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Webster 1913 Edition

bdellium

bdel′lium

,
Noun.
[L., fr. Gr.
βδέλλιον
; cf. Heb.
b’dolakh
bdellium (in sense 1).]
1.
An unidentified substance mentioned in the Bible (
Gen. ii. 12
, and
Num. xi. 7
), variously taken to be a gum, a precious stone, or pearls, or perhaps a kind of amber found in Arabia.
2.
A gum resin of reddish brown color, brought from India, Persia, and Africa.
☞
Indian bdellium
or
false myrrh
is an exudation from
Balsamodendron Roxburghii
. Other kinds are known as
African bdellium
,
Sicilian bdellium
, etc.

Webster 1828 Edition

Bdellium

BDEL'LIUM

,
Noun.
[ Bochard and Parkhurst translate it, pearl. Gen.2. But it is doubtful whether the bdellium of the scriptures is that now used.]
A gummy resinous juice, produced by a tree in the East Indies, of which we have no satisfactory account. It is brought from the E. Indies and from Arabia, in pieces of different sizes and figures, externally of a dark reddish brown, internally, clear and not unlike to glue. To the taste, it is slightly bitterish and pungent; its odor is agreeable. In the mouth, it becomes soft and sticks to the teeth; on a red hot iron, it readily catches flame and burns with a crackling noise. It is used as a perfume and a medicine, being a weak deobstruent.

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