98
MATE RIA MEDICA
When the tears or masses of Olibanum are placed in water, they
become white like chalk or lime in a few minutes, and this is an import-
ant character, by which alone they can be readily distinguished from
all other gum-resins and gums to which they bear a great resemblance.
The only drug which also possesses this character, as far as my own
knowledge and experiments extend, is Ammoniacum ; but the difference
between all other physical properties of the latter and those of O l i b a n u m
is so great that they will not be easily confounded with each other.
The small variety of Olibanum or Kudur consists of very small
grain-like tears of various shapes—round, oblong, flat, circular and
irregular. The round tears are generally about the size of green-gram,
and the oblong ones seldom exceed two lines in their length. They are
almost always of a pale-yellow or yellowish-white color. In all other
respects the small variety is quite identical with the large one.
The difference between the size of the two varieties being extremely
great, I thought at one time that the small variety was merely the broken
fragments of the larger masses rounded by attrition, but this is not the
case. I have examined some bags and jars in which the large variety
of Olibanum is generally kept for sale in the bazaar, and found the
small broken pieces at the bottom to be quite different from the tears of
the small variety.
From its small size and yellowness the small variety of Kundur is
often confounded with Masti ch, but it can be easily and readily
distinguished from the latter if a few pieces or tears of both are put
in water. Kundur turns white like chalk in ten or twelve minutes, as
already explained, but Mastich, a true resin, is unaltered, however long
it may be kept in water. It will be observed from the above explan
a - t i o n t h a t w a t e r h a s t h e s a m e e f f e c t o n b o t h t h e l a r g e a n d s m a l l v a r i e t i e s
of K u n d u r ,
but its action is much more rapid on the former than on the
latter.
The Arabic and Persian medical works generally speak of five
varieties of Kundur or Olibanum, which are as follows :
—
If the tears are circular and of a reddish yellow or reddish-brown
color, they are called Kundur Zakar( m a l e
k u n d u r ) ; i f p a l e y e l l o w
or pale-white, Kundur-unsá (female kundur) ; if round or spherical,
Kundur-mudahraj (round kunder) ; if very thin and scaly as though
separated by bruising from the bark or scurf of the plant,
Qishár-Kundur ; and if in coarse powder or dust (debris consisting of minute
particles of all forms), Daqáq- Kundu r .
As the size of the tears is not mentioned in any of the above medical
works, as far as my knowledge extends, it is rather difficult to say
positively whether the varieties described in them are referable to the
tears of the large or the small variety of Olibanum or I n d i a n
f r a n k i n - c e n s e .
I t h i n k , h o w e v e r , t h e y a r e r e f e r a b l e t o t h e t e a r s o f t h e l a t t e r ,
which alone is generally selected for medicinal purposes by the Hakeems
at Madras.
The small variety of Kundur is an important article and decidedly
preferable as a drug to the large one. Besides, it is about 4 or 5 times
cheaper than the latter, and can be easily and conveniently administered
in powder and draught, being both miscible in water and reducible
to powder. It is, however, generally adulterated or mixed with a
great deal of impurities, as gravel of different colors, sand, &c., which
should be removed carefully before the drug is used.