538 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[January i, 1885. 



the trade. In Sierra Leone, however, it forms one of the prin- 

 cipal articles of export, being estimated in 1882 at £126,806. 

 In Capt. Moloney's Report some interesting notes on the 

 production of rubber have been collected together, from 

 which it appears that — 



" The milk of different rubber trees varies considerably 

 in fluidity and physical properties. In the case of Lan- 

 dolphin Jiorida the juice dries so quickly that it forms a 

 ridge on the incision. The natives, therefore, make long 

 cuts and wipe the juice off with their fingers as it exudes, 

 and smear it on their arms and shoulders until a thick coat 

 is formed. This is then pulled off and cut into small 

 squares, which are then said to be boiled in water." 



There appear to be two principal kinds of caoutchouc 

 found on the banks of the Gambia — one of these is white 

 and elastic. The tree yielding this is called in the Jolof 

 language " tawl," and in the Mandingo dialect " choley," 

 but on the Gold Goast "panwee." The description of the 

 bark, wood and fruit appear to correspond closely with 

 that of Landoipkia otvariensis. The other is called " raad- 

 dah" (Jolof) or " cabbah " (Mandingo), and is considered 

 to yield rubber of an inferior quality. The firstnamed is 

 locally valued at Is. 4d. to Is. 6d. per lb., and the second 

 at Is. In the Gambia the rubber is collected as follows : — 



" The bark is sliced or incised on one side of the tree, 

 deep enough for the juice to start out in drops, and salt 

 water, diluted with fresh water, is sprinkled from a bottle 

 or calabash, which causes the juice to coagulate rapidly. 

 Inland, where sea-water is not procurable, a solution of 

 one part of salt in three of water is used. Some of the 

 milk is theu dabbed on the forearm, and as soon as dry 

 it is peeled off to form a nucleus. This is then applied 

 to the fresh cats one after another, and being turned with 

 a rotary motion, the rubber is cleanly wound off from the 

 cuts like silk from a cocoon, the semi-coagulated milk being 

 thus drawn out of the bark around the incision. During 

 this process a break is said to be of rare occurrence. The 

 average amount thus obtained is abuut two and a half 

 pounds per day, although as much as five pounds has been 

 collected. These trees, or rather climbing shrubs, appear 

 to be less injured by the process of tapping than the large 

 trees of South and Central America, for Sir John Kirk 

 states that he has seen hundreds of trees in full life so 

 thickly scarred with cuts that nearly two-thirds of the 

 bark must have been stripped from the tree. They will 

 also endure a considerable drought and flourish in a light 

 sandy soil. The rubber is not always, however, so pure as 

 it should be, and heuce merchants on the Gold Coast have 

 recently purchased the milk at 9d. a quart obtained from 

 species which yield it in a more fluid state in order to boil 

 it down and dry it. Rubber so prepared realized last year 

 2s. Ild. per lb. As much as 12 cwt. of rubber has been pre- 

 pared in this way in a week with the aid of one assistant." 



Copal. — Only a small specimen of this resin is exhibited. 

 It forms, however, one of the more important articles of 

 export from Sierra Leoae, the value of the exports of copal 

 in 1882 being estimated at £11,2H2. It is supposed to be 

 the produce of Copaifera Guibourtiana, and is valued at 

 Is. per lb., or when cleaned at Is. Kid. 



Another resin under the name of Gum Santang is ex- 

 hibited from the Gambia. It is used medicinally by the 

 natives and as a disinfectant, but is sold only in small 

 quantities in the Mandingo and Jolof countries. The tree 

 is, however, abundant on the banks of the Gambia river, 

 and the resin appears worthy of being experimented upon. 



Ginger. — The specimens of ginger exhibited are inferior 

 in appearance, but the article is probably capable of im- 

 provement in quality by careful manipulation. The exports 

 to Great Britain and the United States in 1882 amounted 

 to £7,917. 



A small collection of drugs from Sierra Leone, sent by 

 Mr. Sibthorpe, includes the following: — Egbessye root, ob- 

 tained from the African peach, Sarcocephalvs esculentus, and 

 used throughout the west and south of Africa as a bitter 

 tonic for indigestion, just as gentian is used in this coun- 

 try. Finger root, an aromatic stimulant, probably obtained 

 from Uvaria chamte, and apparently widely used on the 

 west coast of Africa. Cashew gum, Anacardiitm occidental*:, 

 which affords an adhesive but somewhat gelatinous mucil- 

 age ; cashew and mangrove barks used in tanning ; and a 

 kind of grass, called sumach grass, used for dyeing straw, 

 etc., yellow. 



Cola Nuts. — These are exhibited both in the form of seed 

 and young fruit by the lastnamed and other firms. Ac- 

 cording to Capt. Moloney this nut is not grown in Gambia, 

 but is mostly imported from Sierra Leone, the value of 

 the exports from the latter country having been £33,108 

 in 1SS3. It also forms a regular article of export to Brazil 

 from Lagos and Loanda. In the Portuguese possessions in 

 Africa these nuts are said to be eaten in the morning with 

 a small piece of ginger, but in the Mombuttoo country, 

 according to Schweinfurth, they are chewed in the intervals 

 of smoking. On the Gold Coast the tree is known as bisc, 

 and according to Capt. Moloney's Report several varieties 

 are recognised by the natives. Thus besides the red and 

 white cola nuts there are "U-c bio," the spuiious kola nut, 

 and "sku Use," the white-nosed monkey's cola nut; the 

 latter is abuudant and an oil is extracted from it; these 

 varieties, however, unfortunately are not exhibited. The 

 chewstick of West Africa is made from the roots of the 

 true cola, C. acuminata. In the Mandingo language the 

 cola is called " coorooah," and in that of the Jolof country 

 " gooroo." 



Several drugs are also exhibited by the Oompagnie du 

 Senegal at Sierra Leone, amongst which may be noticed 

 "maluka" seed {Polygala oleifera), apparently used as a 

 source of a fixed oil; black seed, which has kindly been 

 identified by Mr. J. It. Jackson, of Kew, as that of Hyptis 

 spicigera, but the use of which we have not been able to 

 learn ; Calabar beans of good quality ; three varieties of 

 castor oil seeil of different sizes; Eguse seed ; beeswax, and 

 chillies. Castor oil seeds and the oil expressed from them, 

 liquid honey and beeswax, both crude and purified, are also 

 exhibited 'from the Gambia. 



Tne export of chillies from Sierra Leone in 1883 was 

 valued at £1,291, and of Calabar beans at £759. The la'tter 

 were also exported from the Gold Coast in 1881 to the 

 extent of £125. Other articles of interest from the Gambia 

 are native honey, the fruits of Detariwn seneyalense and 

 of Xylopia osthiopica, native indigo in the form of balls 

 formed of the crushed plant (Lonchocarpus cyaneus ?), the 

 gum of Khaya stnegalensis or native mahogany tree, ami 

 the seeds of Cassia occidentalis. The lastnamed, although 

 roasted and used like coffee in some parts of tropical 

 Africa are used in the Gambia only in their natural state 

 as a purgative medicine. 



The fruits of Xi/lopia osthiopica are used by the natives 

 as pepper, and are known as " country spice "; in medicine 

 they are employed as a stimulant for the mucous mem- 

 brane. In France, preparation of this fruit have been used 

 for some years as a substitute for cubebs in gonorrhoea, 

 leucorrhcea, etc., and have the advantage over that drug 

 of a more agreeable taste. The fruits of Detanum stne- 

 galense are eaten by the natives, but it appears that two 

 varieties exist, one of which is very bitter and is believed 

 by the negroes to be poisonous. As with bitter almonds, 

 however, there is no means of distinguishing the two ex- 

 cept by taste. 



Kino. — In the Sierra Leone exhibit, a specimen of the 

 old original kino, obtained from Pterocarpus erinaceus, is 

 shown. This is said not to gelatinize when made into tinc- 

 ture like the kiuo obtained from P. Marsupium. It is of 

 a brighter colour, having the tint and transparency of gar- 

 nets. It appears to be known to the Portuguese as A' ngue 

 del Draco, but is not a regular article of commerce. There 

 can be but little doubt, however, that if it were restored 

 to the Pharmacepeeia it would soon come again into com- 

 merce. 



INDIA. 



The Indian Department occupies the whole of the right 

 hand portion of the central transept, and the collection of 

 drugs from the different provinces forms a prominent 

 feature of the exhibit. Although a notice of the other 

 forest products would be somewhat out of place here, 

 attention may be directed to the numerous uses made 

 of the timber of the padouk tree, Pterocarpus Indicus, 

 which yields also a liquid kino. The teak tree is worthly 

 of note as having been the means of drawing the atten- 

 tion of the Home Government to the importance of con- 

 serving the forest trees of India, and of having thus 

 led to the establishment of the Forestry Department in 

 India. Colonel Michael has adopted a simple but ingenious 

 method of showing the structure and grain of the timber 

 exhibited. A section of the trunk is sawn half way through 



