There is no doubt that the Greek word is correctly rendered, as is evident from the description of it by Theophrastus (Hist. Plant, ix, i, § 2, 4, § 7, etc.), Pliny (V. //. iii, 36; xxiv, 28), Dioscorides (i, 90), and other writers. Herodotus (iv, 177) compares the fruit of the lotus (the Rhamnus lotus, Linn., not the Egyptian A'e- lumbium speciosum) in size with the mastic berry, and Babrius (3, 5) says its leaves are browsed by goats. The fragrant resin known in the arts as " mastic," and which is obtained by incisions made in the trunk in the month of August, is the produce of this tree, whose scientific name is Pistacia lentiscus. It is used with us to strength- en the teeth and gums, and was so applied by the an- cients, bv whom it was much prized on this account, and for its many supposed medicinal virtues. Lucian {Lexiph. 12) uses the term (jxivoTpwKrrjg of one who chews mastic wood in order to whiten his teeth. Mar- tial (Ep. xiv, 22) recommends a mastic toothpick {den- tiscalpium). Phny (xxiv, 7) speaks of the leaves of this tree being rubbed on the teeth for toothache. Di- oscorides (i, 90) says the resin is often mixed with otlier materials and used as tooth-powder, and that, if chewed, it imparts a sweet odor to the breath. It is from this use as chewing-gum that we have the derivf.tlun of mastic, from naarixih the gum of the axit^of, anJ M"" ara^, fiaartxao), i-iaaao^iai, "to chew," "to masticate." Both Pliny and Dioscorides state that the best mastic comes from Chios, and to this day the Arabs prefer that which is imported from that island (comp. Niebuhr, Beschr. von A rab. p. 144 ; Galen, Defac. Simpl. 1, p. 69). Toumefort {Voyages, ii, 58-61, transl. 1741) has given a full and very interesting account of the Lentisks or Mastic plants of Scio (Chios) : he says that " the towns of the island are distinguished into three classes, those del Campo, those of Apanomeria, and those where they plant Lentisk-trees, whence the mastic in tears is pro- duced." Tournefort enumerates several lentisk-tree vil- lages. Of the trees he says, "These trees are very wide
Mastic {Pibtacia Lentibcits).
MASUDI
8V2
MATERIALISM
spread and circular, tea or twelve feet tall, consisting of several branchy stalks which in time grow crooked. The biggest trunks are a foot diameter, covered with a bark, grayish, rugged, chapt . . . the leaves are dis- posed in three or four couples on each side, about an inch long, narrow at the beginning, pointed at their extremity, half an inch broad at the middle. From the junctures of the leaves grow flowers in bunches like grapes; the fruit, too, grows like bunches of grapes, in each berry whereof is contained a white kernel. These trees blow in May; the fruit does not ripen but in au- tumn and winter." This writer gives the following de- scription of the mode in which the mastic gum is pro- cured. " They begin to make incisions in these trees in Scio the first of August, cutting the bark crossways with huge knives, without touching the younger branch- es; next day the nutritious juice distils in small tears, which by little and little form the mastic grains ; thej' harden on the ground, and are carefully swept up from under the trees. The height of the crop is about the middle of August, if it be dry, serene weather, but if it be rainy the tears are all lost. Likewise towards the end of September the same incisions furnish mastic, but in lesser quantities." Besides the uses to which refer- ence has been made above, the people of Scio put grains of this resin in perfumes, and in their bread before it goes to the oven. Mastic is one of the most important products of the East, being extensively used in the preparation of spirits, as juniper berries are with us, as a s\vcetmeat, as a masticatory for preserving the gums and teeth, as an antispasmodic in medicine, and as an ingredient in varnishes. The hardened mastic, in the form of roundish straw-colored tears, is much chewed by Turkish women. It consists of resin, with a minute portion of volatile oil. The Greek writers occasionally use the word (JxIvoq for an entirely different plant, viz. the Squill (Scilla maritimu) (see Aristoph. Plut. 715; Sprengel, Flor. Hippoc. 41 ; Theophr. Hist. Pla7it. v, 6, § 10). The Pisiacia lentiscus is common on the shores of the Mediterranean. According to Strand {Flor. Pa- tes/. No, 559), it has been observed at Joppa, both by Rauwolf and Pococke. The mastic-tree belongs to the natural order Anacardiacece,. — Smith, s. v. See Tris- tram, Nat. Hist, of Bible, p, 362; Buxtorf, Lex, Chald. col. 1230; Belon, Observ. ii, 81.
Masudi, Abu'l Hasan (^AH hen-IIusein hen- AW), one of the most celebrated Arabian savants, an early writer in the department of comparative religion, from the Mussulman stand-point, was born, according to his own statement, at Bagdad in the 3d century of the He- gira, or the 9th of the Christian a;ra, and was the de- scendant of an illustrious family, who were among the early and devout followers of the Prophet of Mecca. Masudi was gifted with great talents, which he applied at an early age to learned pursuits. He gathered an im- mense stock of knowledge in afl branches of science ; and his learning was not mere book learning, but he im- proved it in his long travels through all parts of the East, Turkej', Eastern Russia, and Spain. In A.H, 303 he visited India, Ceylon, and the coast of China, where the Arabs had founded numerous small colonics ; thence he went to Madagascar and Southern Arabia; thence through Persia to the Caspian ; he also visited the Kha- zors in Southern Russia, In A.H. 314 he was in Pales- tine ; from 332 to 334 in Syria and Egypt; and he says in 345, when he wrote his last book, tlie second edition of his dolden Meadoics, he was in Egypt, and had been a long time absent from his native country, Irak. He says he travelled so far to the west (Morocco and Spain) that he forgot the east, and so far east that he forgot the west. Masudi died probably at Kahirah (Cairo), A.H. 345 (A.D. 956); and, since he visited India as early as A.H. 303, it is evident that those who say he died young are mistaken.