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ON  THE  PRODUCTION  OF  BALSAM  OF  PERU. 
OBSERVATIONS  ON  THE  PRODUCTION  OF  BALSAM  OF  PERU. 
IN  A  LETTER  TO  DR.  CARSON. 
By  Charles  Dorat,  M.  D. 
La  Union,  March  10th,  1860. 
Dear  Sir  The  difficulty  attending  a  visit  to  the  interior 
of  the  Balsam  coast,  and  the  extreme  jealousy  of  the  Indians 
towards  all  strangers  seeking  any  kind  of  information  concern- 
ing the  products  of  their  reserved  lands,  have  prevented  me,  until 
the  present  time,  from  complying  with  your  expressed  desire  to 
obtain  specimens  of  the  Balsam  and  Cinchona  trees  of  this 
region.  The  flowering  season  of  the  former,  in  particular, 
being  of  very  short  duration,  of  scarcely  more  than  a  few  days, 
it  requires  a  residence  of  some  time  previous  in  the  vicinity,  to 
obtain  the  specimens.  This  year  I  succeeded,  and  am  there- 
fore enabled  to  send  you  the  results,  viz :  a  dried  specimen  and 
a  colored  drawing,  made  on  the  spot.  It  is  of  natural  size,  and 
intended  for  my  journal,  perfectly  correct,  although  not  highly 
finished.  I  also  subjoin  an  extract  from  the  same,  including  a 
few  observations  on  the  location  of  these  trees,  and  on  the  mode 
of  extracting  the  balsam. 
These  trees  were  formerly  found  in  great  numbers,  covering 
the  great  inclined  plain  of  Acajutla,  as  far  west  as  the  range  of 
mountains  on  the  frontier  of  Guatemala,  but  at  present  with 
very  few  solitary  exceptions,  are  confined  to  the  nearly  unin- 
habited portion  of  the  Pacific  coast,  between  the  new  port  of 
Acajutla  and  La  Libertad.  The  medicinal  virtues  of  the 
balsam  were  well  known  to  the  Indians  before  the  conquest, 
and  packed  in  earthenware  jars,  ornamented  with  the  head  of 
the  Pajuil  or  wild  Turkey,  formed  part  of  the  tribute  annually 
paid  to  the  great  chiefs  of  Cuscatlan,  the  present  San  Salvador. 
Its  repute  in  the  healing  of  wounds  continued  during  and  after 
the  conquest,  increasing  with  the  scarcity  of  the  balsam,  from 
the  wasteful  destruction  of  the  trees  on  the  plain,  then  occupied 
by  the  Spaniards,  who  cut  down  the  trees  and  boiled  the  chips. 
This  custom  was  afterwards  prohibited. 
According  to  a  manuscript  copy  of  a  papal  Bull,  at  present 
among  the  old  records  in  Tzalco,  Balsamo  Negro  was  in  such 
