Balsam or Balm of Gilead

Balsam or Balm of Gilead is a liquid resinous substance, which has long enjoyed a very high reputation in the East for its fragrance and medicinal virtues. It is the subject of several allusions in the Old Testament, and is celebrated by Strabo, Pliny, Diodorus Siculus, and other ancient writers, almost as a cure for every disease. It is generally believed to be derived from a species of Balsamodendron (q.v.). The finest balsam, called Opobalsam, or Balm of Mecca, is of a golden yellow colour, and of a consistence like honey. Balm of Gilead is irritating when applied to the skin. Other substances sometimes designated balsams, and possessing a somewhat similar fragrance, are produced by different species of Amyridaceæ (q.v.). Among them is one called American Balm of Gilead, the produce of a tree called Icea Carana.—Balsamic substances are furnished also by a number of species of Clusiaceæ—Balsam of Umiri, a fragrant yellow fluid, by Humirium floribundum, a South American tree, of the natural order Humiriaceæ.—Canada Balsam (q.v.) is a kind of turpentine obtained from the Balm of Gilead Fir (Abies balsamea); Hungarian Balsam, from the Mugho or Mountain Pine (Pinus pumilio or Mughus); and Carpathian Balsam, from the Stone Pine (Pinus pinea). See FIR and PINE.—Balsam of Copaiva (q.v.) is the produce of different species of Copaifera. See EMBALMING.