Gum RESIN, a mixture of gum and resin. See CHEMISTRY and MATERIA MEDICA Index.
Red Gum RESIN, is procured from the red gum tree, or eucalyptus resinifera; a tree so large and lofty as to exceed in size the English oak. To obtain the juice from this tree, incisions are made in the trunk of it, and sometimes upwards of 60 gallons of red resinous juice have been obtained from one of them. "When this juice is dried, it becomes a very powerful astringent gum-resin, of a red colour, much resembling that known in the shops by the name of kino, and, for all medical purposes, fully as efficacious. Mr White administered it to a great number of patients in the dysentery, which prevailed much soon after the landing of the convicts, and in no one instance found it to fail.
Yellow Gum RESIN, is procured from the yellow resin tree, which is as large as the English walnut tree. The properties of this resin are equal to those of the most fragrant balsams. It exudes from the bark spontaneously, but more readily if incisions are made. The colour of it is yellow, and at first it is fluid; but after being inspissated in the sun, it becomes solid. When burnt on hot coals, it smells like a mixture of balsam of Tolu and benzoin, approaching somewhat to storax. "It is perfectly soluble in spirit of wine, but not in water, nor even in essential oil of turpentine, unless it be digested in a strong heat. The varnish which it makes with either is very weak. With respect to its medicinal qualities, Mr White has found it, in many cases, a good pectoral medicine, and very balsamic."