COPAIBA. See Balsam, vol. iii. p. 293.

COPAL, a hard lustrous resin, varying in hue from an almost colourless transparent mass to a bright yellowish brown, having a conchoidal fracture, and, when dissolved in alcohol, spirit of turpentine, or any other suitable menstruum, forming one of the most valuable varnishes. Like many other commercial substances, copal is obtained from a variety of sources; the term is not uniformly applied or restricted to the products of any particular legion or series of plants, but is vaguely used for resins which, though very similar in their physical properties, differ somewhat in their constitution, and are altogether distinct as to their source. Thus the resin obtained from Trachylobium Hornemannianum is known in commerce as Zanzibar copal, or gum animé. Madagascar copal is the produce of T. verrucosum. From Guibourtia copallifera is obtained Sierra Leone copal, and another variety of the same resin is found in a fossil state on the west coast of Africa, probably the produce of a tree now extinct. From Brazil and other South American countries, again, copal is obtained which is yielded by Trachylobium Martianum, Hymenaea Courbaril, and various other species, while the dammar resins and the piney varnish of India are occasionally classed and spoken of as copal. Of the varieties abovo enumerated by far the most important in a commercial point of view is the Zanzibar or East African copal, yielded by Trachylobium Hornemannianum. The resin is found in two distinct conditions :—1st, raw or recent, called by the inhabitants of the coast sandarusiza miti or chakazi, the latter name being corrupted by Zanzibar traders into “jackass” copal; and 2d, ripe or true copal, the sandarusi inti of the natives. The raw copal, which is obtained direct from the trees, or found at their ...

COPAN, a village of Central America, in the republic of Honduras, famous for the remarkable ruins in its neighbourhood. It is situated not far from the frontier of Guatemala, on the right bank of the Rio Copan, a tributary of the Motagua, about thirty miles east of Chiquimula, in 14° 45' N. lat. and 90* 52' W. long. The ruins occupy a rectangular area of about 1600 feet in length and 900 feet in breadth; and the outer walls appear to be about 25 feet thick at the bottom. The principal building is an immense terrace with a perpendicular front towards the river, extending a distance of 624 feet, and attaining a height of about 70 feet above the soil. It has been calculated that this single structure must have required upwards of 26,000,000 cubic feet of stone. Numerous obelisks and statues are still standing, covered in bewildering profusion with grotesque sculpturings, which in many cases can only have been ornamental, but in others belong pretty evidently to some hieroglyphical system of symbols. The presence of what appear to be altars in front of several of the figures gives reason to suppose that they were worshipped as deities. That these erections were the work of a people of considerable artistic and engineering skill is abundantly evident; but not the slightest datum is afforded by tradition for any conjecture in regard to their origin. An identification at one time attempted with the city which offered so brave a resistance to Hernando de Chaves in 1530 is now considered as unsatisfactory. The ruins unfortunately are exposed not only to the destructive influences of nature, but also to the attacks of an ignorant populace; and according to Dr Bernouilli, who visited the spot in 1870, the dangers from the latter source are rapidly increasing as the little hamlet, ...