ON  SOME  PRODUCTS  OF  THE  TEREBINTH. 
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NOTE  ON  SOME  PRODUCTS  OF  THE  TEREBINTH  (PISTACIA 
TEREBINTHUS,  L.) 
By  Sidney  H.  Maltass,  Esq.,  of  Smyrna. 
(Extracted  from  a  Communication  to  Mr.  Daniel  Hanbury.) 
By  the  modern  Greeks,  the  terebinth,  Pistacia  terehinthus7 
L.,  is  called  rtmuiouQia.  The  Turks  name  it  Tcetlembik,  and  the 
Europeans  Petelin  or  Petelino.  In  the  Levant  it  is  generally 
diffused,  being  found  wild  in  all  parts  of  Asia  Minor,  in  the 
islands  of  the  Archipelago,  in  Syria,  in  Cyprus,  &c.  When  oc- 
curring on  stony  ground  and  in  elevated  situations,  it  is  a  mere 
shrub,  but  in  the  plains  and  in  other  favorable  localities,  it  fre- 
quently attains  considerable  proportions.  The  leaves  appear 
early  in  the  spring,  and  immediately  are  followed  by  the  flowers. 
The  fruit,  wThich  forms  large  clusters,  is  at  first  green,  and 
shortly  afterwards  of  a  bright  red  color.  In  October,  after  the 
first  autumnal  rains,  it  changes  to  a  bluish-green,  occasionally 
with  a  purple  tinge.  In  this  state  it  is  considered  ripe,  and  is 
gathered  for  the  market.  It  is  then  of  the  size  of  a  small  pea. 
Its  outer  skin  has  a  not  unpleasant  taste  of  turpentine,  while  the 
kernel  possesses  the  delicate  flavor  of  the  pistachio.  These  fruits 
are  the  favorite  food  of  the  Oriole  (Oriolus  galbula),  the  Black- 
cap {Sylvia  atricapilla^  the  Bedcap  [Sylvia  rubricapilla),*  and 
the  Flycatcher  (Muscicapa  grisola)— the  last  three  known  in 
Smyrna  and  elsewhere  under  the  name  of  Beccafico.  In  Scio, 
where  the  fruit  ripens  earlier,  the  kernels  are  eaten  and  much 
esteemed.  They  are  also  valued  on  account  of  the  fixed  oil  which 
they  afford,  and  which  is  used  by  the  lower  classes  in  the  same 
manner  as  olive  oil. 
It  is  in  this  island  also  that  the  resin  of  the  terebinth,  known  as 
Scio  or  Chian  Turpentine,  is  collected.  Levrault,  whose  account 
is  very  explicit  and  correct,  says  that  although  the  turpentine 
exudes  to  some  extent  spontaneously,  it  is  produced  more  abund- 
antly from  incisions  which  are  made  in  the  trunk  and  branches 
*  Is  not  the  bird  here  intended,  the  Stone-chat  "Warbler  (Sylvia  rubicold), 
whose  flesh,  Cuvier  says,  is  in  autumn  fat  and  delicate,  and  not  inferior  in 
flavor  to  that  of  the  beccafico  f 
Sylvia  rubricapilla  is  a  name  I  cannot  identify. — D.  H. 
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