Dipterocarpus. POLYANDRIA MONOGYNIA. 613° 
round the base of the germ. Anthers ensiform, each end- 
ing in a long, tapering acute point approaching, to the 
habit of Vateria Shorea and Hopea. Germ superior, 
ovate, three-celled, with the ovula in each cell attached to 
the upper end of the axis. Style erect, as long as the sta- 
mens. Stigma three-toothed. Capsule ovate, pointed, one- 
celled, one-valved of a tender consistence, covered with 
a little short, soft hairy down, enveloped in the enlarged 
base of the even calyx, the two larger divisions of its bor- 
der become two, very large, linear, oblong, scarious wings, 
beautifully reticulated with veins and nerves. Seed soli- 
tary, of the shape of the capsule, the radicle issues from its 
apex leaving the two large cotyledons in the ground. — 
This tree is famous all over the eastern parts of India 
and the Malay Islands, on account of its yielding a thin 
liquid balsam, commonly called wood oil, which is much 
used for painting ships, houses, &c, 
To procure the balsam, a large notch is cut into the 
trunk of the tree, near the earth (say about thirty inches 
from the ground,) where a fire is kept up until the wound 
is charred, soon after which the liquid begins to oose 
out. A small gutter is cut in the wood to conduct the 
liquid into a vessel placed to receive it. The average 
produce of the best trees during the season, is said to be 
sometimes forty gallons, It is found necessary, every 
three or four weeks, to cut off the old charred surfaces, | 
and burn it afresh; in large healthy trees abounding in 
balsam, they even cut a second notch in some other part 
of the tree, and char it as the first. These operations are 
performed during the months of November, December, j 
January and February. Should any of the trees appear 
sickly the koeeing season, one or more years respite 
is oo — 
esi D. costatus. Gert Sem. 8. 50. 187. 
