232 
ON SAGAPENUM AND ELEMI. 
remedy against such conduct is the ability to examine and 
test the quality of drugs and chemicals, and the unflinching 
use of this valuable qualification before every purchase. 
Elemi. 
Tnis resin, like sagapenum, is the produce of an unas- 
certained tree, respecting which there have been various 
conjectures. The London and Dublin Colleges assign it to 
the Amyris elemifera, but the Edinburgh College, with 
greater discretion, state it to be the "concrete resinous exu- 
dation from one or more unascertained plants." Dr. Pe- 
reira has suggested that it may be the produce of the Icica 
icicaribo, the Canarium zephyrinum, or the Canarium bal- 
samiferum, but the question is still undecided. 
The elemi of commerce is of a pale yellow color, exte- 
riorly brittle, but soft and tough within ; it has a warm 
bitter taste, and a fragrant aromatic smell, partaking of 
fennel and juniper. It is only partially transparent, even 
in thin plates, is very fusible, and has a density a little 
greater than that of water. According to Bonastre, it con- 
sists of 84 per cent, of resin, 12.15 of a fragrant volatile oil, 
and a little bitter extractive. In medicine it is only em- 
ployed in the preparation of the unguentum elemi, (P. L.) 
This substance, like sagapenum, is sometimes adulterated, 
but more frequently a factitious kind is sold in its place. 
The latter is formed by adding 1 part of balsam of Canada 
to 4 parts of yellow resin, previously melted, after which 
about H per cent, of oil of juniper, and half this quantity 
of oil of fennel are stirred in. This fraud is readily detected 
by exposing the suspected article to heat, along with a 
little water, when its fragrance will evaporate, and the 
coarse terebinthinate smell and taste of the resin may be 
readily detected. Ibid. 
