On the myrospermum of sonsonate, from which the so-called balsam of Peru, white balsam and balsamito, are obtained / by Jonathan Pereira.

  • Pereira, Jonathan, 1804-1853.
Date:
[1850]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the myrospermum of sonsonate, from which the so-called balsam of Peru, white balsam and balsamito, are obtained / by Jonathan Pereira. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    to tilZl T ° '^^-.^.'^'^ ^^ dirty ^vater gets soon to the bottom, after which it is strained ; although it appears very thick t passes through a very thm sieve. Generally a little Jure water is put T r nn 1''''' l ^ T P^^euts fermentation. From all the accounts that LiH ^ Sousonate, and from the very Indians who sold the balsam and which I believe to be true, it appears, that in certain seasons, they make mcisions m the bark of the tree, burn the outside slightly and then bind woollen or cotton rags round it, in which the balsam is caught up ; the rags are afterwards boUed in large jars with water, and the rags faJ^ to the ground. There is no other place on the whole Pacific side where this balsam is made but on this Balsam Coast. All the balsamo negro which comes to the European markets, by way of Lima, Guayaquil, Valparaiso and Belize, Honduras, or Sto. Tomas de Guatemala, is the produce of our balsam coast. The whole production of it does not amount to more than 20,000 lbs. or 30,000 lbs. per year-the average may be 25,000 lbs. The merchants iu Lima and Valparaiso buy it with much pleasure, and pay good prices to the Sonsonate merchants. The Canonigo Dhiguero, when he was proprietor of Ispauguasate, planted the balsam tree there, and I found about fifty fine large trees. The tree itself is a very fine tall and handsome one, with a straight, round, and high stem; the bark smooth, ashy coloured, and not very thick. The branches extend at the top, and the leaf is of a dark glossy green, rather a little curled. On a tree which was near the Campana, I tried the ex- periment to get the balsam out, but did not succeed; and one of the mozos told me that it was not the right tune. The tree grows as high as any of your oak-trees, and as thick. In April, 1846,1 purchased two jars of Balsamo bianco of a gentleman from Sonsonate, as a sample of Balsamo de Tolu; these I send you as well as the kernels of which it is made. By the mode they manufacture it, it can never be made an article of trade; and, unless you send us an apparatus and instruction how to extract it, which I think might be done in the way that heavy oils are extracted, such as oil of cloves, &c., pro- vided it is worth while, no use can be made of it. _ The Esencia tinturada del Balsamo Viryen, is what we call here Balsamiio. Finding by experience, that it would be a fine drug, curing old wounds, perfuming, washing, &c., &c., I got from Don Jose Soto the way to pre- pare it, and the sample which I remit to you by the Honduras and Pacific side is pretty large, and of fine quality.* As I have told you already, this balsamito is made by infusing the nut of the balsam tree, macerating the shell and kernel in brandyf of thirty degrees. Its inventor was Jose de Leon, Esq., as you will see by the printed paper enclosed. However, the shell of the nut, which is like that of an almond, contains in its concavities a most aromatic oil, and more so than that of the kernel itself. Brandy can never extract all this oil. Perhaps Dr. Pereira would be kind enough to put you in the way to learn the mode how to extract the balsam, after he has seen the nut, &c. In answer to Dr. Pereira's questions : 1st, I remit you a box with ten bottles of balsamo negro, or balsamo de Peru, made at the balsam coast, and remitted to me by ]\Ir. Victor Lenouvel, of Sonsonate, and which is the produce of the bark of the balsam tree, called by M. de Wazsewiez, Myroxylon perttiferum, as he told me. He has seen it at Ispauguasate, and at the Balsam Coast. This balsam is extracted as first described. • It is now Lq the West India Docks.—J. P. t The liquid here and in other places called brandy, is in fact, rum, being obtained by fermentation from sugar.—J. P.