ELEMI

is a resin which exudes from incisions made during dry weather through the bark of the amyris elemifera , a tree which grows in South America and Brazil. It comes to us in yellow, tender, transparent lumps, which readily soften by the heat of the hand. They have a strong aromatic odour, a hot spicy taste, and contain 12 1 ⁄ 2 per cent. of ethereous oil. The crystalline resin of elemi has been called Elémine . It is used in making lacquer, to give toughne to the varnish.