Fw: HERB - Two Questions

[Jenne Heise]

> 
> I have looked at both those sources also.  What do you think about Martha
> Washington's Booke of Cookery and Sweetmeats mentioning "frankincense of
> jawa"??  It is hard to say from the different period sources what it is.  
> In a previous post I listed info from the glossaries of Gervase Markham's
> "The English Housewife" and Hugh Plat's "Delights for Ladies" which say
> different things for benjamin or beniamin.  In one project I am going to
> use powdered frankincense and in another I am going to use both powdered
> benzoin and benzoin oil.  Interesting??  Can anyone shed anymore light on
> the subject??
> 

Benjamin appears to be pretty consistently (if confusingl) associated with
Styrax Benzoin... but as for Oil of Benn:

Webstyer's mentions:
Moringa
(Mo*rin"ga) n. [Malayam murunggi.] (Bot.) A genus of trees of Southern
India and Northern Africa. One species (Moringa
pterygosperma) is the horse-radish tree, and its seeds, as well as those
of M. aptera, are known in commerce as ben or ben nuts, and yield
the oil called oil of ben.


And the Encyclopedia Britannica sez

"drumstick tree

also called HORSERADISH TREE (Moringa pterygosperma), small,
deciduous tree, of the family Moringaceae, native to tropical Asia
but also naturalized in Africa and tropical America. Drumstick trees
can reach a height of about 9 m (30 feet); they have corky gray
bark, branching, fernlike leaves, and scented clusters of white
flowers. The dagger-like fruits sometimes are 45 cm (18 inches)
long. Flowers, pods, leaves, and even twigs are cooked and eaten.
A horseradish-flavoured condiment is prepared from the crushed
roots. Ben oil, extracted from the seeds, is used by watchmakers.
Perfume makers value it for its retention of scents. "

Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, mka Jennifer Heise	      jenne at tulgey.browser.net
disclaimer: i speak for no-one and no-one speaks for me.
	"Oh it's all too much, too grim, too lovely, too -- how should 
	I put this? It's general chaos." -- Edward Gorey

============================================================================
Go to http://lists.ansteorra.org/lists.html to perform mailing list tasks.