Frankincense Tree.
Arbor thurifera.
A large tree, as is said, a native of the warmer countries, but we know very little of it. Those who describe it most, only say that the trunk is thick, the wood spungy, and the bark rough.
The leaves, they say, are narrow, and of a pale green: but as to the flower and fruit, they are silent. Some say it is thorny.
All that we use is the dry resin, which is of a yellowish white colour, and bitterish resinous taste, and strong smell. Our druggists keep this. Whatever tree produces this, it is a noble balsam; dissolved in the yolk of an egg, and made into an emulsion with barley-water, it will do good in consumptions, when almost all other things fail.
It were well if the common trifling practice in that fatal disorder would give way to the use of this great medicine.
