[648] Berichte der deutsch. chem. Gesellsch. zu Berlin, iv. (1871) 442.
[649] Annual Statement of the Trade of the United Kingdom.
[650] The amount of this is very small. On macerating crushed raisins in proof spirit in the proportion of 2 oz. to a pint, we found each fluid ounce of the tincture so obtained to afford by evaporation to dryness 28 grains of a dark viscid sugary extract.
[651] Heldreich, Nutzpflanzen Griechenlands, Athen, 1862. 61.
[652] Hist. Plant. lib. ix. c. 1.
[653] Lib. ii. c. 462.
[654] Wright, Early Travels in Palestine, 1848. 77. (Bohn’s series).
[655] Friar Jordanus who visited Scio circa 1330 (?) noticed the production of mastich, and also the loss of the island by Martino Zaccaria.—Mirabilia descripta, or Wonders of the East, edited by Col. Yule for the Hakluyt Society, 1863.
[656] Probably partly for the reason that a Palazzo Giustiniani in Genoa had become the property of the Society. In the little “Piazza Giustiniani,” near the cathedral of San Lorenzo, that palace may still be seen, but there is only a large view of the island of Scio which would remind of the Maona. I was told in 1874 by Sig. Canale, the historian of Genoa, that he thought it doubtful that the Officium Chii had resided in the said palace.—F. A. F..
[657] An incidental notice showing the value of the trade occurs in the letter of Columbus (himself a Genoese) announcing the result of his first voyage to the Indies. In stating what may be obtained from the island of Hispaniola, he mentions—gold and spices ... and mastich, hitherto found only in Greece in the island of Scio, and which the Signoria sells at its own price, as much as their Highnesses (Ferdinand and Isabella) shall command to be shipped. The letter bears date 15 Feb. 1493.—Letters of Christobal Columbus (Hakluyt Society) 1870. p. 15.