Balsac. See Bolsec.
Balsam (Gr. /3a\aafjoy, i. e. opobahamnm, Arab. balasan), the fragrant resin of the balsam-tree, possess- ing medicinal properties ; according to Pliny (xii, 54), indigenous only to Judaea, but known to Diodorus Sic. (iii, 46) as a product of Arabia also. In Palestine, praised by other writers also for its balsam (Justin, xxxvi, 3; Tacit. Hist, v, 6; Plutarch, Vita Anton, c. xxxvi ; Florus, iii, 5, 29; Dioscor. i, 18), this plant was cultivated in the environs of Jericho (Strabo, xvi, 763 ; Diod. Sic. ii, 48 ; xix, 98), in gardens set apart for this use (Plin. xii, 54; see Joseph. Ant. xiv, 4, 1; xv, 4, 2; War, i, 6, 6); and after the destruction of the state of Judaja, these plantations formed a lucra- tive source of the Roman imperial revenue (see Diod. Sic. ii, 48). riiny distinguishes three different species of this plant; the first with thin, capillaceous leaves; the second a crooked scabrous shrub; and the third with smooth rind and of taller growth than the two former. He tells us that, in general, the balsam plant, a shrub, has the nearest resemblance to the grape- vine, and its mode of cultivation is almost the same. The leaves, however, more closely resemble those of the rue, and the plant is an evergreen. Its height
From Bruce.
does not exceed two cubits. From slight incisions made very cautiously into the rind (Joseph. Ant. xiv, 4, 1; War, i, 6, 6) the balsam trickles in thin drops, which arc. collected with wool into a horn, and then preserved in new earthen jars. At first it is whitish and pellucid, but afterward it becomes harder and red- dish. That is considered to be the best quality which
BALSAM
629
BALTTZE
trickles before the appearance of the fruit. Much in- ferior to this is the resin pressed from the seeds, the rind, and even from the stems (see Theophrast. Plantt. ix, 6; Straho, xvi, 763; Pausan. ix, 28, 2). This de- scription, which is not sufficiently characteristic of the plant itself, suits for the most part the Egyptian bal- sam-shrub found by Belort (Paulus, Samml. iv, 188 sq.) in a garden near Cairo (the plant, however, is not indigenous to Egypt, but the layers are brought there from Arabia Felix ; Prosp. Alpin. De balsamo, iii ; Plant, .Eg. xiv, 30, with the plats ; Abdullatif, Me- moirs, p. 58). Forskal found between Mecca and Me- dina a shrub, abusham (Niebuhr, Reis. i, 351), which he considered to be the genuine balsam-plant, and he gave its botanical description under the name Amyris opobalsamum, in his Flora /Egypt. Arab. p. 79 sq., to- gether with two other varieties, Amyris kataf and Amyris kafal. There are two species distinguished in the Linnsean system, the Amyris Gileadensis (Forsk. "A. opobals.") and A. opobals. (the species described by Belon and Alpin) ; see Linne's Vollst. Pflanzensyst. i, 473 sq., plates; Plenck, Plantt. Med. pi. 155; Ber- lin. Jahrb. d. Pharmac. 1795, pi. i ; Ainslie, Mater. Indira, i, 26 sq. More recent naturalists have in- cluded the species Amyris Gilead. in the genus Proti- um ,- see Wight and Walker (Arnott), Prodrom. florce pminsulce India Orient. (London, 1834), i, 177; Lind- ley, Flora Medica (London, 1838, 8vo), p. 169. This tree, .from which the Mecca balsam is gained in very small quantity (Plin. xii, 54, " succus e plaga manat
sed tenui gvitta plorata"), which never reaches
ns unadulterated, grows only in a single district of Yemen ; of late, however, it was discovered in the East Indies also. See generally Prosp. Alpin. Dial, de bal- salmo (Venet. 1591 ; as also, in several editions of his •work De Plantt. /Eg. p. 1592 ; and in Ugolini, Thesaur. xi, with plates) ; Veiling, Opobalsami veterib. cogniti vindxia?, p. 217 sq. ; Bochart, Ilieroz. i, 628 sq. ; Mi- chaelis, Suppl. 2142 sq. ; Le Moyne, Diss. Opobaham. declaratum (Upsal. 17C4) ; Wildenow, in the Berl. Jahrb. d. Pharmac. 1795, p. 14.3 sq., with plates ; Oken, Lehrb. d. Botanik. II, ii, 681 sq. ; Martius, Pharmakogn. p. 343 sq. ; Sprengel, zu Dioscor. ii, 355 sq.— Winer.
Our only reason for mentioning all this is of course the presupposition that the Palestinian balsam is named in the Bible also, and, indeed, the bosem (~i*3, Cant. v, 13), also basam (Qb3, v, 1 ; comp. Arab, bashauni), ■which in loth passages appear to be names of garden- plants, must be taken for the balsam-shrub (the ancient translators consider the word as a name). It is more difficult to determine whether the resin of the balsam- tree is mentioned also in the books of the 0. T. The tseri or tsori (*~}'4 or "'"^I) is commonly taken for such. This name is given to a precious resin found in Gilead (Gen. xxxvii, 25 ; Jer. xlvi, 11), and circulated as an article of merchandise by Arab and Phoenician mer- chants (Gen. xxxvii, 25; Ezek. xxvii, 17). It was one of the principal products of Palestine which was thought to be worth}' to be offered as a gift even to Egyptian princes (Gen. xliii, 11), and was considered a powerful salve (Jer. viii, 22; xlvi, 11; li, 8). He- brew commentators understand, in fact, balsam by tseri. The ancient translators render it mostly by gum. Others, however (Oedmann, Samml. iii, 110 sq. ; Rosenmuller, Alt, tilt. IV, i, 168 sq.), take it to be the oil of the Myrobalanus of the ancients (Plin. xii, 46 sq.) or the Elaagnus angustifolia of Linnaeus. The fruit of this plant resembles the olive, and is of the size of a walnut. It contains a fat, oily kernel, from which the Arabs press an oil highly esteemed for its medicinal properties, especially for open wounds (Maundrell, in Paulus, Samml. 1, 110; Mariti, Trav. p. 415; Troilo, Trav. p. 107\ That this tree grows in Palestine, especially in the environs of Jericho, we are told not only by modern travellers (Hasselquist, Voyages, p. 150 ; Arvieux, ii, 155 ; Pococke, East, ii, 47 sq. ; Yolney,