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FRANKINCENSE

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Originally appearing in Volume V11, Page 23 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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FRANKINCENSE ,' or OLIBANUM2 (Gr. A1il3avwros, later 9(los; See also:

Lat., tus or thus; Heb., lebonah; 3 Ar., luban; 3 Turk., ghyunluk; See also:Hind., ganda-birosa5), a See also:gum-See also:resin obtained from certain See also:species of trees of the genus Boswellia, and natural See also:order Burseraceae. The members of the genus are possessed of the following characters:—Bark often papyraceous; leaves See also:deciduous, com-t See also:pound, alternate and imparipinnate, with leaflets serrate or entire; See also:flowers in racemes or panicles, See also:white, See also:green, yellowish or See also:pink, having a small persistent, 5-dentate calyx, 5 petals, to stamens, a sessile 3 to 5-chambered. ovary, a See also:long See also:style, and a 3-lobed stigma; See also:fruit trigonal or pentagonal; and See also:seed compressed. See also:Sir See also:George See also:Birdwood (Trans. Lin. See also:Soc. See also:xxvii., , See also:Stephen See also:Skinner, M.D. (Etymologicon linguae Anglicanae, Lond., 1671), gives the derivation: " Frankincense, Thus, q.d. Incensum (i.e. Thus Libere seu Liberaliter, ut in sacris of lciis See also:par est, adolendum." 2 " Sic olibanum dixere See also:pro thure ex Graeco o Waves "(See also:Salmasius, C. S. Plinianae exercitationes, t. ii. p. 926, b.

F., Traj. ad See also:

Rhea., 1689 fol.). So also See also:Fuchs (Op. didact. pars. ii. p. 42, 1604 fol.), Officinis non sine risu eruditorum, Graeco articulo adjecto, Olibanus vocatur." The See also:term olibano was used in ecclesiastical Latin as See also:early as the pontificate of See also:Benedict IX., in the 11th See also:century. (See Ferd. Ughellus, Italia sacra, torn. i. 1o8, D., Yen., 1717 fol.) 3 So designated from its whiteness (J. G. Stuckius, Sacror. et sacrific. gent. descrip., p. 79, Lugd. See also:Bat., 1695, fol. ; See also:Kitto, Cycl. Bibl.

Lit. ii. p. 8o6, 187o) ; cf. Laben, the Somali name for cream (R. F. See also:

Burton, First Footsteps in E. See also:Africa, p. 178, 1856). 6 Written Louan by Garcias da See also:Horta (Aromat. et simpl. medicament. hist., C. Clash Atrebatis Exoticorum See also:lib. See also:sept., p. 157, 1605, fol.), and stated to have been derived by the See also:Arabs from the See also:Greek name, the term less commonly used by them being See also:Conder: cf. See also:Sanskrit Kunda. According to See also:Colebrooke (in Asiatick Res. ix. p.

379, 1807), the See also:

Hindu writers on Materia Medica use for the resin of Boswellia thurifera the designation Cunduru. 6 A term applied also to the resinous exudation of Pinus longifolia (see Dr E. J. Waring, See also:Pharmacopoeia of See also:India, p. 52, Lond., 1868). 1871) distinguishes five species of Boswellia: (A) B. thurifera, Colebr. (B. glabra and B. serrata, Roxb.), indigenous to the mountainous tracts of central India and the Coromandel See also:coast, and B. papyrifera (Plosslea floribunda, Endl.) of See also:Abyssinia, which, though both thuriferous, are not known to yield any of the olibanum of See also:commerce; and (B) B. Frereana (see See also:ELEMI, vol. X. p. 259), B. Bhua-Dajiana, and B. Carterii, the " Yegaar," " See also:Mohr Add," and " Mohr Madow " of the Somali See also:country, in See also:East Africa, the last species including a variety, the " Maghrayt d'Sheehaz " of Hadramaut, See also:Arabia, all of which are See also:sources of true frankincense or olibanum.

The trees on the Somali coast are described by See also:

Captain G. B. Kempthorne as growing, without See also:soil, out of polished See also:marble rocks, to which they are attached by a thick See also:oval See also:mass of substance resembling a mixture of See also:lime and See also:mortar: the purer the marble the finer appears to be the growth of the See also:tree. The See also:young` trees, he states, furnish the most valuable gum, the older yielding merely a clear glutinous fluid resembling See also:copal See also:varnish.' To obtain the frankincense a deep incision is made in the See also:trunk of the tree, and below it a narrow See also:strip of bark 5 in. in length is peeled off. When the See also:milk-like juice (" spuma pinguis," See also:Pliny) which exudes has hardened by exposure to the See also:atmosphere, the incision is deepened. In about three months the resin has attained the required degree of consistency. The See also:season for gathering lasts from May until the first rains in See also:September. The large clear globules are scraped off into baskets, and the inferior quality that has run down the tree is collected separately. The coast of See also:south Arabia is yearly visited by parties of Somalis, who pay the Arabs for the See also:privilege of See also:collecting frankincense .2 In the interior of the country about the See also:plain of Dhofar,3 during the south-See also:west See also:monsoon, frankincense and other gums are gathered by the Beni Gurrah See also:Bedouins, and might be obtained by them in much larger quantities; their lawlessness, however, and the lack of a safe See also:place of See also:exchange or See also:sale are obstacles to the development of See also:trade. (See C. Y. See also:Ward, The Gulf of 'See also:Aden See also:Pilot, p.

117, 1863.) Much as formerly in the region of Sakhalites in Arabia (the See also:

tract between See also:Ras Makalla and Ras Agab),4 described by See also:Arrian, so now on the See also:sea-coast of the Somali country, the frankincense when collected is stored in heaps at various stations. Thence, packed in See also:sheep- and See also:goat-skins, in quantities of 20 to 40 lb, it is carried on camels to See also:Berbera, for shipment either to Aden, Makalla and other Arabian ports, or directly to Bombay.' At Bombay, like gum-See also:acacia, it is assorted, and is then packed for re-exportation to See also:Europe, See also:China and elsewhere.' Arrian relates that it was an import of Barbarike on the Sinthus (See also:Indus). The See also:idea held by several writers, including See also:Niebuhr, that See also:frank-See also:incense was a product of India, would seem to have originated in a confusion of that See also:drug with See also:benzoin and other odoriferous substances, and also in the sale of imported frankincense with the native products of India. The gum resin of Boswellia thurifera was described by Colebrooke (in Asiatick Researches, ix. 381), and after him by Dr J. See also:Fleming (lb. xi. 158), as true frankincense, or olibanum; from this, however, it differs in its softness, and tendency to melt into a mass 7 (Birdwood, loc. cit., p. 146). It is sold in the See also:village bazaars of Khandeish in India under the name of Dup-Salai, i.e. incense of the " Salai tree"; and according to Mr F. See also:Porter See also:Smith, M.B. (Contrib. towards the See also:Mat. Med. and Nat.

Hist. of China, p. 162, See also:

Shanghai, 1871), is used as incense in China. The last authority also mentions ' See " Appendix," vol. i. p. 419 of Sir W. C. See also:Harris's Highland of Aethiopia (2nd ed., Lond., 1844); and Trans. Bombay Geog. Soc. xiii. (1857), p. 136. 2 Cruttenden, Trans. Bombay Geog.

Soc. vii. (1846), p. 121; S. B. See also:

Miles, J. Geog. Soc. (1872). 2 Or Dhafar. The incense of " Dofar " is alluded to by See also:Camoens, Os Lusiadas, x. 201. H.

J. See also:

Carter, " See also:Comparative Geog. of the South-East Coast of Arabia," in J. Bombay See also:Branch of R. See also:Asiatic Soc. iii. (See also:Jan. 1851), p. 296; and See also:Muller, Geog. Graeci Minores, i. p. 278 (See also:Paris, 1855). ' J. See also:Vaughan, Pharm. Journ. xii.

(1853) pp. 227-229; and Ward, op. Olt. p. 97. 6 Pereira, Elem. of Mat. Med. ii. pt. 2, p. 380 (4th ed., 1847). ' " Boswellia thurifera," . says Waring (Pharm. of India, p. 52), " has been thought to yield East See also:

Indian olibanum, but there is no reliable See also:evidence of its so doing."olibanum as a reputed natural product of China. Bernhard von Breydenbach,3 See also:Ausonius, See also:Florus and others, arguing, it would seem, from its See also:Hebrew and Greek names, concluded that olibanum came from See also:Mount See also:Lebanon; and See also:Chardin (Voyage en Perse, &c., 1711) makes the statement that the frankincense tree grows in the mountains of See also:Persia, particularly Caramania. Frankincense, or olibanum, occurs in commerce in semi-opaque, See also:round, ovate or oblong tears or irregular lumps, which are covered externally with a white dust, the result of their See also:friction against one another.

It has an amorphous See also:

internal structure, a dull fracture; is of a yellow to yellowish-See also:brown See also:hue, the purer varieties being almost colourless, or possessing a greenish tinge, and has a somewhat See also:bitter aromatic See also:taste, and a balsamic odour, which is See also:developed by See also:heating. Immersed in See also:alcohol it becomes opaque, and with See also:water it yields an emulsion. It contains about 72% of resin soluble in alcohol (Kurbatow); a large proportion of gum soluble in water, and apparently identical with gum arabic; and a small quantity of a colourless inflammable essential oil, one of the constituents of which is the See also:body oliben, C1°H16. Frankincense See also:burns with a See also:bright white See also:flame, leaving an ash consisting mainly of See also:calcium carbonate, the See also:remainder being calcium phosphate, and the sulphate, chloride and carbonate of See also:potassium (Braconnot).9 See also:Good frankincense, Pliny tells us, is recognized by its whiteness, See also:size, brittleness and ready inflammability. That which occurs in globular drops is, he says, termed " male frankincense " ; the most esteemed, he further remarks, is in See also:breast-shaped drops, formed each by the See also:union of two tears.10 The best frankincense, as we learn from Arrian," was formerly exported from the neighbourhood of Cape See also:Elephant in Africa (the See also:modern Ras Fiel) ; and A. von Kremer, in his description of the commerce of the Red Sea (Aegypten, &c., p. 185, ii. Theil, See also:Leipzig, 1863), observes that the See also:African frankincense, called by the Arabs " asli," is of twice the value of the Arabian " lban." Captain S. B. Miles (loc. cit., p. 64) states that the best See also:kind of frankincense, known to the Somali as " bedwi " or " sheheri," comes from the trees " Mohr Add " and " Mohr Madow " (vide supra), and from a taller species of Boswellia, the " Boido," and is sent to Bombay for exportation to Europe; and that an inferior " mayeti," the produce of the " Yegaar," is exported chiefly to Jeddah and See also:Yemen ports.12 The latter may possibly be what Niebuhr alludes to as " Indian frankincense." 13 Garcias da Horta, in asserting the Arabian origin of the drug, remarks that the term " Indian " is often applied by the Arabs to a dark-coloured variety.'4 According to Pliny (Nat. Hist. xiv. 1; cf.

See also:

Ovid, See also:Fasti i. 337 6 " Libanus igitur est See also:mons redolentie & summe aromaticitatis. nam ibi herbe odorifere crescunt. ibi etiam arbores thurifere coalescunt quarum gummi electum olibanum a medicis nuncupatur."—Perigrinatio, p. 53 (1502, fol.). 9 See, on the See also:chemistry of frankincense, Braconnot, See also:Ann. de chimie, lxviii. (1808) pp. 6o-69; See also:Johnston, Phil. Trans. (1839), pp. 301-305; J. Stenhouse, Ann. der Chem. and Pharm. See also:xxxv. (184o) p. 306; and A.

Kurbatow, Zeitsch. See also:

fur Chem. (1871), p. 201. 10 " Praecipua autem gratia est mammoso, cum haerente lacryma priore consecuta alia miscuit se " (Nat. Hist. xii. 32). One of the See also:Chinese names for frankincense, Jxi-hiang, " milk-perfume," is explained by the See also:Pen Ts'au (xxxiv. 45), a Chinese See also:work, as being derived from the nipple-like See also:form of its drops. (See E. See also:Bretschneider, On the Knowledge possessed by the See also:Ancient Chinese of the Arabs, &c., p. 19, Lond., 1871.) " The Voyage of See also:Nearchus, loc. cit. 12 Vaughan (Pharm.

Journ. xii. 1853) speaks of the Arabian Luban, commonly called Morbat or Shaharree Luban, as realizing higher prices in the See also:

market than any of the qualities exported from Africa. The incense of " See also:Esher," i.e. Shihr or Shehr, is mentioned by Marco See also:Polo, as also by Barbosa. (See See also:Yule, op: cit. ii. p. 377.) J. See also:Raymond Wellsted (Travels to the See also:City of the Caliphs, p. 173, Lond., 184o) distinguishes two kinds of frankincense—" Meaty," selling at $4 per cwt., and an inferior See also:article fetching 20%less. 13 " Es scheint, See also:dass selber See also:die Araber ihr eignes Rauchwerk nicht hoch schatzen; denn die Vornehmen in Jemen brauchen gemeiniglich indianisches Rauchwerk, ja eine See also:grosse Menge Mastix von der Inset Scio " (Beschreibung von Arabien, p. 143, Kopenh., 1772). 14 " De Arabibus minus mirum, qui nigricantem colorem, quo Thus Indicum praeditum esse vult Dioscorides [lib. i. c. 70], Indum plerumque vocent, ut ex Myrobalano nigro See also:quern Indum appellant, patet " (op. sup. cit. p.

157). sq.), frankincense was not sacrificially employed in Trojan times. It was used by the ancient Egyptians in their religious See also:

rites, but, as See also:Herodotus tells us (ii. 86), not in See also:embalming. It constituted a See also:fourth See also:part of the Jewish incense of the See also:sanctuary. (Ex. See also:xxx. 34), and is frequently mentioned in the See also:Pentateuch. With other spices it was stored in a See also:great chamber of the See also:house of See also:God at See also:Jerusalem (1 Chron. ix. 29, Neh. xiii. 5-9). On the sacrificial use and import of frankincense and similar substances see INCENSE. In the Red Sea regions frankincense is valued not only for its sweet odour when burnt, but as a masticatory; and blazing lumps of it are not infrequently used for See also:illumination instead of oil lamps.

Its fumes are an excellent insectifuge. As a See also:

medicine it was in former times in high repute. Pliny (Nat. Hist. See also:xxv. 82) mentions it as an antidote to See also:hemlock. See also:Avicenna (ed. Plempii, lib. ii. p. 161, Lovanii, 1658, fol.) recommends it for tumours, ulcers of the See also:head and ears, affections of the breast, vomiting, See also:dysentery and fevers. In the East frankincense has been found efficacious as an See also:external application in carbuncles, See also:blind boils and gangrenous sores, and as an internal See also:agent is given in gonorrhoea. In China it was an old internal remedy for leprosy and struma, and is accredited with stimulant, tonic, sedative, astringent and vulnerary properties. It is not used in modern medicine, being destitute of any See also:special virtues. (See Waring, Pharm. of India, p.

443, &c.; and F. Porter Smith, op. cit., p. 162.) See also:

Common frankincense or thus, Abietis resina, is the term applied to a resin which exudes from fissures in the bark of the See also:Norway spruce See also:fir, Abies excelsa, D.C.; when melted in hot water and strained it constitutes " See also:Burgundy See also:pitch," Pix abietina. The concreted See also:turpentine obtained in the See also:United States by making incisions in the trunk of a species of See also:pine, Pinus australis, is also so designated. It is commercially known as " scrape," and is similar to the See also:French " galipot " or " See also:barras." Common frankincense is an ingredient in some ointments and plasters, and on See also:account of its pleasant odour when burned has been used in incense as a substitute for olibanum. (See Fluckiger and Hanbury, Pharmacographia.) The" See also:black frankincense oil " of the See also:Turks is stated by Hanbury (See also:Science Papers, p. 142, 1876) to be liquid storax. (F. H.

End of Article: FRANKINCENSE

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