AFebJroaryP1isa95m"}  Notes  on  Some  Saps  and  Secretions.  99 
expressed  from  the  green  berry  and  leaves  ;  the  second  is  the  carpo- 
balsam  from  the  ripe  seed  or  berry ;  and  the  last  is  obtained  by 
bruising  and  boiling  the  young  wood.  The  twigs,  possibly  after 
boiling,  are  sent  to  Venice,  where  they  enter  into  that  heterogeneous 
compound — Venice  treacle. 
B.  Roxburghii,  Lin. — This  yields  a  gum  resin  of  a  greenish  color, 
moist  and  easily  broken,  having  a  peculiar  cedar-like  odor. 
Boszvellia  Carterii,  Birdwood. — The  Frankincense  of  commerce. 
This  stimulating  gum  resin  is  also  obtained  from  B.  Frereana  and 
other  species  ;  it  is  used  medicinally  and  as  a  perfumery  incense. 
The  European  frankincense  is,  however,  distinct,  being  a  resinous 
exudation  from  the  spruce  fir,  used  in  the  composition  of  plasters. 
Olibanum  consists  of  tears,  often  an  inch  in  length,  of  an  ovate 
or  oblong  clavate  or  stalactite  form,  and  mixed  with  impurities. 
The  pieces  are  light  yellow  to  brown,  pale  green  or  colorless.  There 
are  two  varieties,  one  of  which  is  far  inferior  to  the  other.  The 
best  is  found  in  pieces  as  large  as  a  walnut,  of  a  high  yellowish 
color,  inclining  to  red  or  brown,  covered  on  the  outside  with  a  white 
powder,  the  whole  becoming  a  whitish  dust  when  pounded.  It 
burns  with  a  clear  and  steady  light,  not  easily  extinguished,  and  dif- 
fuses a  pleasant  balsamic  and  resinous  fragrance.  This  drug  is  con- 
stantly burnt  as  incense  in  the  Hindu  temples,  under  the  names 
of  "Khomda"  or  "Kunda"  and  "  Luban,"  and  also  in  Roman  Catholic 
churches. 
Bombay  is  the  port  from  whence  the  greatest  quantity  is  exported. 
England  receives  from  7,000  to  8,000  packages  yearly.  Olibanum  is 
rarely  used  in  medicine  in  Europe,  but  in  India  it  is  regarded  as  a 
demulent,  aperient  and  alterative,  acting  chiefly  on  the  lungs  and 
as  a  purifier  of  the  blood.  It  is  there  used  in  rheumatism,  nervous 
diseases,  scrofulous  affections  and  skin  diseases.  It  is  regarded  as  a 
diaphoretic  and  astringent,  and  is  employed  in  the  preparation  of  an 
ointment  for  carbuncles,  boils,  ulcerations  and  other  sores.  As  a 
fumigating  agent,  it  is  employed  to  overpower  unpleasant  odors  and 
to  destroy  noxious  vapors. 
B.  glabra,  Roxb.,  also  yields  this  fragrant  resinous  substance.  It 
is  bitter  and  pungent ;  mixed  with  "  ghee  "  or  fluid  butter,  the  native 
doctors  prescribe  it  in  gonorrhoea  and  other  complaints. 
B.  serrata,  Stackh.,  is  sometimes  called  the  Indian  olibanum  tree. 
Of  this  there  are  two  varieties,  one  being  the  B.  tkurifera  of  Rox- 
