Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: On storax / by Daniel Hanbury. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.
11/18 (page 9)
![The information is still not quite perfect, but in all essential particulars, I believe the following is a correct account of the PREPARATION OF LIQUID STORAX. Botanical Origin.—The tree from which Liquid Storax is obtained, is Liquidambar orientale Miller (L. imberbe Alton), as is proved by specimens of the leaves and fruits procured at my request by Mr. Maltass (see wood-cut). Localities.—South-west of Asia Minor.—Forests in the district of Sighala near Melasso; forests near Moughla, and near Giova and JJllk in the Gulf of Giova; also near Marmorizza and Isgengak opposite Rhodes. Mr. Maltass passed through a dense forest of Liquidambar between the village of Caponisi and the town of Moughla on the 7th or 8th of May, 1851: he describes it as consisting of trees resembling the plane, but evidently of a different species, the leaf being smaller, and each tree far denser in foliage than the plane usually is. I also observed says he that most of the larger trees had the [outer] bark stripped off from the trunk and the inner bark scraped off. I gathered some of the fruit and leaves, and proceeded on my journey towards Moughla, my road lying for upwards of an hour through this beautiful forest. I observed that the trees were from twenty to thirty feet in height, but whenever there was a break in the forest and the trees had sufficient air and space, they were of larger growth, many of them being forty feet high, more especially in the immediate vicinity of streams of water. My guide assured me that in some places in the forest in the direction of Melasso, he had seen some of these trees sixty feet in height. He could not tell me the name of the tree, but stated that an oil was produced from it called Buchur, and that the trees were mutilated to obtain it. Extraction of the Liquid Storax.—In June and July, the outer bark is stripped off on one side of the tree and (according to Lieut. Campbell) made into bundles and reserved for the purpose of fumigation. The inner bark is then scraped off with a semi-circular or sickle-shaped knife and thrown into pits until a sufficient quantity has been collected. Mr. Maltass states that it is then packed into strong horse-hair bags and subjected to pressure in a wooden lever press. Upon removal from the press, hot water is thrown over the bags and they are pressed a second time, after which the greater portion of the resin will have been extracted. Lieut. Campbell's account is a little different: he says the inner bark is boiled in water over a brisk fire, upon which the resinous part comes to the surface and is skimmed off. The boiled bark is next put into hair sacks and pressed, boiling water being added to assist in the extraction of the resin, or, as it is termed, yagh (i. e. ojT). Dr. McCraith says that the Storax collectors, who are chiefly a tribe of wandering Turcomans called Yuruks, are armed with a triangular iron scraper with which they scrape off, together with the juice of the tree, a certain quantity of bark, which they collect in leathern pouches suspended to their belts. When a sufficient quantity has been obtained, it is boiled in a large copper and the separated liquid resin is run into barrels. The residual bark is placed in hair- cloth and pressed in a rude press, the extracted resin being added to the general mass. The product obtained by the processes here described, is the grey, opaque, semi-fluid resin, well known as Liquid Storax. The bark from which the Liquid Storax has been extracted, is emptied out of the bags and exposed in the sun to dry, after which it is shipped to the Greek and Turkish islands and to many towns in Turkey, where it is much esteemed for the purpose of fumigation, although since the disappearance of the plague, its employment has greatly diminished. This is the substance known to pharmacologists as Cortex Tliymiamatis or Storax Bark, as is proved by abundant specimens sent me by Mr. Maltass.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b22283328_0011.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
