GAL'BANUM, n. Heb.varied in orthography, from to milk.
The concrete gummy resinous juice of an umbelliferous plant, called Ferula Africana, &c., and by Linne, Bubon galbanum, which grows in Syria, the East Indies and Ethiopia. This gum comes in pale-colored, semitransparent, soft, tenacious masses,of different shades, from white to brown. It is rather resinous than gummy, and has a strong unpleasant smell, with a bitterish warm taste. It is unctuous to the touch, and softens between the fingers. When distilled with water or spirit, it yields an essential oil,and by distillation in a retort without mixture, it yields an empyreumatic oil of a fine blue color,but this is changed in the air to a purple.