Februari 1, 1884.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



585 



ANALYSIS OF SOME SAMPLES OF NATLTIAL 



AND RENEWED SUOOIRLtBRA BARK FROM 



THE SAME QUILLS. 



BY JOHN HODGKIN, F.I.C., F.C.S. 



A parcel iu a recent consignment of Oeylou succix'ubra 

 consisted of quills of natural and renewed bark in 

 juxtaposition ; these quills were about a foot long, the upper 

 half bein;,' renewed bark (No. 3), whilst the lower portion 

 was natural fXo. 2). .\s in the same cousiijnment there 

 were i>.arcels of bark entirely natural (No. 1), and also bark 

 entirely renewed (No. 4), an opportunity offered itself for 



testing whether the renewed and natural barks in direct 

 contact with one another afforded intermediate results to 

 those obtained from the unmixed barks. 



The quantity experimented upon in each case was identical, 

 and the percentage of moisture contained in the various 

 barks was noted, in order that the analyses might be 

 brought to one level for greater ease in comparison. The 

 results, therefore, have all been calculated to Moeus' stand- 

 ard hydration, viz., 13'5 per cent. The natural bark was 

 carefully separated from the renewed bark by means of 

 a pair of scissors. This was easily done, since the tiuills 

 were thin and the bark somewhat flexible, owing to the 

 high percentage of moistmre contained therein. 



It is worthy of note that the hydration differed con- 

 siderably in the natural and renewed portions in the same 

 quill. The renewed portion contained mor^ water, probably 

 owing to the sift spongy renewal, which had evidently 

 been accomplished by sha\'ing and not stripping. 



The resiilt.s are rather surprising, but it must be care- 

 fully borne in mind that trees grown apparently under 

 precisely similar conditions, from the same seed, and in 

 addition, presenti iig the same physical appearance, will, on 

 analysis, turn out widely different as regards their chemical 

 composition. 



If it should be the case that the natural bark (No. 2) 

 has suffered in the renewal, it will probably be found to 

 be owing to some temporary injury to the tree caused by 

 the shaving process, as in Mclvor's experiments no such 

 deterioration was found. As regards No. 3. of course, the 

 reason for such a small increase in alkaloid is due to the 

 fact that this bark consisted of those portions of the quill 

 where the shaving ended, and, consequently, only a very 

 thin layer of original bark had been removed. 



^\'llere a thicker layer, as in No. 4, had been removed, 

 the increase in alkaloids was well marked. No. 3 was the 

 oidy one that gave an appreciable quantity of quinidine, 

 the others only giving a faint trace. — Pharmaceirtical 

 Jounud. 



FURTHER NOTES ON VEGETABLE TALLOW 

 FROM SINGAPORE. 



BY E. M. HOLMES, F. L. S., 



Curritor of the Museum of the Fharmaceiitical Society. 



1 have perused Mr. W. T. Thiselton Dyer's comments 

 (I'luirm. Joiirn., Dec. 15, p. 462) on my previous paper on 

 this subject {Phann. Journ., Nov. 26, p. 401) with much 

 interest, and have to thank him for drawing my atten- 

 tion to the existence of a fat obtained from a Sapotaceous 

 plant at Bandjermassiug, and to the admirable treatise on 

 Mmjak Tangkwang by Dr. W. H. de Vriese. 



I cannot, however, agree with Jlr. Dyer that the Sapo- 

 taceous plant he mentions as coming from Bandjermassiug 

 is the source either of the fat or seeds sent to me by 

 Mr. Jamie from Singapore, and mentioned on p. 371. 

 These seeds and fat came from Pontianak and Sarawak, 

 not from Bandjermassing. 



Mr. Dyer has expressed the hope that his doubts attend- 

 ing the oi-igin of this interesting substance will be cleared 

 up by myself and Professor Van Eeden. I have much 

 pleasure, therefore, in giving such information as I pos.sess, 

 and wi'l -take .up, seriatim, the various points raised by 

 Mr. Dyer (p. 462). 



I. With regard to the Sapotaceous plant sent to the 



Kew Herbarium by Madame de Yries ile Vries, Dr. W. Tl. 



de Vriese expres.sly states, in the tract alluded to by 



Mr, Dyer, that several different fats pass under the name 



76 



of " Minjak Tangkawang."' and enumerates some of them » 

 as shown in the following quotation, from p. 9: — 



" The fat, Minjak Tangkawang, is also known at Singapore 

 under the name of Vegetable Tallow. But under this 

 name different kinds of fats occur iu Borneo, Java and 

 Japan. Thus there is — 



" 1st. The vegetable tallow of the fruit of an Isonandra 

 (Gutta Percha tree) prepared in the eastern part of Borneo. 



"2nd. The fact of Cf/lirnfhtphne sehifcra (Litstra st'hifeya), 

 a kind of Lauraceous plant. This is obtained from one 

 of the largest and most lofty trees of the westerly part 

 of Java, and is brought over to the middle and east of 

 Java. Near the Court-house at Salatiga a large tree s'lands, 

 the seeds of which furnish .500-600 candles ainnially, suffici- 

 ent for the Hghting of the house. This is the Minjak 

 Tangkalluh. 



"3rd. The fat of Stillinr/ia seHfera, the tallow or wax 

 tree of Japan. 



" 4th. The fat of the berries of lUt'is sncceilanca of Japan. 



"5th. The fat of different Saputacctt-, from species of 

 Cacosmantkus in Java. 



" All these and many more are classed under the name 

 of vegetable tallow, affording another instance of the 

 enonrmous confusion in names and articles in commerce." 



To the above list he adds six species of Hopca which 

 he calls tallow trees, and which 1 shall allude to here- 

 after. 



The Sapotaceous plant mentioned by Mr. Dyer is, there- 

 fore, judging from the above remarks by Dr. W. H. do 

 Vriese, only one out of ><-,-rr-i' used for the purpose. 

 M^hether it be identical with tlx- No. 1. (IsoiiandTit) of 

 Dr. de Vries's list or no. I hnve no evidence to show ; 

 but the plant in the Kew Herlj.irium received from Madame 

 de Vries de Vries, and alluded to by Mr. Dyer, also comes 

 from the eastern side of the island, Bandjermassing being 

 in the south-east of Borneo. This plant. I learn from 

 Professor Van Eeden, is now determined by M. Pierre to 

 belong to a new genus of Sapotaceit, thus confirming Profess- 

 or Oliver's opuiion. Dr. Pierre has named it J)iplokjiema 

 sehifera, and the description and figures will, Professor Van 

 Eeden beheves, shortly be published in the Archives Ncer' 

 lantlaises des Sciences Exactes et Natiirelles, issued by the 

 Haarlem Society of Sciences, a copy of which Professor 

 Van Eeden has kindly promised to forward to me as 

 soon as published. 



It is evident, therefore, that Mr. Dyer's Sapotaceous plant 

 is only one of the numerous sources of Minjak T.angkawang, 

 but tliere is no proof that it yields the particular kind 

 described by me. 



II. The next point raised by Mr. Dyer is the following: — 

 He remarks (p. 462) "It is a priori unlikely, however, that 

 any species of /)ipterocarpe<p\yo\i\d yield tivoffeinhla tnMnvr 

 from the si-eds, because the members rif the f.imily are 

 eharaeteri^eil by the presence of olco-r*sins in the tissues 



and not o£ iati;/ bodies." i'to is givtiu fts a reawa wl»J ihQ 



