ON  STORAX. 
257 
turpentine,  is  characterized  by  Lieut  Campbell  as  "  a  mere  in- 
vention." 
Previous  to  detailing  the  information  which  I  have  collected 
as  to  the  method  of  preparing  Liquid  Storax,  it  will  be  well 
briefly  the  review  the  various  opinions  which  have  been  held  as 
to  its  origin. 
1.  Many  of  the  older  writers  on  Materia  Medica  consider  it  an 
artificial  compound ;  Dale,  in  particular,  asserts,  that  what  was 
found  in  the  London  shops  in  his  time  (1693)  was  altogether- 
factitious. 
2.  Those  writers  who  adopt  Dr.  Landerer's  statement,  re- 
gard Liquid  Storax  as  the  produce  of  Styrax  officinale  Linn. 
3.  By  many  authors,  Liquid  Storax  is  referred  to  Liquidambar 
sty  rati flua  Linn.,  a  tree  found  in  the  southern  part  of  the  United 
States,  in  Mexico,  and  in  other  parts  of  Central  America. 
However  capable  that  tree  may  be  of  producing  an  analogous 
resin,  it  is  well  ascertained  that  the  Liquid  Storax  used  in  Eng- 
land, is  all  imported  from  the  Levant ;  and  there  are  sufficient 
reasons  to  conclude  that  such  is  also  the  case  with  that  used  on 
the  continent  and  that  it  is  certainly  not  the  produce  of  America. 
I  therefore  dismiss  the  supposition  that  the  Liquid  Storax  of 
commerce  is  of  transatlantic  origin. 
4.  By  some  authors,  Liquid  Storax  has  been  conjectured  to 
be  the  produce  of  Liquidambar  altingiana  Blume. 
This  tree  is  a  native  of  the  islands  of  the  Indian  Archipelago 
and  of  Burmah,  where  the  inhabitants  occasionally  extract  from 
it  an  odoriferous  semi-fluid  resin  ;  but  the  product  is  not  abun- 
dant, nor  does  it  resemble  the  Liquid  Storax  of  commerce ;  there 
is  not,  moreover,  the  slightest  evidence  of  it  reaching  Europe  in 
any  quantity. 
It  is,  however,  a  curious  fact  that  the  name  by  which  this  tree 
is  at  the  present  day  known  to  the  Malays,  is  Rasamala,  a  word 
very  close  to  Petiver's  Rosa  Mallas.  To  this  I  shall  revert  in  a 
future  page. 
5.  Liquidambar  orientate  Miller,  is  regarded  by  Guibourt, 
Lindley,  the  authors  of  the  French  Codex,  and  some  others,  as 
the  source  of  Liquid  Storax,  an  opinion  which  I  shall  be  able  to 
show  to  be  correct. 
Having  brought  under  review  the  various  opinions  current  as 
17 
