Subject:Benzoin
Entries
Entry 10693
And what will she have to do [to bring the man back?]. All right. She'll have to get her some benzoin. Benedict. You know, they call that ben- zoin; some persons call it benedict. See? It's a little weed. It grows some- thing like cor you understand. Call it benedict. [Here I turn off machine un- til informant says something about the French, which starts machine again.] (The French all it what?) Benzoin. (You mean the French [speak- ing people] here in New Or- leans call it benzoin?) But it's benedict. [For the identity of this plant, see my comment at end of rite.l You take that benedict and popcorn - see, this small popcorn - and grind that up fine, fine, and make a powder out of it. You understand. And she make a powder out of that. Take and put it in her mattress, right where he going to sleep; where he have been sleeping at [before he left]. You understand what I mean. And just leaves it there, you see. And get her a dog, any kind of dog, see. And let him [dog] lay on that. Tie him on there if he won't stay there. Tie him on there nine days and he [man] will come back again.
(Well, what has that dog got to do with it?)
That dog puts a heat to it somehow or other. I don't know, that what they [person who sold this substance to him] told me. The dog puts a heat to it, you understand.
(And what happens to it then, when it's heated?)
When it's heated, it foams, see. It makes a foam, swell. See, that bed is there and that corm, whatsomever, it swells up.
(And what will it do if it swells?)
After it swells, he [man] coming back there. Oh yeah, he coming. He going to leave this other woman. That breaks them up. [Informant says: They call that benzoin; some person call it benedict...a lit- tle weed. It grows something like corn [[surely maize = Zea Mays]]. Benedict must be a popular or a trade name. Benzoin means one of two things: (l) It is or was a balsamic resin from Styrax benzoin and other species of Styrax in Jaca, Sumatra, Siam, etc. It is used as a stimulant; incense, perfume, etc. (2) Ben- zoin is also the name of a small genus of aromatic shrubs of the laurel family [lmracese] having two North American species with popular names: (a) spicebush or spicewood and (b) benjamin bush. Informant's benzoin or benedict was probably anything his hoodoo drug store or mail-order house sold him.]