1188
ELEMENTS OF MATERIA MEDICA.
Exudation of Myrrh.—M yrrh, according to Ehrenberg, exudes? 1’'^chcrrytree gum, from the bark of the tree. It is at first soft oil}'? aUof a pale-yellow colour; but, by drying, becomes darker and redder. , g
Description. — Myrrh ( gummi-resina myrrha; gummi rnyrrha)imported from the East Indies in chests, each containing from one tohundred weight. Formerly the finest kind was brought from Tin {Turkey myrrh), and an inferior one from the East Indies ( East 1®myrrh) ; but at the present time nearly the whole is brought 1India . In 18.39, duty (6s. per cwt.) was paid on 216 cut.times the same chest contains myrrh of all qualities, which is 1termed myrrh in sorts (myrrha naturalis seu myrrha in sortis) ; hut cmonly it is brought over more or less sorted. , .
Myrrh is only partially soluble in water, alcohol, or ether: the m ^these liquids takes up the gum principally, the two latter the resinoil. Water takes up more of the myrrh than alcohol does. *. K aC jdsolutions are good solvents for myrrh. A few drops of nitricdropped on a small fragment of myrrh, or on a concentrated tm cdevelopes a red colour.
1. Myrrh of first quality; Turkey myrrh {Myrrha turcica; M- ^
seu rubra vel pinguis). —It occurs in pieces, of irregular forms anvariable sizes, and which consist of tears (either distinct or agg‘°^ arated), usually covered with a fine powder or dust. In a chest ot ^few' pieces of fine quality may sometimes be met with, nearly as larg qJ .a man’s first. The colour varies, being pale reddish yellow, r e ’rcddish-browm. The pieces are fragile, semi-transparent, with a ® j e .part splintery, fatty kind of fracture. In consequence of imperfee ,siccation the largest and finest pieces often present internally? °P ai j,ywhitish or yellow striae, or veins, which have been com l )are nil ils-Dioscorides, Pliny , and many others, to the white marks on the ® ,
The odour of myrrh is aromatic and balsamic, peculiar, but to mos t {sons pleasant; the taste is bitter, acrid, and aromatic. The fpalest, and most odorous pieces are sold as picked myrrh {myrrhaseu select a).
2. Myrrh of second quality; Myrrh in distinct small tears ° r 3 1 0 (
Imported from the East Indies in chests. It consists of distinct te ^ agrains, wdiich are rounded or irregular, and vary in size from tn ^pin’s head to a pepper-corn, none of them in my specimen being s ° re jit>as a small pea. They are somew'hat shiny, more or less transj pand vary in colour from pale or whitish yellow to reddish-brow ■consists of tears of myrrh intermixed w'ith fragments of gum-ara. ’ p,jsof some resin very like mastic, or juniper. Many druggist® cann^country regard it as merely the siftings of the finest kind, but 1agree with them in this opinion. ^ s el1
pur®
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3. Myrrh of third quality; East India Myrrh {Myrrha
ostindica). Formerly this w r as the only kind imported from 0 fth eIndies. I occurs in pieces, which are darker coloured than thos 0 f
pieces, wmcn are aarker coiourea u»“ ^
so-called Turkey myrrh, and whose average size does not exceea walnut. It is often mixed with other substances, particuia ) j,
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