in the materia medica. Opopbalsam, or balm of Gilead. See AMYRIS.

Mr Bruce, the celebrated traveller, whom we have frequently had occasion to introduce to our readers with that praise to which we think his labours have fully intitled him, employs several pages of his Appendix in ascertaining the antiquity and native foil of the balsam-tree, with other particulars of that nature; after which he gives us the following account of the opopbalsamum, or juice flowing from it: "At first when it is received into the bottle or vase from the wound, from whence it issues, it is of a light, yellow colour, apparently turbid, in which there is a whitish cast, which I apprehend are the globules of air that pervade the whole of it in its first state of fermentation; it then appears very light upon shaking. As it settles and cools, it turns clear, and loses that milky appearance which..." It first had when flowing from the tree into the bottle. It then has the colour of honey, and appears more fixed and heavy than at first. After being kept for years, it grows a much deeper yellow, and of the colour of gold. I have some of it, which, as I have already mentioned in my travels, I got from the Cadi of Medina in the 1768; it is now still deeper in colour, full as much so as the yellowest honey. It is perfectly fluid, and has lost very little either of its taste, smell, or weight. The smell at first is violent and strongly pungent, giving a sensation to the brain like to that of volatile salts when rashly drawn up by an incandescent person. This lasts in proportion to its freshness; for being neglected, and the bottle uncorked, it quickly loses this quality, as it probably will at last by age, whatever care is taken of it.

"In its pure and fresh state it diffuses easily in water. If dropped on a woollen cloth, it will wash out easily, and leaves no stain. It is of an acrid, rough, pungent taste; is used by the Arabs in all complaints of the stomach and bowels, is reckoned a powerful antiseptic, and of use in preventing any infection of the plague. These qualities it now enjoys, in all probability, in common with the various balsams we have received from the new world, such as the balsam of Tolu, of Peru, and the rest; but it is always used, and in particular esteemed by the ladies, as a cosmetic: As such it has kept up its reputation in the east to this very day. The manner of applying it is this: You first go into the tepid bath till the pores are sufficiently opened; you then anoint yourself with a small quantity, and as much as the vessels will absorb. Never-failing youth and beauty are said to be the consequences of this. The purchase is easy enough. I do not hear that it ever has been thought restorative after the loss of either."