FRANKINCENSE

a name given to the oleo-resinous exudations from different species of conifers. American frankincense is got as a soft, yellow, resinous solid, with a characteristic turpentine odour, from Pinus Taeda. Another kind is exuded by the spruce fir, and forms a soft solid, the colour of which varies from white to violetved. From this Burgundy pitch is prepared by melting in water and straining through a cloth. The frankincense employed in religious ceremonies (called also incense and olibanum) is a gum-resin obtained from Bos well i a thuriféra (of serrdta), a tree Somewhat resembling the sumach, belonging to the Amyridacese, and growing amongst the mountains of India. It comes to us in semi-trans a rent yellowish tears, or sometimes FRANKLIN and is capable of being pulverized. When burned, it exhales a strong aromatic odour, on which account it was much employed in the ancient temples, and still continues to be used in Catholic churches.