Fw: HERB - Two Questions
LadyPDC@aol.com
LadyPDC at aol.com
Mon May 8 22:45:35 PDT 2000
In a message dated 5/8/00 2:16:46 PM Pacific Daylight Time, ezagula at srv.net
writes:
> Oops, I forget to add that I did check in both Gerard's and Parkinson's and
> neither list Benn, Benjamin, Liquidamber Orientalis in any of the indexes.
> I haven't checked Culpeper yet.
>
> Elizabeth
>
Ahem, much as it hurts me to pass this information along to someone who will
be competing against me in the same area and doing the same project this
Saturday. ;)
If you look in "Martha Washington's Booke of Cookery and Booke of Sweetmeats"
on page 433 under the recipe #311 "To make the Court Perfume", you will find
information on Benjamin. She states "Beniamin, benjamin, is gum benzoin. A
dry brittle resinous substance with a fragrant odor, obtained from Styrax
benzion, a tree of Sumatra. The name comes from Arabic luban jawi,
'frankincense of Jawa (Sumatra)' (the lu was lost in translation) In
English, the name was typically assimilated to a word that was understood,
the proper name, Benjamin (OED)."
She also states that this tree is commonly known today as the Storax.
Period information on the Storax tree can be found in Gerard's Herbal on page
1526. Gerard also notes that the Storax oil is commonly used in perfumes,
pomanders, sweet waters, etc. He states he will say no more as the use in
these ways is not pertinent to what he is writing.
There is also a great deal on information on same in Mrs. M Grieve's Herbal
on page 775 and in Culpeper on page 355.
Hope this helps
Constance de LaRose
*See you on Saturday Elizabeth
(wondering what I am doing competing against all the most knowledgeable and
talented people in the kingdom - glutton for punishment maybe?) <g>
============================================================================
Go to http://lists.ansteorra.org/lists.html to perform mailing list tasks.
More information about the Herbalist
mailing list