1148
ELEMENTS OF MATERIA MEDICA.
soluble in water, the solution having the property of reddeningand being feebly opalescent. The latter property is said, by Gueriffi ^be owing to a small quantity of insoluble nitrogenous matter preseuThe white pieces constitute the gummi electum of our druggists. On 1continent they are called gum Turic (gomme Turique), from Tot , 1 ^name of a seaport of Arabia, near the isthmus of Suez ; while the ^pieces are sometimes said to constitute the gum Gedda ( gomme Jed 'or Gedda), so called after another port. Gum Gedda is occasionally 1111ported into this country unmixed with other kinds of gum. In al] E' uentries of it which 1 have been able to trace, it came from Alexandriabarrels. j
2. Barbary or Morocco Gum {Gummi Barbaricum). This is imp 01 ",from Mogadore and Mazagan. In 1830, there were imported frompoli, Barbary, and Morocco , 2063 cwts. of gum {Pari. Return). Barba 1 .!gum is probably the produce of Acacia gummifera. Jackson says>obtained from a high thorny tree, called Attaleh. The best kind is P r ° ( jcured from the trees of Morocco , Ras-el-wed, in the province of Suse, a11Bled-liummer, in the province of Abda;—the second qualities areproduce of Sliedma, Duguella, and other provinces. I have two varlG . j,of Barbary gum : one (the Gomme de Barbarie of Guibourt) is in 101111
or irregular tears, mixed with many impurities, imperfectly transparc ’and of a dull yellowish colour, with a faint tint of green.—It is hupffectly soluble in water, and has some analogy to Senegal gum. 1 ,other kind (called Mogadore gum) is in small angular broken, lU ° s 'yellow, pieces, which resemble fragments of Turkey gum. ... n ,
3. Gum Senegal ( Gummi Senegalense). —This gum is imported 11 ,St. Louis, St. Mary’s, the river Gambia, Senegal , and Bathurst. I n *duty (6s. per cwt.) was paid on 24,698 cwts. Gum Senegal is P r0obtained from several species of Acacia; but especially A.
A. vera, A. Seyal, and A. Adansonii, are also said to produce it hi P^ uIt occurs in larger tears than those of Turkey or Arabic gum-breaking them we frequently find large air-cavities in their cellOccasionally we meet with whitish pieces, but for the most part they ,yellow, reddish-yellow, or brownish-red. More diificulty is expe rIGl1 - gin breaking or pulverizing this gum than gum Arabic, and its fractm cmore conchoidal. The taste of this gum is similar to that of the last-
Guibourt distinguishes two varieties of this gum, one of which he t rGomme du Bas du Fleuve, or gum Senegal , properly so called; the othe Gomme du Haul du Fleuve, or Gomme de Galam. The first lS I ,bably the produce of Acacia Senegal, while the second is procuredA. vera. There is but little difference between them: yet gum G ahas a greater resemblance to Turkey gum than Senegal gum has , ^
pieces are more broken, and therefore more brilliant than those ot S
ish
Those pieces of gum which have on some part of them a 5 .? J r t.opaque skin or pellicle, constitute the Gomme pelliculee ot Gm > __
The Marrons de Gomme, or Gomme lignirode, of the same pharma ^
it consists
C> ' ' <-» - 1
yellowish, or dark-broyvnish pieces, which are difficult to says
and rough. Treated with water it partially dissolves, leavm 0 ?Guibourt, a residue of gnawed wood (bois rouge). Guibourt statC f’p e eUin most of the marrons he has found a large ovoid cell, which hat