OTHER MEDICINAL TEREBINTHACEA3.

1191

Wand stimulant. Seldom employed internally, and then usuallyi ** a djunct. Dose, 5 ss. to 3j- It is applied as a stimulant to foul andth ° en *' u ^ cers> Diluted with water (which renders it slightly milky by\v f e P ara ti° n °f the resin, but no precipitate is formed), it is used as aa S | f°r the mouth in ulceration and sponginess of the gums, and asS ar gle in affections of the throat.

I have taken much pains to ascertain its commercial route ;that all the importations of it, which I can trace, were from Amsterdam or

Other Medicinal Terebinthacete.

Th 1*

r es j e history and origin of Elemi is involved in great obscurity. It appears that the, p| le l "! , ' i . products of various terebinthaceous trees have been described under this name.Edinburgh College correctly, as I conceive, declare elemi to be the “ Concretevalidation from, one or more unascertained plants.” The London and Dublin^ e ^ s ’ Hn 'he other hand, call it the resin of Amyris elemifera of Linnseus (see histin C j j e d-) But this distinguished botanist has confounded, under one name, two dis-ing P la nts; viz. Idea Icicariba, Decandolle (Icicariba, Pison), aBrazilian tree (yield-Dg’ c< j or ding to Pison, a resin similar to the so-called gum elemi), and Amyris Plumieri,io» ^anhe, a native of the Antilles , which also yields a resin. To assist in determin-ed T c “7" in °f elemi , T ' ' ' ' ’ '

a tind t

Co ^ b urgh.

P r e ssi e tbat h is the produce of a Dutch settlement. But one of the importers ex-laud to me b * s belief (in which I do not coincide), that the elemi brought from Hol-that ( Vas s P ur ious, being made of common frankincense (p. 707), It would appearit tl) or nierly it came from Ethiopia by way of the Levant. It is possible thathur^ be tbe produce of the Canarium Zephyrinum sive sylvestre primum CanariSo °‘ Rumphius (Herb. Amb. lib. iii. cap. ii. p. 153), which he says yields a resinbe q e e lemi that it may be taken for it, and he puts a query, whether this tree may notfysdTT™ of il - I have met with three kinds of elemi:—1st. Elemi in flag leaves;fV° Ul e d#mi en pains, Guibourt; Resina Elemi orientalis, Martius. This is importedill a /RUaud in triangular masses, weighing from one to two pounds each, envelopedasc ri[, m ’P’ ab agrees in most of its properties with the next variety. MartiusCorr e „? S 7 to Amyris zeylanica ( Balsamodendron zeylanicum, Kunth). But if this were—2nd ’ Wou ld doubtless be imported direct from Ceylon to England, which it is not.>ell 0w - in the lump. This differs from the following kind only in its much paler

tecgjy ?°! ou r.—3rd. Brazilian Elemi; Resine elemi du Bresil, Guibourt. This variety Iobt a ; n | rom Professor Guibourt. If it be really brought from the Brazils, it is doubtlessGy,,. w j. Prom Idea Icicariba (Decandolle) by incisions into the stem, and is gatheredA'tour hours afterwards. “ It is imported in cases containing two or three hun-a ?e. P T Un . ds each. It is soft and unctuous, but becomes hard and brittle by cold and°dou r j, ls sen ii-transparent, of a yellowish-white,mixed with greenish points; itsVv hi c [ | 0 str °ng, agreeable, analogous to that of fennel, and owing to a volatile oilS Nldb e ay he obtained from it by' distillation. As it owes its properties to this oil, italcohol C sheeted recent, not too dry, and strongly odorous” (Guibourt.) It is soluble inCrystalp ' V] , dl the exception of its impurities, and a white, opaque, insipid, inodorous,'kserib '* a ble substance, called elemine, which is soluble in boiling alcohol. MartiusSCa,f nn„, S T/rierm Elemi (the genuine elemi of the ancients) as being in small pieces likeSit 8 t ’ a1ld having an acrid taste. Bonastre analyzed elemi, and found its consti-»» hot bf rolatile oil 12 •5, resin soluble in both hot and cold alcohol G0-0, resin soluble

l ^ he i, C °M alcohol ( elemine ) 24'0, bitter extractive 2'0, impurities 1'5.

'‘“"■ever Tsiological effects of elemi are similar to those of the terebintbinates. It is,n ! ? Ue W never employed internally. Its principal or sole use is as a constituent of theJ .j,. ., rn demi, L. D., w hich is composed, according to the London College, of Elemi,»!* rn e lt, 0 ,|" IIIHU Turpentine, gx.; Suet, lb.ij.; Olive Oil , fgij. The Elemi and Suetlately ., i f°&ether and then removed from the fire, and the turpentine and oil imme-

>>oys lh ed: the mixture is then expressed through linen. ’ The Dublin College'"trnent °f Rlemi, Ib.ss. of White Wax, and lb.iv. of Prepared Hogslard.—Elemi]; c . e !s, anrft Stlmu ^ ant a,ld digestive. It is applied as a stimulant to old and indolent

.(S'

promote the discharge from issues and setons. It is an imitation of the

1 v p r* u iuytc luc uisuiai^L mini issues auu setuus. av *■»*» --- -

ec °mmeuded by Arcreus, in 1574 {De recta curmid. Vulner. Ratione, Amst.