Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)/Balsam (substance)

BALSAM, an aromatic, resinous substance, flowing spontaneously or by incision from certain plants. A great variety of substances pass under this name. But in chemistry the term is confined to such vegetable juices as consist of resins mixed with volatile oils, and yield the volatile oil on distillation. The balsams are either liquid or more or less solid; as, for example, the Balm of Gilead, and the balsams of copaiba, Peru, and Tolu. The balsams are used in perfumery, medicine, and the arts.