17G LEGUMINOS^. 



the transformation had proceeded so far that it was impossible to 

 perceive any defined cells, the whole substance being metamorphosed 

 into a more or less uniform mucilaginous mass. 



The tension under which this peculiar tissue is held in the interior 

 of the stem is very remarkable in Astragalus gummifer which one 

 of us had the opportunity of observing on the Lebanon in 18C0.' 

 On cutting off a branch of the thickness of the finger, there immediately 

 exudes from the centre a stream of soft, solid tragacanth, pushing itself 

 out like a worm, to the length of f of an inch, sometimes in the course 



of half an hour ; while much smaller streams (or none at all) are 

 emitted from the medullary rays of the thick bark. 



Production— The principal localities in Asia Minor in which 

 tragacanth is collected are the district of Angora, the capital of the 

 ancient Galatia ; Isbarta, Buldur and Yalavatz,^ north of the gulf of 

 Adalia ; the range of the Ali Dagh between Tarsous and Kaisariyeh, and 

 the mountainous country eastward as far as the valley of the Euphrates. 

 The drug is also gathered in Armenia on the elevated range of the 

 Bingol Dagh south of Erzerum ; throughout Kurdistan from Mush 

 for 500 miles in a south-eastern direction as far as the province of 

 Luristan in Persia, a region includin^r the hio-h lands south of lake 



Van, and west of lake TJrumiah. It is likewise produced in Persia 

 farther east, over an area 300 miles long by 100 to 150 miles hroad, 

 between Gilpaigon and Kashan, southward to the Mahomed Senna 

 range north-east of Shiraz, thus including the lofty Bakhtiyari moun- 

 tams. 



gum 



statements of Maltass, that in July and August the peasants clear away 

 the earth from around the stem of tjie shrub, and then make in the 

 bark several incisions, from which durincr the following 3 or 4 days the 

 guni exudes and dries in flakes. In some localities they also puncture 

 the bark with the point of a knife. Whilst engaged in these operations, 

 they pick from the shrubs whatever gum they find exuded natura ly. 



Hamilton,^ who saw the shrub in 1836 on the hills about Buldur, 

 says ' the gum is obtained by making an incision in the stem near ttie 

 root and cutting through the pith, when the sap exudes in a day or t^o 

 and hardens." ^ i > r 



Formerly the peasants were content to collect the naturally exuded 

 gum, no pams being taken to make incisions, whereby alone white tiaK) 

 gum IS obtained. We have in fact heard an old druggist state that ne 

 remembered the first appearance of this fine kind of tragacanth in tne 

 London market. According to Professor Haussknecht, whose observation 

 relate chiefly to Kurdistan and Persia, the tragacanth collected m tHese 

 regions is mostly a spontaneous exudation. , , . , -a 



Tragacanth is brought to Smyrna, which is a principal market to - 

 from the interior, in bags containing about 2 quintals each, by nativ 

 dealers who purchase it of the peasants. In this state it is a ^ 7^ 

 fn? +1 '^^ticle, consisting of all the gatherings mixed together, lo "f 

 mlni'-f r'?'l^ ^^^'^^*«' «^^e <^f which°have their special rcqrn 

 ments, it has to be sorted into.different qualities, as Flahj or Leaf (r^t» 



^ pf±'^Lt'''"' P.^Pjrs, 29. 3 s,,earches in Asia Minor, Pon^ «"^ 



Armenia, i. (1842) 492 



