BAL
B A L
ted by Boerhaave to this purpofc, are thofe of balm, calamus aromaticus, cinnamon, cedar, citron, cloves, jafmin, lavender, white lillies, marjoram, mace, nutmeg, origanum, oranges, both thofe of China and Sevil, rofes, rhodium, and yellow faundcrs ; to which may be added, the natural balfaffiS of Peru and Gilead; theft two being fpontaneoufly fragrant without diftillation. Vid. Boerh. Chcm. P. 2.
DiJUtled Balsams, are only etherial oils diflblved in fpirit of wine. Burggr. Lex. Med. p. 1478.
Unguentarecus Balsams, are, properly, unguents compofed of divers rcfins, gums, and oils, fufed into one mafs with fpirit of wine, oil of turpentine, or the like ; intended to cleanfe, pre- ferve from putrefaction, heal, mitigate, rclblve, &c. Burggr. Lex. Med. p. 1479.
Balsam is alfo ufed, in pharmacy, as the name of one of the forms of medicines ; of a confiilence fomewhat greater than that of an oil, but lefs than that of an unguent junek. Con (p. Formul. Medic, tab. 16. p. 101. ^uinc. Difpenf. P. 3. p. 443. Ejufd. Lect. Pharm. 1. p. B.
Balsamum Sameck, of Paracelfus, is a fait of tartar dulcified, by diftilling fpirit of wine from it, till the fait be fufRciently fatu- rated with its fuiphur, and till it fufTer the liquor to be drawn off, as ftrong as when it was poured on. Beyle, Phil. Work, abr. T, 3. p. 2S6. Vid. LeMort. Collect. Chym. Leid, p.
436. Balsam, among alchvmifts, Is alfo appropriated toexprefs afub- ftance, proper to preferve bodies from putrefaction. Ru'.cmd,
P- 95-
Hence the art of embalming is denominated balfamation. The adepts in the faculty fpealc of an internal as well as exter- nal balfam. The firft is defcribed as, I know not what oc- cult principle in human bodies, neither bitter nor fweet, but acerb, &V. called alfo gluten natura. The latter, according to Paracelfus, is no other than turpentine, which has not born the violence of the fire, yet digefted. Vid. Cajicl. Lex. p. 99. a.
Balsamum de Mumiis, is a kind of balfam which they fpeak of, drawn from flefh.
Dead Balsam, Balfamum mortuum, a liquor prepared of myrrh and aloes, diflblved in fpirit of wine, chiefly ufed for drying and abforbingthe humours of dead bodies. CajL Lex. p. 98. b. Vid. La Mart. Collect. Chym. Leid. c. too. p. 113. We are alfo told of a Balfamum elementorum, and Balfamum corporis bermeiici; but the definitions they give of them arc much too fubtile for our comprehension, Vid. Caflel. Lex. p. 99. a.
Balsam of the Phiiofsphers, Balfamum Phdofophorum, is one of thofe enigmatical terms whereby they exprefs aurum potabile. Vid. Theat. Chym. T. 4. p. 328.
Ba lsam is alfo fometimes ufed, in ecclefiaftical writers, for the facred chryfm.
This is otherwife denominated bafamdaum. Du Cange, GlofC. Grzec. T, 1. p. 171.
Balsamum Traumaticum, vulnerary Balfam, a form of medicine prefcrlbed in the London Difpenlatory, intended to fupply the place of the tincture, commonly called the Friers balfam, fo fa- mous for curing frefh wounds. It is made thus : Take of ben- jamin three ounces, {trained ftorax two ounces, balfam of Tolu one ounce, fuccotrine aloes half an ounce, rectified fpirit of wine a quart ; digeft them together, till as much as may be of the gums are diflblved, and then {brain oft" the fpirit, Pembertons Lond. Difpenf. p. 282.
BALSAMATION, Bafamatio, is ufed, by fome writers, for the art or act of embalming dead bodies. See the article Em- balming.
Dr. Hook fpeaks of an univerfal balfamation, or method of pre- ferving all kinds of bodies from corruption, invented by Dr. Elmot. See the article Preservation.
BALSAMEL./EON, in the Materia Medica, a name given by fome authors to the balm of Gilead, or true balfamum Judai- cum. Dale, Pharm. p. 282.
BALSAMIC (Cycl.) is often applied to things healing or vul- nerary.
In this fenfe, phyficians fpeak of the balfamic virtues of iron a : hence alfo the denomination, balfamic jlyptic, given to Dr. Ea- ton's liquor b . — [ 3 Mem. Acad. Scierfc. 1713- p. 247. b Phil. Tranf. N u 283. p. no.]
Balsamics are medicines endowed with a balfamic, that is, a reftoring, healing, and cleanfing power.
The chief remedies intheclafs of baifamics, are the native bal- fams, which give the denomination to all the reft.
Balsamics are divided into emollients, reitoratives, vulnera- ries, and detergents.
Balsamics, again, are either internal or external; hot and aciid, or mild and temperate. The acrimonious kind are dangerous internally, and not to be given without the greateft caution, where there is any difpofition to inflammation or fever ; as in phthifes c , vomicas d , gonorrhoeas c , urinous diforders , ftone s, cephalsea h , c3>.— [ c Boerh, de Mat. Med. p. 142. Nent. Fund. Med. T. z. P. 2. p. 325. d Junck Confp. Med. p. 176. c Id. ibid. p. 480, feq. f Id. ibid. p. 42. s Id. ibid. p. 231. »» Nent.Lc. T. r. P. 114.]
Balsamics labour under this defect, that they muft make a vaft progrefs in moft inftances, ere they can arrive at the intended
fcene of action; by which means they not only come (lowly, and in fmal! quantities, but much altered, and varioufly mo :i- fied, by the action of the blood-veffels, and the intermixture of its humours.
In the intentions where baifamics arc chiefly given, the feat of the diforder is generally in thevifcera; where a medicine can only arrive by the common conveyance of the blood : and how long, from its being taken into the ftomach, muft fuch a medi- cine be, and how many alterations muft it undergo in the divers parts of the body it pafl'es through, ere it comes to the place defired ? Though the lungs are, by their fituation, fo near the ftomach, a medicine cannot arrive there, till it has taken its courfe through the lacteals, palled all the meanders of the me- fentery, gene up with the chyle into the fubclavian vein, and there entered the blood: and, after all, it has only the chance of coming to the part in fuch a quantity, as, with regard to the whole medicine which entered the blood, bears the fame proportion, as the blood in the pulmonary artery bears to all the blood in the other arteries.
Hence nothing is to be expected from baifamics, in a (hort time, or a few days : they mult be repeated, and followed, till the animal juices are fufHciently charged therewith, to afford a con- tinual fupply. £hiinc. Difpenf. P. 2. §. 4. p. 103. Add, that baifamics generally load, and clog the ftomach ; and, hence, have often bad effects. This ccnfideration leads the bifhop of Cloyne to prefer tar-water to all other baifamics. See TaR-water.
M. Leewcnhoeck has propofed a new method of adminiftring balfams, free from the inconveniencies above-mentioned. His method is, to take a little piece of filver or copper, the bignefs of a {hilling, and, making a fmall hole in it, fill the cavity with a little balfam proper for the occafion, and place it on the tongue ; then, flopping the noitrils, let no air be admitted into the lungs, but through the mouth. By this means, the fubtile or fpirituous particles of the balfam will exhale, and defcend into the vefTels of the lungs. But we do not find, that expe- rience has confirmed this notion of Leewenhoeck. Phil. Tranf. N° 279 p. 1 144. BALSAMINA, Balfamhte, in botany, the name of a genus of plants ; the characters of which are thefe : The flower is of the polypetalous, anomalous kind, and is, in fome fpecies, four- leaved, and, in others, fix-leaved. In the four-leaved flowers, the upper leaf is arched, and the lower hollowed, and termi- nated by a tail, and the two fide-leaves are atirited, and large. In the fix-leaved flowers of this genus, the lower leaf has no tail.
In both, the piltil, which is furniflied with two leaves, occu- pies the middle part of the flower, and, finally, becomes a fruit ; fometimes turbinated at one end, or both, and fome- times emulating the fhape of a pod, confining of feveral muf- cles, as it were, and endued with an elaftic force, and flyino- open with great violence. The feeds it contains, are fixed to an axis, or placenta. See the figure reprefented in Tab. 1; of Botany, clafs 1 1 .
The fpecies of bafamine enumerated by Mr. Tournefort, are thefe: 1. The common female balfam. 2. The common female balfam, with white flowers. 3. The common female balfam, with flowers partly white, partly red. 4. The balfam, with a large beautiful flower. 5. The balfam, with a very large white flower. 6. T he balfam, with narrow and elegantly crenated leaves, and with fmall white flowers. 7. The Indian balfam^ with flowers beautifully variegated with pale red, and white. 8. The Indian balfam, with double red flowers. 9. The nar- row-leaved Indian balfam, with a fmall, but very elegant, red flower. 10. The yellow balfam^ called noli me tangere. n. The paler flowered balfam, or noli me tangere. 12. The purple flowered noli me tangere. 1 3. The great Virginian noli me tan- gere, with deep yellow flowers, variegated with purple fpots. Tourn. Inft. p. 41 8.
The many varieties of this plant, kept in the garden?, are all raifed from feeds fown on hot-beds in the fpring, and after- wards planted out into pots and borders ; though there are two or three of the hardier kinds, as the common white, red, and purple kinds, which will come up in common ground, without any artificial heat, and will be ftronger, and flower better fo, than if raifed on hot-beds. But the fine double large kind, or immortal eagle-flower, as it is called, requires to be fet on a frefh hot-bed, after it has been raifed on one, in order to brino- it forward ; elfe it does not get into flower till late in the year, and will not ripen its feeds. There are two kinds of this beau- tiful fpecies ; one brought from the Weft Indies, by the name of the cock's fpur: this produces large and ftrong plants, but flowers very late. The other is from China, and is what is moft commonly called the immortal eagle-floiver, and is one of the fineft annual plants we have, producing very large dou- ble flowers, and continuing a longtime in flower, if fheltered from violent winds and rain. This produces feeds very well with us ; but thefe are apt to degenerate, after a few years, in- to fihgle flowers.
When the young plants are raifed in a hot-bed, and are to be planted out into pots, fuch are always to be preferred as have ftalks finely fpotted with red ; for thefe always produce red and double flowers. Millers Gard. Diet,
BALTAGI,
