air, 
to which expofe them the beginning of June till autumn, 
when they ftiould be placed under a hot-bed frame, to 
lcreen them from the froft in winter; for, while they are 
young, they are too tender to live through the winter in 
England without protection; but they ftiould always be 
expofed to the air in mild weather. Thefe plants (hed 
their leaves in autumn. End therefore ftiould not have 
much 
