LIQUIDAMBAR  STYRACIPLUA  AND  ITS  BALSAMIC  RESIN.  33 
ON   LIQUIDAMBAR    STYRACIFLUA  AND  ITS  BALSAMIC 
RESIN. 
By  William  Procter,  Jr. 
According  to  Michaux  (Sylva  Americana),  Liquidambar  styra- 
ciflua  is  the  most  extensively  diffused  of  all  the  forest  trees  of 
North  America,  being  found  as  far  north  as  43°  30'  on  the  At- 
lantic coast,  and  as  far  south  as  old  Mexico,  spreading  westward 
as  far  as  the  Illinois  river,  and  southward  thence  to  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico.  Sweet  gum  is  its  most  common  name,  but  in  New 
Jersey  it  is  known  as  linn,  and  in  Louisiana  it  is  called  copalm. 
It  is  probably  largely  found  in  Texas,  and  some  of  the  largest 
specimens  were  seen  by  Michaux  in  Georgia,  between  5  and  6 
feet  in  diameter,  and  W.  P.  Creecy  speaks  of  specimens  in  the 
State  of  Mississippi  100  feet  high.  In  New  Jersey  I  have  seen 
the  tree  60  feet  high  and  2J  feet  in  diameter.  From  an  early 
period  it  has  been  known  that  this  tree  affords,  both  spontaneously 
and  when  wounded  to  the  sap,  a  soft  resinous  exudation,  which  is 
known  by  the  name  of  sweet  gum,  and  used  as  a  masticatory. 
There  are  two  forms  of  this  exudation  which  are  described  by 
Guibourt  in  his  Histoire  des  Drogues,  as  coming  from  Mexico  and 
Louisiana.  One  soft  and  resinous,  becoming  brittle  by  age  and 
analogous  to  tolu  in  consistence,  the  result  of  spontaneous  exuda- 
tion and  hardening  on  the  bark.  The  other  a  transparent  oleo- 
resinous  liquid,  like  copaiba  in  consistence,  and  obtained,  by  in- 
cision, immediately  into  the  vessels  in  which  it  is  kept  to  avoid 
the  action  of  the  air  upon  it.  According  to  Guibpurt  these  pro- 
ducts contain  considerable  quantities  of  benzoic  acid,  and  have 
the  odor  of  storax.  In  vol.  vi.,  page,  190  of  the  American  Jour- 
nal of  Pharmacy,  William  Hodgson,  Jr.,  states,  that  1000  parts 
of  the  balsam  procured  from  Louisiana,  yielded,  by  boiling  with 
soda  and  precipitation  by  an  acid,  42  parts  of  benzoic  acid,  and 
he  thinks  as  much  as  6  per  cent  might  be  obtained  with  careful 
manipulation. 
Prof.  C.  W.  Wright,  of  Kentucky  (see  Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  vol. 
iv.,  new  series,  1856,  p.  413),  says,  "  When  an  incision  is  made 
through  the  bark  of  this  tree,  a  resinous  juice  exudes  which  pos- 
sesses an  agreeable  balsamic  odor ;  at  first  it  has  the  consistence 
3 
