518 PENTANDRIA MONOGYNIA. UnCOrid. 



the inside. Filaments short. Anthers large, on the mouth 

 of the tube. Germ beneath, turbinate, sub-sessile, sericeous. 

 Style as long as the tube of the corol. Stigma clavate. 

 Capsules pedicelled, clavate, longitudinally grooved, crown- 

 ed with the five-cleft permanent calyx, two celled, two-valv- 

 ed. Seeds numerous, imbricated, winged. 



Obs. Gambier is the Malay name of an extract, prepared 

 from the leaves of this plant. And I believe one of the drugs, 

 if not the only one, formerly called Terra Japonica in Eu- 

 rope. For the following account thereof I am indebted to 

 Dr. Charles Campbell, of Bencoolen, who says : 



" This material is called by the Malays Gambier. It is 

 chewed by the natives mingled with Belle leaf and areca af- 

 ter the manner in which the Cutch is used on the continent 

 of India. 



" With some sweetness it has a more highly concentrated 

 astringent principle than Terra Japonica. I am solicitous 

 that a trial should also be made of its power id tannin" - . 



" In regard to the natural history of the Gambier it is pro- 

 cured from a climber little known to the Botanic garden. 



" It is the Funis uncatus, or Dami Gatta Gambier of 

 Rumphius. Herb. Amboin. vol. v. tab. 34. The variety 

 from which it is chiefly made is that denominated by Rumphi- 

 us the Funis uncatus angnstifolius. 



" The preparation is simple, the young shoot and leaves 

 are shred and bruised in water for some hours, until a feculum 

 is deposited ; this, inspissated in the sun to the consistence 

 of a paste, is thrown into moulds of a circular form, and in 

 this state the Gambier is brought to market. 



" Rumphius has fallen into an error in asserting that Gam- 

 bier is not made from this plant, for in my journey to Cochin 

 China I had an opportunity of inspecting the whole process, 

 having resided some days at a small village near the foot of 

 the mountain, where the Sultan of JHoco has established a 

 colony for the purpose of carrying on the manufacture to a 

 considerable extent. 



