BALM OF GILEAD. Among the more precious substances obtained from plants, applied as curative of wounds by the ruder inhabitants of the Eastern climates, the balm of Gilead, or balsam of Mecca, has been eminently distinguished during many ages. But although the balm of Gilead is well known from several scriptural allusions, and highly esteemed, it is only of secondary quality to the bal-
Balm of Gilead. sam of Mecca, for which it is frequently substituted; and illustrations of its nature and properties must chiefly be derived from the latter. This balsam is a resinous matter, exuding, like ordinary resin, from incisions in the bark of two different vegetables; at least there are apparently two, though the distinction is not well characterized or described by naturalists. The plant producing the balsam of Mecca was first ascertained by Forskal to belong to the genus Amyris. He transmitted one or two specimens to Linnæus, who has characterized it as the "Amyris Opobalsamum, leaves pinnate, with sessile leaflets, a native of Arabia;" while he characterizes the other as "Amyris Gileadensis, leaves ternate, very entire peduncles, one flowered lateral, a native of Abyssinia." This plant grows to the height of fourteen feet, flourishing in a hot climate, and in a stony barren soil. In general it is lower; and Mr Bruce describes a specimen five feet and a half in height, and five inches across the stem where thickest. The wood is white, light, and of open texture, covered with a smooth bark, reddish or bluish white, resembling that of a healthy standard cherry tree, green within, and emitting a very fragrant odour; that of the branches, which are very flexible and resinous, being equally agreeable. The leaves, which are evergreen and scanty, bear some resemblance to those of rue; and the flowers, which are leguminous and of a purplish colour, resemble those of the acacia. The fruit consists of small pointed ovoidal berries, containing a yellowish fluid similar to honey, of a bitterish taste, and exhaling a pleasant perfume, approaching the odour of balsam.
The balsam flows from incisions in the tree, which are made with an axe, in July, August, and the beginning of September, when the circulation of the sap is in the greatest activity; and it is received into a small earthen bottle. The total exudation is usually but three or four drops in a day, nor does the most productive tree afford above sixty. Its scarcity, therefore, and the difficulty of procuring it, have no inconsiderable effect in enhancing its value. The odour is at first strong and pungent, occasioning a sensation like that of volatile salts rashly inhaled. Its intensity is proportioned to its freshness and the care it receives; for if neglected and exposed to the influence of the air, the fragrance entirely decays. It is also of a rough, acrid, pungent taste. Originally the balsam is of a light yellow colour, somewhat turbid, and of a whitish cast, which is supposed to arise from the globules of air absorbed along with it; and it dissolves readily in water. It then acquires greater consistence, resembling honey, and becomes pellucid; and after the lapse of some years grows of deeper yellow, or gold colour, when it is very tenacious, and may be drawn out in threads. It is difficult, however, to obtain the balsam in a state of purity; for several different substances are employed in its adulteration, to detect which various experiments are resorted to. If dropped into a glass of clean water, it falls to the bottom without rising again to the surface; or if it remain still on the surface, like oil in a drop, it is certainly adulterated. If, on the contrary, it spreads on the surface of the water, diffusing itself in a thin pellicle, scarcely visible to the eye, and capable of being collected with a thread or a feather, it is the pure and natural product. In this state it will coagulate like milk, but not if otherwise. If pure, it collects in a globe when dropped on hot iron; if adulterated, it runs and spreads itself all around. The different substances used in the adulteration of this balsam are honey, wax, oil of sesame, turpentine, and ostrich fat. Sweetness of taste betrays the honey, and a turbid appearance the presence of wax. Adulteration with oil is detected by its yielding a darker and grosser flame than that which issues from the genuine balsam when dropped on burning coals. When the consistency becomes too great, which seems a consequence of age and long preservation, fluidity is restored by the simple application of heat.
Besides the balsam now described, which is the purest and most valuable kind, and is called Opobalsamum, other two of inferior quality are obtained from the balsam, the name by which the plant is known in the East: first, Carpopobalsamum, which is prepared by expression from the fruit when it has attained maturity, and which, if good, should be ponderous, of a pungent taste and balsamic odour; secondly, Xylobalsamum, which is elaborated from a decoction of the twigs.
Prosper Alpinus, one of the older naturalists, ascribes many properties to the balsam of Mecca, esteemed the most precious of all that bear the appellation of balsam, and in ordinary description considered as synonymous with the balsam of Gilead; and the modern Arabs, Turks, and Egyptians, entertain great confidence in its efficacy. Hasselquist says it is useful as a stomachic in doses of three grains. It is also taken for complaints in the breast, in fevers, and in rheumatism. Its repute as an antiseptic is very great; and by the Egyptians it is esteemed an effectual antidote against the plague. The balsam of Mecca, however, is principally used as a cosmetic by the Eastern females of rank.
The balsam of Gilead has been celebrated from a very remote antiquity. We have the testimony of Moses that it was an article of commerce in the earlier periods of Jewish history; for at the time Joseph was confined by his brethren in a pit, and during their deliberations on his fate, it is said, "And they sat down to eat bread,—and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and behold a company of Ishmaelites came from Gilead, with their camels bearing spicery, and balsam, and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt." Jeremiah particularly alludes to the virtues of the balsam in Gilead. Josephus, however, does not carry the knowledge of it so high; for he observes, that the Queen of Sheba brought the balsam of Gilead as a present to Solomon. The ancients who were contemporary with Josephus, seem to have regarded Judea as exclusively possessed of this product. Pliny remarks,—"but to all other odours whatsoever is to be preferred that balsam which is produced in no other part of the world than the land of Judea, and there in two gardens only, both belonging to the king, one not exceeding twenty acres in size, and the second still smaller." Strabo, however, in the opinion of Mr Bruce, ascertained the real spot where the balsam originated, in ascribing it to that country over or near to which the Queen of Sheba reigned. "Near to this," he says, "is the most favoured land of the Sabæans, and they are a very great people. Frankincense, myrrh, and cinnamon, grow among them, and on the coast that is about Saba, the balsam also." Whence Mr Bruce observes that "among the myrrh-trees behind Asab, all along the coast to the Straits of Babelmandel, is its native country. It grows to a tree above fourteen feet high, spontaneously and without culture, like the myrrh, the coffee, and the frankincense tree; they are all equally the wood of the country, and occasionally cut down for fuel." Diodorus Siculus likewise affirms that this balsam grew in a valley of Arabia Felix. But Mr Bruce, who investigated the subject with considerable care, supposes that it was towards the era of Pliny that it received its name of Balsamum Judaicum, or balsam of Gilead, and thence became an article of commerce and fiscal revenue, which might probably operate as a discouragement to bringing it from Arabia; as also that it might be prohibited as contraband. Some centuries later than the time of those ancient authors, we see that it was known in Arabia, and perhaps in the place now most celebrated for it. In the travels of Ali Bey it is stated that there is no balsam made at Mecca; that, on the contrary, it is very scarce, and is obtained principally in the territory of Medina; and also that it was called belsan. As the repute of the balsam of Mecca rose, the balsam of Gilead disappeared; though in the era of Galen, who flourished in the second century, and travelled into Syria and Palestine purposely to obtain a knowledge
Balmerino of this substance, it grew in Jericho, and many other parts of the Holy Land. The cause of its total decay has been ascribed, not without reason, to the royal attention being withdrawn from it by the distractions of the country. In more recent times its naturalization seems to have been attempted in Egypt; but apparently without success.
Notwithstanding the celebrity of this plant, Mr Bruce denies that it had ever been seen by the ancients, by whom he probably means the Romans, as their descriptions are so various and discordant. Prosper Alpinus, who lived in the sixteenth century, does not seem to know the real class to which it belongs; and even more recently M. Duplessy is apparently not aware of its having been figured by Bruce, and still later by Dr Woodville. Such uncertainties of old excited a violent dispute between the inhabitants of Rome and Venice whether the drug used in medicinal compounds was truly the balm of Gilead; and the point being referred to the pope, his holiness directed that information should be obtained from Egypt, in consequence of which he decided in favour of the Venetians.
Several other balsamic plants of the same genus are enumerated by botanists, each exhibiting some peculiarity. J.G.D.