ELEMI

elemi, an oleo-resin (manilla elemi) obtained in the philippine islands, probably from _canarium commune_ (nat. ord. burseraceae), which when fresh and of good quality is a pale yellow granular substance, of honey-like consistency, but which gradually hardens with age. it is soluble in alcohol and ether, and has a spicy taste with a smell like fennel. in the 17th and 18th centuries the term elemi usually denoted an oleo-resin (american or brazilian elemi) obtained from trees of the genus _icica_ in brazil, and still earlier it meant oriental or african elemi, derived from _boswellia frereana_, which flourishes in the neighbourhood of cape gardafui. the word, like the older term _animi_, appears to have been derived from _enhaemon_ (gr. [greek: enaimon]), the name of a styptic medicine said by pliny to contain tears exuded by the olive tree of arabia.