BY J. H. MAIDEN, 435 



gamboge, but has not the property of staining. . . . The resin 

 is generally dug up out of the soil, under the tree, not collected 

 from it, and may perhaps be that which Tasman calls 'gum-lac of 

 the ground.'" 



Its ordinary appearance in the bush is of a dirty crimson colour. 

 It readily fractures, and it is then seen that this colour is only 

 superficial, and that the resin is yellow or orange-coloured, strik- 

 ingly-like (in appearance) gamboge, and sometimes like the arti- 

 ficial Burgundy pitch of the shops. 



It is well known for the pleasant perfume it exhales when 

 exposed to sufficient heat to volatilize it without decomposing it 

 completely. In Curtis' Bot. Mag., 79, 4722, it is alluded to as 

 " spear yellow gum," and the statement is made that it is " now 

 used, we are told, as incense in the Roman Catholic churches of the 

 Colony." 



In Wagner's Chemical Technology (Crookes), p. 484, the state- 

 ment is made that " New Zealand resin, the produce of Xan- 

 thorrhoea hastilis,* is now frequently used instead of shellac." 

 No species of Xanthorrhcea extends to New Zealand. 



The following are a few experimental notes on this interesting 

 resin. 



A sample collected by the author near Sydney represents the 

 resin in a very pure form, as no pains have been spared to pick 

 out lumps free as possible from adventitious matter. It possesses 

 a sweet odourf similar to that of benzoin, which is much increased 

 on powdering the substance. It fractures readily with a shining 

 fracture, and is reducible with the greatest facility to an impalp- 

 able powder. No substance bears a greater resemblance to it than 

 powdered gamboge, although that pigment is perhaps a shade 

 darker. Exposure to the light causes the resin to change its 

 colour to Indian red, which is the external colour of masses of 

 pure resin. This colour is only superficial. It does not soften in 



* Perhaps kauri resin ( Dammara australis) is, however, meant. 



t " When fresh it has an odour analogous to that of poplar buds, but 

 much more agreeable (Guibourt), while Maisch likens the smell to benzoin 

 mixed with a little storax. By age the odour becomes weaker, and gradually 

 disappears, but it is always developed by powdering or by fusion." 



