ON  SOME  PANAMA  DRUGS.  235 
In  Traitd  gdn^ral  de  Botanique  par  Maout  et  Decaisne,  Paris, 
1868,  p.  316,  it  is  stated  :  L'Icica  altissima  donnela  gomme 
Carana  qui  remplace  en  Amerique  le  baume  de  Gilead.  Aublet, 
however,  states,  on  page  312,  that  the  wood  of  this  tree  is  called 
cedre  blanc  and  codre  rouge,  according  to  its  shade  of  color,  that 
it  is  light,  and  when  dry  'floats  upon  w^ater,  and  that  articles 
made  from  it  la^t  very  long  ;  further,  he  says,  "  e  cortice  inciso 
succus  balsamicus  et  resinosus,  odoris  grati  stillat but,  though 
he  usually  records  carefully  the  vulgar  names,  he  does  not  men- 
tion the  name  of  caranna. 
Among  the  species  of  Icica  not  sufficiently  known,  DeCan- 
dolle  enumerates  J.  Carana,  HBK.,  and  states:  "Cortex  fundit 
gummi  albidum."  Kunth*  does  not  give  any  more  information 
on  this  subject;  the  larger  work  of  Humboldt,  Bonpland  and 
Kunth,  Nova  Genera  Americana,  I  have  not  been  able  to  consult. 
The  tree  was  found  near  the  river  Orinoco. 
That  Bursera  gummifera^  Jacq.,  should  yield  caranna,  is  not 
very  probable.  Grisebachf  says  of  this  plant :  "A  lofty  tree, 
from  all  parts  of  which  gum  resin  exudes  on  the  slightest  touch." 
It  occurs  on  the  Bahama  Islands,  Jamaica,  Dominica,  St.  Vin- 
cent, Cuba,  Panama,  Venezuela.  If,  therefore,  the  caranna  of 
the  Central  or  South  American  Continent  were  obtained  from 
this  tree,  it  could  also  be  had  from  the  islands  named,  and  would 
undoubtedly  have  been  exported  from  there  at  a  time  when  its 
virtues  were  so  highly  extolled  in  Europe,  and  when  it  was  offi- 
cinal in  the  pharmacopoeias^  of  several  of  the  European  States, 
some  of  which  had  possession  of  those  very  islands  and  countries 
in  which  this  tree  was  at  that  time  known  to  grow.  Moreover, 
Maout  and  Decaisne§  refer  to  this  tree  the  resin  Chibou  or 
Cachibou,  which  coincides  with  Guibourt's  statement  in  Histoire 
Naturelle,  &c.,  iii,  p.  479,  who  also  mentions  that  this  resin  is 
often  imported  to  France  under  different  iiames  and  with  particu- 
■^Sinopsis  plantarum  quas  in  itinere  ad  plagam  sequinoctialem  orbis  novi 
collegerunt  Al.  de  Humboldt  et  Am.  Bonpland.    Parisiis  1825.  Tom.  iv. 
t  Flora  of  the  British  West  Indian  Islands.    London,  1864,  p.  173. 
X  Pharm.  Wirtembergica,  Kd.  6,  1798.  Pharm.  Gallica,  Paris,  1818. 
Pharm.  Hispanica,  Ed.  3,1803.    Pharm.  Lusitanica,  Lisbon,  1825. 
^  Traite  general  de  Botanique. 
