136 
ON THE MYROSPERMUM OF SONSONATE. 
tacles the balsam is usually found in the liquid state ; but some- 
times the walls of the receptacles are lined with the crystallized 
balsam (Myroxocarpine). That the balsam resides in the meso- 
carp and not in the cavity of the fruit is proved by the cross sec- 
tion, which shows that the paries of the cavity of the fruit is con- 
tinuous with the two sutures. The seed lies loose and dry in the cell 
of the pericarp ; and is covered by a thin, white, membranous 
coat, (testa ?) The cotyledons are yellowish and oily, and have 
an agreeable odor like that of the tonka-bean or melilot, and a 
bitter taste somewhat resembling that of the bitter almond. By 
digesting the seeds in ether, a tincture is obtained, which yields 
on evaporation a very agreeable smelling, amber-colored, soft, 
extract, whose odor resembles that of the tonka-bean or melilot. 
Some of the fruits which I gave to Mr. Alfred Smee were sown 
by him in a pot, and placed in his hot-house. Several of them 
have produced thriving plants. A leaf of one of the plants thus 
raised consists of 5 alternate leaflets marked with pellucid dots 
and lines. To the naked eye all parts of the leaves appear quite 
smooth ; but when examined by the microscope the general and 
partial petioles, the mid-ribs, and the edges of the leaflets, are 
seen to be covered with small, reddish, appressed, lymphatic 
hairs. The lamina of the leaflet is emarginate, but the summit of 
the mid-rib, crowned by a small bush of hairs, projects, on the 
dorsal surface, beyond the lamina, and ^ives the appearance of a 
minute pointlet or mucro. As the leaflets dry this pointlet appears 
to be shrinking and becoming brown. As the leaf grow 7 s it proba- 
bly falls off. 
[The three following pages of Dr. Pereira's memoir are occupi- 
ed with a comparative examination of the leaves and fruit of the 
Hoitziloxtl, or Indian balsam tree cf Hernandez; the Myrospermum 
frutescens, and M. pedicellatum, M. peruiferum,(h\nn.) theMyros- 
permum. described by Dr. Weddell, the M. pubescens of Kunth, 
Myroxylon balsamiferum of Pavon, and some others. As these 
descriptions are purely botanical, and as they are accompanied by 
a number of figures necessary to their full comprehension they are 
omitted and the scientific reader referred to the Pharmaceutical 
Journal, Vol. 10, pages 282 to 285, inclusive. — Editor.] 
Central America is the country of the Myrospermum of Sonso 
