Frankincense

Frankincense (Lat. thus), a name employed to designate various fragrant resinous substances which diffuse a strong fragrance in burning, and are on that account used in certain religious services. The frankincense of the Jews, and also of the ancient Greeks and Romans, was chiefly or entirely the substance now known as Olibanum (q.v.), the produce of an Amyridaceous Indian tree (see BOSWELLIA). Several trees, however, of different orders, yield substances used as frankincense instead of olibanum, in different parts of the world, as several species of Iceia and of Croton in America; and the common fir (see FIR) in Europe, the resinous product of which is the Common Frankincense of the pharmacopœias, although in the shops concrete American turpentine is very often sold under this name. It is used in the composition of stimulating plasters, &c. Burgundy pitch is made from it. It is a spontaneous exudation from the tree, hardening by exposure to the air, and generally of a whitish or pinkish colour, with a rather agreeable odour and a balsamic taste. See INCENSE.