M. SEEMANN’S JOURNAL. 85 
places where those plants are common, is done, I thought, with” 
some reluctance. For who likes, merely for the sake of a few gal- 
lons of wine, to cut down trees which may be turned to such manifold 
uses ? 
The Areca Catechu has not yet received the attention of capitalists, 
and consequently no plantations of any extent are to be met with. The 
Malays in Singapore chew its nut, together with Gambir, Tobacco, 
lime, and the leaves of the Siri (Piper Siriboa, Linn.); while the s 
Chinese practise the same filthy habit, with the only difference, that 
they use the foliage of the Black Pepper (Piper nigrum, Linn.) instead 
of that of the Siri. This statement, however, applies only to the 
colonists in the island: in the southern parts of China the people avail 
themselves of the leaves of Piper Betle, Linn. Though the quantity of 
tannin contained in the Betel-nut must exercise an injurious influence, 
yet it is a mistake to suppose that the mere chewing of it gives to the 
mouth an offensive appearance ; unless the other ingredients are added, 
the saliva hardly changes its natural colour. aur 
Black Pepper (Piper nigrum, Linn.) and Gambir (Uncaria Gambir, | 
Roxb.) are grown in great quantities, and exclusively by the Chinese, : 
for both these articles are so exceedingly cheap that Europeans have | 
not deemed it worth their while to engage in the speculation. Pepper | 
and Gambir plantations are always combined, because the refuse of the _ 
Gambir-leaves serve as an excellent manure for the Pepper; and more- 
over, what is of equal, if not of still greater, importance, kills the 
Lalang (Andropogon caricosus, Linn.) a plant which, like the couch- 1 
grass (Triticum repens, Linn.), spreads with astonishing rapidity over 
the fields, growing so close together and so high, that within a short 
space of time valuable plantations are rendered useless, and many have 
to be given up from the utter impossibility of freeing the ground from 
this weed. * is 
The process by which Gambir is extracted and prepared is simple. 
The leaves are boiled in water until all their astringent property is ex- 
tracted. The decoction is then poured into another vessel, in which it 
becomes inspissated, and, when nearly dry, is cut in small square | 
pieces, and thus brought into the market. M‘Culloch states that sago | 
is used in thickening it. This, however, at least in Singapore, is not | 
the case ; but, instead of sago, a piece of wood is dipped into the vessel, | 
by which the desired effect is produced. It must, indeed, be an extn f 
Seen ee 
— 
amet tee 
