Besides the balsam now descrilled, which is the purest and most valuable kind, and is called Opobal samum, other two of inferior quality are obtained from the balessan ; first, Carpobalsamum, which is prepared by expression from the fruit when it has attained maturity, and, if good, should be ponder ous, of a pungent taste, and balsamic odour. Second ly, Xylobalsamum, which is elaborated from a decoc tion of the twigs. These are collected in small fag. gots, and sent to Venice, and the quality determining them to be the shoots of the year, is said to consist in their being knotty, the bark red, the wood white, resinous, and also exhaling balsamic odour. Various impostures are likewise practised here, in substituting spurious compounds for the real drug ; and the inge nuity of mankind in this species of deception has been carried to such an extent, that detection proves extremely difficult.
Numerous virtues are ascribed to the balm of Gi lead, so numerous, that modern empirics, availing themselves of that credulity which characterizes our nature in such matters, do not hesitate to offer speci fics of their own invention, under the same name, with bold asseverations, that the human race will there find a palliative for most of the evils with which they are afflicted. 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 which, in ordi nary description, we must consider synonymous with the balm of ; and the modern Arabs, Turk..., and Egyptians, entertain great confidence in its effica cy. It is a powerful vulnerary ; a quality of which Ma hornet took advantage, for he affirmed, that a grove of the trees sprung up from the blood of his own tribe killed in battle, the juice of which cured the wounds of the faithful, however deadly, nay, that it recover ed some of them from death itself. Hasselquist says, it is useful as a stomachic in doses of three grains. It is also taken for complaints in the breast, in fe vers, and is applied for rheumatism. Its repute as an antiseptic is very great ; and it is esteemed so tual an antidote against the plague, that when this distemper makes its appearance, the Egyptians take a certain quantity daily. The balsam of Mecca, how ever, is principally used as a cosmetic by the eastern females of rank : after being kept in a very warm bath, the face and breast are anointed with it, and the same process is continued every third day during a month. Oil of almonds, and other cosmetics, are then rubbed over the same parts, whereby the skin and complexion are beautifully renovated. Lady Mary Wortley Montague relates, that she was induced to try the experiment ; and that, in consequence, her face became swelled and red for three days, during which time, she suffered so much pain as to restrain' her from repeating the application. But her com plexion was greatly improved, and she adds, that the ladies of Constantinople, by whom it is used, have the finest bloom imaginable.
The balm of Gilead has been celebrated from very remote antiquity. We have the testimony of Mo ses, 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 balm, and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt." Jeremiah particularly alludes to the virtues of the balm in Gilead. Josephus, however, does not carry the knowledge of it so high, for he observes, the queen of Sheba or Saba, " who was inquisitive into philosophy, and on that and other accounts was also to be admired," brought the .balm of Gi
lead as a present to Solomon, on her visit to Je rusalem, about 1000 years before the Christian era. " They say also, that we possess the root of this balsam, which our country still bears, from that woman's gift." This is not inconsistent with the • words of Jeremiah, who probably flourished about 400 years later ; and to reconcile those of Moses with this account, some critics have supposed that Ju dea did not possess the real balm of Gilead earlier than the queen of Sheba's gift, but an inferior kind of balsam,—a fact not improbable. Further, that, what was in highest esteem as the balm of Gilead, was in truth the balsam of Mecca. The best testi mony of its value, is its having been the subject ,of royal donation among other rarities brought for the acceptance of so illustrious a prince as Solomon. It appears from the writings of the ancients, not far from contemporary with Josephus, that Judea was ge nerally believed to be possessed of it exclusively. Pliny remarks, " but to all other odours what soever, is to be preferred that balsam which is pro duced in no other part of the world than the land of Judea, and there in two gardens only, both belong ing 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 place of the origin of the balsam, in ascribing it to that coun try over or near to which the queen of Sheba reigned. " Near to this," he says, " is the most favoured land of the Sabeans, and they are a very great people. Frankincense, myrrh, and cinnamon, grow among them, and in 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 frankincense-tree ; they are all equally the wood of the country, and occasion all cut down for fuel." Diodorus Siculus likewise affirms that this balsam grew in a valley of Arabia Felix. But Mr Bruce, who hail investigated the sub ' ject with considerable care, supposes that it was to . wards the era of Pliny that it received its name of Balsamum judaicutn, or balm 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. A traveller who assumes the name of All Bey, in a very recent work, says, 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 ; as also that it was called belsan. As the re pute of the balsam of Mecca rose, the balm 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 of this sub stance, 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 ; for Prosper Alpinus relates, that forty plants were brought. from Arabia by a governor of Cairo, to the garden there: ten remained when Belon travelled in Egypt, nearly 250 years ago ; but whether from not agreeinif with the African soil or otherwise, only one existed in last century, and now there appears to be none.