The Bdellium Tree.
Botanical name:
Arbor bdellium ferens.
WE are very well acquainted with the gum, or rather gum resin called bdellium, but we know very little of the tree from which it is produced; the best description we have of it, amounts to no more than that it is moderately large, bushy, and full of branches with prickles upon them, and with oblong and broad leaves deeply indented at the edges, so that they resemble oak-leaves; and that, when the young shoots are broken, they yield a milky juice. But even this does not come upon certainty, that is, we are not assured that this tree produces the very gum we see. This is of a red brown colour, and bitterish taste.
It is a good medicine in obstructions of the liver and spleen, but it is not much used.
