thing/concerning feveral plants o f the laft clafs, adhering, by
that means, to my principal fcope, which is to be ufeful, as
muth dk lies, in my power, to thole inhabitants by whom 1 have
been fo well-received and treated,
The common odoriferous Salvia reigns almoft to the excluiion
fif'every other plant in feveral tracts o f -Cherfo and Ofero. The
medicinal virtues o f this plant are univerfally known, and the
learned as well as unlearned'phyficianS; know it to be cephalick,
a'exiterick and ftrCngthening. T he Chinefe, who fell their tea
id the Europeans, wonder how there can be fuch a demand for
thap'herb,*‘which, in their opinion, is o f much lets worth than
the 'S ak iia , o f ¡which there is fuch abundance in Europe The
Hollanders buy up, at a low rate, as much Salvia aS! they can
find on the coa-fts o f the Mediterranean, particularly in Province,
and; fill, or give it in exchange to the Chinefe, f,-om
whom, they fay, they receive double, and fometimes triple the
quantity o f tea. Why might not we alfo endeavour to trafficfc
for pur falvia with the few Hollanders who bring us ' their bad
faked or frooked fiih I The ifland o f Cherfo and Ofero, together
with thofe in that neighbourhood, would furpiih thoufands: o f
huts, f
The lentifcus grows fpontaneoufly, in great plenty in the neighbourhood
o f the city o f Oymj. This (hfub, which never lofes
its leaves, might perhaps become o f foinc advantage to the illan-
deys, and deferveS to ’ be cultivated,''at Ieaff for " i trial; ' 'The
iflatjd of Scio in the Archipelago, derives the principal article of
trad?
** Paflerina hirfuta. Afperago procumbens,
& Ali/Tum Gemonenfe.
trade from- it. The maftich, which the Sciots gather from if,
is fold very dear at Conftantinople, and in many>parts o f Afia.
I f it could not be gathered three times a year*-on die ifland of
Cherfo, as in the Archipelago, perhaps it might be done once or
twice ; the ground is o f little value there, 7 O and the culture o f the
plant requires very little time, and only a little fimpleiattenfion.
The maftich iflues from the ineifions made in the lentifcusfn the
month of July, and falls on the gro-updyor is gathered,in ,4f p®
before it falls. The Sciots,are careful to. keep the ¡ground about
the tree very clean, that the purity o f the gum may- not be foiled-
when it falls. In the iflands o f the Archipelago, they alfo make
oil o f the feeds o f this ihrub, and the Turks prefer ■ it to the oil
of olives, both as si medicine and for burning. The .phyilcians
attribute to it an aftringent quality, and ufe it in proeidences of
the rehlum and matrix. A decoition p f the wood o f the lentifcus
is held in Germany for a wonderful -fpecifick -againit the gout-;
and as ,a tonick and dulcifier.
, Not only the lentifcus, hut various fpecies o f Cfius, generally
known .by the name of Salvia, are found in plenty in the woods
o f Cherfo, Among thefe probably, the ladaniwrous fpeciegiis
alfo to be found-, but the Cherfines have not yet exercifed their
induftry to extrad the ladanum. In the Greek iflands, the
priefts ufe to colled i t about the beginning <#£ A.ug.qft; -and
Tournefort, in his voyages, has given us.the.defcription , ofj the.
method they ufe. It is exceedingly fimple.. They iafiep.thongs,
of leather to the.ends of long poles¡5., and with tqefe they.gently
beat the tops o f the cfii-, the
ther, and they pull it off when dry. In Spain, the peafants.
ex trail the ladanum from the cifii by decodion, but it is not
efteemed. In the Levant much more ufe is made of this drug
than'-