170 
Gum  Mastic. 
/Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\       April.  1901. 
164,  the  authors  state:  "  They  are  of  a  pale  yellow  or  slightly 
greenish  tint,  darkening  by  age,  dusty  and  slightly  opaque  on  the 
surface."  Martius  ("  Pharmacognosie,"  1832,  p.  364)  distinguishes 
several  varieties  and  classes  the  seraglio  mastic  as  the  best.  It 
was  shipped  principally  to  Constantinople  for  use  in  the  Sultan's 
harem,  but  at  that  time  appearing  occasionally  in  European  com- 
merce. He  describes  this  variety  as  appearing  in  "  separate,  white 
or  yellowish-white,  roundish  tears."  The  tears  have  a  glassy 
appearance  internally  and  possess  a  peculiar  balsamic  odor  which 
becomes  more  pronounced  on  heating.  Mastic  is  aromatic,  and 
when  chewed  becomes  plastic,  by  which  it  is  distinguished  from 
sandarac,  which  remains  in  the  form  of  powder. 
Mastic  is  chewed  in  the  Orient  for  perfuming  the  breath  and 
whitening  the  teeth  and  is  said  to  have  the  property  of  hardening 
the  gums. 
Bombay  mastic,  which  occasionally  appears  in  the  market,  is  an 
oleoresin  obtained  from  Pistacia  terebinthus,  a  variety  of  which 
yields  the  Chian  turpentine.  According  to  the  Pharmacographia 
Indica,  Vol.  I,  p.  378,  ''The  general  appearance  is  much  the  same 
-as  that  of  true  mastic,  but  the  color  is  rather  deeper  and  it  wants 
the  fine  perfume  of  the  latter  article.  In  the  rainy  season,  unless 
kept  with  great  care,  it  runs  into  a  pasty  mass." 
The  two  kinds  differ  in  solubility.  According  to  Fielding  (Phar- 
macographia Indica,  Vol.  I,  p.  379),  75  per  cent,  of  true  mastic  is 
soluble  in  hot  alcohol,  while  the  Bombay  mastic  dissolves  com. 
pletely;  true  mastic  and  Bombay  mastic  are  completely  taken  up 
by  hot  turpentine,  but  on  cooling  the  solution  of  the  latter  variety 
gives  a  precipitate  appearing  in  cauliflower-like  masses  and  amount- 
ing to  25  per  cent,  of  the  dissolved  mastic.  Wills  ("Vegetable 
Materia  Medica,"  1886,  p.  72)  states  that  Bombay  mastic  is  soluble 
in  alcohol  and  this  solution  is  colored  brown  by  ferric  chloride. 
The  chemical  composition  of  mastic  is  about  1  per  cent,  of  vola- 
tile oil,  80  to  90  per  cent,  of  alpha  resin  and  10  to  20  per  cent,  of 
beta  resin  or  masticin.  The  alpha  resin  only  is  soluble  in  cold 
alcohol,  possesses  an  acid  reaction  and  is  known  as  mastichic  acid. 
According  to  Tschirch,  mastic  belongs  to  the  "  resene  resins  "  and 
consequently  would  contain  no  resin  esters. 
K.  Dieterich  [Pharmaceutische  CentralJialle,  1899,  453)  has  deter- 
mined the  acid  numbers  of  several  samples  of  mastic  ;  Bombay 
mastic,  137-6,  103-89;  Levantine,  65-99;  Turkish,  90-56. 
