July i, 1884.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



73 



THE GAMBOGE TREE. 



TO THE EDITOR OF THE "MADRAS MAIL." 



Sir, — In reply to your correspondent "D St. R. S." wish- 

 ing to know if the Coorkapooli (Iitga Dulcis) is identical 

 with the gamboge-producing tree, ami the mode of collect- 

 ing sap, &c, allow me to state that the Coorkapooli is 

 quite a different tree to the gamboge-producer, and belongs 

 to the natural order Legvminosea, whereas the gamboge 

 belongs to the natural order Clusiacea. < tamboge is obtained 

 from several plants in Southern Asia, one of which is the 

 Garcinea pictured which is found growing in the mountain 

 lands of Wynaad, Mysore and Ceylon. Attempts to cultiv- 

 ate it in the lowcountry have failed. The method of col- 

 lecting the gamboge is by barking the trees in patches 

 of a hand br« adth each at early morn, and the gamboge runs 

 out in a semi-fluid state, and concretes about the wound, 

 when it is scraped off by the collectors the next morniug. 

 — John Shobtt, Yercaud. 



AVAR AS. 



BY W. T. THISELTON DYER, C.M.G., F.R.S. 



Perhaps I may be allowed to add a few remarks to 

 what is stated about "waras" in Mr. Kirkby's interest- 

 ing paper in the last number of the Pharmaceutical Jour- 

 nal. The note contained in the inclosed copy of the ' Kew 

 Report ' for 1880, p. 50, is, I believe, the origin of the 

 identification of the plant producing the Aden drug with 

 Flemiriyia congesta.* 



Professor Fliiciiiger, with whom I had corresponded upon 

 the subject, informed me (July 12, 1881) that though he 

 at first objected to Flemintjia as the source of " wars " 

 he then thought the statement correct. 



As the Kew Museum contained uo satisfactory specimens 

 of either African or Arabian " waras " we applied to 

 the Resident at Aden to kindly assist us in procuring 

 samples. These reached England in July of last year. 

 Iu both cases the " waras " itself agreed microscopically with 

 au authentic sample derived from Professor Fluckiger, and 

 had the structure figured by Mr. Kirkby. All three also 

 exhibited the characteristic property of turning first bright 

 red, then black, when carefully heated in small quantity 

 on a glass slip over the flame of a spirit lamp. 



The sample of Somali " waras " was mixed with seeds 

 of a dull brown colour mottled with black. These were 



* The following is the note referred to: — 



■• Waras. — A drug known under this' name appears to be 

 exported in considerable quantity from Aden It is used 

 as a substitute for kamala, a well-known Indian product 

 of Mallotus phiUppinensis (Rottlera tinctoria, Roxb.) Its 

 origin is quite unknown (see Fluckiger and Hanbury, 

 ' Pharn.acographia,' " pp. 575, 576). At the suggestion of 

 the former, Captain Hunter, Assistant Resident at Aden, 

 obtained specimens of the plant stated to yield waras in 

 Arabia. He has also sent one to Kew with a note stating 

 that it was gathered 'at an elevation of 6000 feet on Jebel 

 Dthubnrah. (i0 miles due north of Aden.' The plant sent 

 was immediately identified with a leguminous species, Fle- 

 rain./ia congesta, Roxb., having of course no affinity with 

 Mallatus phUippinetisis. 



"True kamala consists of the epidermal glands detached 

 by brushing from the fruits of the Mallotus. Alcohol extracts 

 from it a splendid red colour. The name 'waras' means 

 saffron, and it may be mentioned in support of the notion 

 that a similar substance is yielded in Arabia by perhaps 

 one or more species of Flemingia, that dried specimens 

 belonging to this genus stain paper in the herbarium a 

 bright yellow colour wheu washed over with the alcoholic 

 solution of corrosive sublimate used to protect them from 

 the attacks of insects. Fleminaia rhodocarpa, Bak., from 

 the Mozambique district has its pods covered with a bright 

 red resinous pubescence. 



"In the • 1'harmacographia,' (2nd ed., p. 372), Fliickigerand 

 Hanbury state that Mallotus philippinensis grows in Abys- 

 sinia and Southern Arabia. In a letter, Professor Fluckiger 

 doubts whether he and Mr. Hanbury were not mistaken iu 

 regard to this. The evidence of specimens in the Kew 

 Herbarium only carries the distribution to the west as far 

 as Scinde. There is nothing improbable in its extending tc 

 Arabia, the Horn of which is still so imperfectly known." 

 10 



found to agree precisely with the seeds of Flemingia 

 rhodocarpa, Bak., from the Mozambique, whirl), as men- 

 tioned in the ' Kew Report' (I.e.), "has its pods covered 

 with a bright red resinous pubescence." A futher scrutiny 

 of the original specimen obtained by Captain Hunter from 

 the neighbourhood of Aden, which is in a rather immature 

 state, led Professor Oliver to the conclusion that this also 

 belonged to Memingia rhodocarpa, I believe that the drug 

 is derived from the young pods and am dispos I. 

 fore, to think that Dr. Dymock is in error in describing 

 it as "the gland of the leaf." 



I communicated these further facts to Professor Flucki- 

 ger, and he wrote to me, October 4, 1883, "I am very 

 much pleased with your statements and can only say, that 

 I most fully agree with your conclusion as to the identity 

 of the somali 'waras' with my original specimen and also 

 that of the seeds of Flemingia rhodocarpa with those met 

 with in the said drug." 



Iu the new ' Official Guide to the Museums of Econmic 

 Botany at Kew' (No. 1, p. 45) we accordingly state that 

 " waras .... consists of the epidermic glands of the 

 young pods of Memingia rhodocarpa, Baker, native of Arabia 

 and East Tropical Africa." 



The third variety described by Mr. Kirkby is quite new 

 to me, and I join with him in hoping that some further 

 information about, the plant yieldiug it will soon be forth- 

 coming. — Pharmaceutical Journal. 



MANUFACTURE OF RAISINS. 



It is said that there are but few localities iu the world 

 where this industry is carried out successfully. All our 

 present foreign supplies come from Southern Spain and 

 Italy, which sources have no rival in the word's market. 

 The choice varieties of Grapes from which raisins are made 

 require a very peculiar soil for their proper maturity, and 

 also the conditions of climate where they can be perfectly 

 cured are rare and limited. They must, forperfect results, 

 be cured in the open ah-, in contact with a dry and heated 

 soil, in an atmosphere void of all dampness, secure from 

 rain and dre.w, and under the hottest sunshine. Artificial 

 heat gives at best only a very inferior article. From these 

 requirements it is easy to see why raisin production has 

 taken a limited range, and why the vast Grape regions 

 of the country have never at tempted it. In Fresno County, 

 California, vineyards are being established on a large scale, 

 and it is believed that in this district will be found all the 

 desiderata needed for the production of raisins. The fruit 

 needs only to be cut from the Vine with the utmost care, 

 and deposited in a shallow tray set at its root, and left 

 there to dry for a couple of weeks. It is then turned by 

 placing an empty tray on top and upsetting the whole 

 body, and then is left to dry a week or more longer. The 

 heat of the torrid sun thus dries it completely. The dried 

 bunches are then put by layers into a box termed a "sweat- 

 box," holding about 1001b., and covered up. Here the drying 

 becomes perfectly equalised. Then the fruit is carefully 

 and tightly-packed in 10 lb. or 20 lb. boxes, interlaid and 

 covered with fine paper, the covers are nailed tightly em, 

 and they are ready for market. This is the plan adopted 

 in California, and the experiment, so far, has proved both 

 successful and satisfactory. Already many thousa 

 acres have been planted with the peculiar raisin Grape. 

 It is only recently that this industry has been attempted 

 in California, and the workers have as yet had but little 

 time to mature their processes. The Vines are young, and 

 it is held that the raisin Grape gives its best products upon 

 Vines of considerable age. — Gardeners' < hronicle. 



THE COLONY OF BRITISH HONDURAS: 

 ITS RESOURCES AND PROSPECTS. 

 BY D. morris, m.a. Loudon: E.Stanford. 1883. 

 The author was invited by the Government to pay a 

 short visit to the colony of Honduras iu order to investigate 

 its flora and economic resources. The result is the account, 

 or rather the report, contained iu this work; plants of 

 purely botanical interest being for the most part omitted, 

 but special attention being devoted to the industrial pro- 

 ductions of British Honduras. 



The name of the colony has been chiefly connected 

 hitbartg with the trade of mahogany and logwood ; i" 



