JONE I, 1S86.J 



THE i'ROPiCAL AGRICULTURIST, 



^73 



EfCAIATTUS riiODUCTS. 

 J'UicalypUis Kino. — Au astriugciit exudation occurs 

 iu most species of eucal} ptu.*;, filling cavities or cracks 

 iu the wood ami liarks ; when ilry it is brittle ami 

 presents an appearance similar to Indian kino. It 

 varies greatly in different species, loth in- <|uautity 

 «nd iu chnraeter. According to AViesner it consists 

 of a mixture of a tannic acid, giving a dirty green 

 precipitate with solutions of ferric salts, pyrocatechin, 

 a little catechin, and a very variable quantity of a 

 substance insoluble ii^ water but soluble in alcohol, 

 and which has been variously described as gum resin, 

 kino-red, or eucalyptus-red. 



The amount of the astringent exudation afforded 

 by different species mav be seen from the following 

 tabic :— 



Ter cent. Per cent- 



E. leucoxylon 21 9t 



A', macrnrhi/ncha 11*12 to 13*41 



i.'. longifolia 8*3 



E. roiilrata 8*22 



i\ rimiiahs 4*88 to 5 97 



F. ghbv.hu 4*84 to 597 



i'. refuiifira 4*38 



i". yonioca! I/.V 412 to 4*li2 



E. iiielliodora 4*03 



X, olili'ji-ft 2*50 to 41!) 



E. jwlt/antli^mn 8*97 



E. Gitnnii 3*14 



K. ami/i/dal ina 3*22 to 310 



The relative quantity of kino-red pri'sent in the 

 tree appears to determine iu great measure the value 

 of its timber, as ft renders the wood almost im- 

 pervious to decay when under water, and prevents 

 the attacks of insects and marine animals. The species 

 iu which it is most largely present contain from 17 

 to 19 per cent, as iu E. miryinata, E. roslrata au<l 

 J^. robiista, which are the most valuable of the timber 

 trees of Australia for shipbuilding, pdes and similar 

 purposes. The kino of E. rednifera also contains a 

 quantity of kino-red, only one-sixth of it being soluble 

 in water. It is to this Last-named species that Botany 

 Bay kino has generally been attributed ; but Sir F. 

 von Mueller states on the authority of the Rev. Dr. 

 AV'oolls that it is much more extensively collected 

 from E. sulero/Moia, to which indeed the name of 

 ii'. recfinifera has been applied by Allan Cunningham. 



Several species yield a kino containing Init little ! 

 kiuo-red, and ccnscrjuently dissolving readily in hot 

 water, although furnung a turbid solution when cold. 

 Those of the following species have been examined 

 by Wiesner* : — E. gfobtUi/s, E. lei'.co.vi/ton, E. citriodorti, 

 E. cnni/cfdaHna, E. pUulaAs and E, JihAUs. There is 

 great difficulty in ascertaining the exact botanical 

 source of the eucalyptus kinos at present imported 

 into this country, partly owing to the same name being 

 applied to distinct trees in different parts of Australia. 

 Thus the name of red gum, under which name a 

 eucalyptus kino iii employed iu this country, is applied 

 to t'. fostrata, E. terelico/ni'', and in \\'est Australia 

 to E. calopht/lla. The first two of these yield a kino 

 only partially soluble in water, while that of !■:. 

 ca/opht/lla is easily 8ohd)]e and contains but littie 

 kino-red. This species is said by Mueller to afford 

 a liquid kino in considerable quantity by tapping the 

 trunk. It 18 caught in casks as a material for tan- 

 ning and dyeing purposes, and is .said to fetch £iO 

 to £25 per ton in the London market. It indurates 

 on exposure to the air, and can then be used as medicine 

 internally, like true kino, or in i)Owder, as an applic- 

 ation to wounds. Two species which yield a kino per- 

 fectly soluble in water arc E. oblif/i/n and E. pipa-ita. 

 That of the former resembles Indian kino in appearance, 

 and forms a deei>red neutral solution; the latter is ' 

 of a zircon-red colour, is translucent, and forms a 

 yellowish-red, neutral solution. The tannic acid of 

 E, ohtiqua dift'ers from that of most other species 

 in giving a d.irk violet precipitate with solutions of 

 ferric salts. The number of these insi)i.ssated juices 

 suitable for replacing true kino in pharmacy is there- 



[ fore very limited. A great deal of other interesting 



matter is contained in ' Kuealyptographia,' under 



( different species, such as the tise of the acid sap 



j of E. O'unnii to form a kind of cider, the employ- 



I meut of the roots of E. mirrntheca, E. oh'nsa and 



E. popiilijutia as a source of drinking water in the 



I desert land where they flourish, the manna of E. 



finiiuali.i, and the value of the rugged larked variety of 



E, huco^rijlun as an indication of gold bearing soil. 



JIuch of interest for the botanist will be found in 



; the details concerning the development of the seed- 



: ling plants and the structure of fruit, leaf, flower, 



j wood, and bark, but these have no practical bearing 



! for pure pharmacy. — rjiiirmuctuiical Jouniu/. 



» See Fbarmaceutical Jonroal, [3], ii, 

 109 



p 102. 



ACCLIMATION OF TKEES YIELDING INDIA. 

 EUBBEll AND GUTTAPERCHA. 



UV .I.\5U-S tOl.I.INS. 



The care and oversight of forests is now generally 

 recognised and accepted as a 8tate duty, beyond the 

 linuts and capabilities of private individuals. Such 

 duties consist iu the protection of trees from reckless 

 destruction, replanting denuded portions, aud intro- 

 ducnig useful pl.anls from their natural habitats to 

 other localities having isomeric conditions of heat and 

 moLsture, and where such introduced plants are likely 

 to prove of general utility. This latter operatiou is 

 known as acclimation. The constitution of plants is 

 a subject of great interest, and has to be considered 

 with great judgment and abundance of information ; 

 plants have certain limited ranges, and such ranges of 

 heat and moisture have to be clearly defined, for by no 

 process of acclimation can a plant be made to toler- 

 ate a degree more or less than its proper linut, ex- 

 cept to its detriment. If they bo subjected to con- 

 ditions other than their natural ones, they either die 

 or become so modified as to fail to ilevelop those 

 special ftatures of structure, habit or constituents, 

 which are their cha'*acteristics in their native habitat,. 

 A single instance may be quoted here, by way of ex- 

 ample, to show how a plant may be altered by <lif- 

 fercnt climatic influences. In Ktu'ope for ages the 

 common hemp {(Janntrfti:- yulit-a, h.), has been cidtivated 

 for Its fibre aud oily seeds,^ whilst in India the 

 same plant shows a wide dissimilarity, especially in 

 its medicinal characteristics, its leaves, flowering and 

 fruiting stalks yielding a resin volatile oil, kimwn, 

 under various names as bhang, dhurrus, gauga, &c. 

 having powerful narcotic properties, the resin being 

 apparently formed at the expence of the fibre, as the 

 stalks are usually bmut as useless.f 



The ascertainmeut of the extremes and mean anninil 

 temptirature and moisture which best suit cTt-iiu 

 plants is the residt of experiment, and i> sometimes 

 surrounded with so much diflicidty that freiiuently 

 trials shoidd be made simultaneously, in two or more 

 localities judged to possess similar cliniati<* conilitions. 



.'Vll these experiments entail expense, especially iu 

 the Cise of those trees the utilisable portion <)f which 

 consists of timber, milky juices, &c., which reipure a 

 period of ten to thirty years or more to elapse aftir 

 planting before they come to maturity, or any return 

 can be expected on the initial ex))enditure atid upkeep. 

 This outlay. to;»ether with the long delayed returns, 

 even if the expei'iment he finally crowned witli sui'cess, 

 naturally will and nuist fail in procuring the accornplish- 

 nient of such trials by private enterprise. tJovernmenfc 

 nuist at least give its aid in the initiation of such 

 schemes. 



In the case of the cinchonas the Iinlian Governinent 

 did, with rare forethought, listen to such men as IVreira, 

 Howard, and Markham, and undertook the initiative ; 



•The great dissimilarity between the Kuropean 

 species led Lamarck to consider the latter a distinct 

 one, and desigintcd it Cminnltix Indira, but it is now- 

 agreed that no specific difference exists between them. 



fAVhy burn the stalks of the Indinn henipy A\'liy 

 not utilise them ? I have suggested to several planters 

 that they might make capital paper material, especially 

 if sent over here as " half-stuff." 



