'54] B AL Ma] : it is delineated in E- .. t. 630' ; and in Curt. I Wi :ied bodi these nati ■ not on account of their dhm i des, for which they were once celebrated, but die •ding nne aromatic flowery winch are eagerly . by bi - and the latter, as being a merit to a flower-garden. .Vi, or Native Balsam, an f 'aid, oozing our of < ms, either spontaneo or by incision. There are a variety of balsams, d< to the sub- stances from which they are ob- 1 as the Canada, Co- fa: va, Gilead, Bej&u,Tolu, fee. ot --. an account undo; - i ive heads; S, a term used in an in tanner, but literally Ing substances, and c lied to medicines of
ry fferetit qualities, such as
emollients, detergents, restoratives, &c. It appears to be a general of baisamics, that they £■■•- hot and pungent, like the na- tural balsams and gums ; while their internal use tends to increase the vital heat of the system. — Hence they are commonly admi- red in those complaints which originate from a diseased action, or a defective state of the interior or- gans ; and as they can only be in- troduced to those parts by die sto- mach and die circulation of the , it will be easily understood that these slowly operating me- ionot be productive of d for time. Df Tonch-me- 1. i. one Df the poisonous- 1 1 B A M plants, growing in moist and shady places, especially in several parts of Westmoreland, Lancashire, York- , and "Wales : it is most abun- dant on die banks of cold brooks running through wood-lands, tercd under willows and alder- trees. Its stalks are about eigl inches high, and its vers appear in August. — See Witiiek- ixg, ■ % capsules of this plant, when touched by the hand, burst and throw out their seeds with velocity 5 whence it has received it ns Balsamine Seeds possess the de- leterious v of produ violent purging, when swallowed inadvertent ly by chil- dren ; and inevitable death, when taken to any extent. Dr. Unzek bread baked in an oven which had been heated with die dry stalks of this plant, poison- ed and nearly destroyed a whole family. In dyeing, die leaves and flowers of die balsamine, according to M. Bechstein, impart to wool a beautiful yellow colour. BAMBOE HABIT, an inven- tion of the Chinese, by the use of which a person unskilled in the art of swimming may easily keep himself above water. The Chinese merchants, when going on a voy- age, always provide themsel. . s with tiris simple apparatus, to save their lives, in cases of da: shipwreck. It is constructed by placing four bamboes horizontally, two before and two behind die body of each person, so that they t about twenty-eight inches : are crossed on each side by two others, and the whole proper- lv secured, leaving an intermed ate space for the body. When tivus termed, the person in danger slips. it
