Family Herbal - Electric Scotland

20 FAMILY HERBAL.
and white, but they have large rough tops, which
remain after they are fallen. They stand in circular
clusters round the stalk at the upper joints;
the whole is plant of a fragrant smell. The root
is in flower
creeps and spreads abundantly, the plant
in July.
Fresh balm is much better than dry, for it loses
its fragrancy in drying. The best way of taking
it is in tea ; it is good for disorders of the head and
stomach.
The Balm of Gilead Shrub. Balsamum syriacum
rulk folio
THIS is an eastern shrub ; it grows to five or
six feet high, and the branches are very tough,
and, when broken, have a fragrant smell. The
leaves are like those of rue, only larger and
of a deeper gf r;cn ; the flowers are moderately
large and like pea-bl essoins ; they are of a pale
purplish hue mixed with white. The seeds are
yellow and very fragrant, they are contained in a
kiiid of pods.
No part of the shrub is used, but only the
balsam which is obtained from it ; the finest kuid
runs from the tree, of itself : there is a second sort
obf ained by boiling the twigs and young shoots ;
and a third, coarser, which rises to the top of
the water, after the purer sort has been taken
oiF. This last is almost the only kind we see, and
even this is very frequently adulterated.
It is a very fine balsamic and detergent ; it is
good in the whites, and all weaknesses ; and it is
cordial at the same time that it acts as a balsam ;
it is best taken alone upon sugar.