Mastic

a fragrant, resinous gum obtained from an evergreen shrub of the Mediterranean region. Cultivation for commercial purposes is confined to the Greek island of Scio. The shrub is from six to fifteen feet high. It grows on stony land, requiring much the same care as the olive. In midsummer vertical incisions are made in the bark. The resin oozes out and hardens into oval-shaped tears the size of peas. Every fifteen days the mastic is collected by women and children who carry little baskets lined with white paper. A thrifty shrub yields several pounds of mastic in a single season. During the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries mastic had a high reputation as a remedy, but it is no longer used in compounding medicines. Dissolved in turpentine it makes an excellent varnish for maps, paintings, etc. The sale of mastic forms the chief revenue of Scio. The principal customers are the Turks. Turkish women of all classes use it as chewing gum. The women of the harems chew it industriously, claiming that it whitens the teeth and imparts an agreeable fragrance to the breath. The name is akin to masticate-to chew. See Gum; Varnish