The balsam of Mecca, opobalsam or balsam of Judea is a type of balsam that comes from the Commiphora gileadensis, which grows in Arabia and Egypt.
It is yellowish white, fluid, lighter than water, completely soluble in ether and essential oils, particularly in alcohol. Its smell, quite pleasant and penetrating, is close to that of turpentine mixed with lemon essence. Its taste is bitter, pungent and astringent. The Orientals treated it as fortifying and singularly exaggerated its virtues including almost always in the presents or gifts that made the sovereigns.
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