303 



It is insoluble in water, cold or hot, but softens with heat. In 

 boiling water it is almost fluid, and particles of bai'k and wood 

 separate, leaving the gum nearly clean. In this state it is very 

 adhesive, tenacious, and may be drawn into threads and sheets of 

 great tenuity. It may thus be rendered somewhat elastic, and 

 nearly transparent. When cold it hardens very slowly, and is 

 compact, homogeneous, and very adhesive. After exposure to 

 a temperature of 32°, or, during one or two days, to a tempera- 

 ture of from 40° to 60°, it acquires a little brittleness, but readily 

 softens by the warmth of the hand and becomes plastic. It be- 

 comes of a dark color upon working it in the hands a short time. 



It is insoluble in cold or hot alcohol. In boiling alcohol it 

 behaves the same as in boiling water, except that, the tempera- 

 ture being lower, it is not so fluid ; after boiling in alcohol it is 

 more brittle than after boiling in water. Left in alcohol for sev- 

 eral days after boiling, a white flocculent matter, heavier than 

 alcohol, is separated ; upon boiling the alcohol with the flocculi and 

 the gum, the former totally disappear, leaving the solution clear. 

 It is soluble in cold oil of turpentine, naptha, and chloroform, 

 more readily and in gi'eater quantity than gutta percha. It is 

 also readily soluble in sulphuric ether. Solutions in oil of tur- 

 pentine, naptha, and ether are heavier than the solvent ; those 

 in chloroform are lighter. 



It burns with much flame and smoke ; immediately before 

 burning, it melts into a transparent amber-colored fluid. Ex- 

 posed to a temperature above that of boiling water, it melts, boils, 

 and swells, with the rapid escape of gas. The amount of the resi- 

 due is much less than that of the original, but it seems to possess 

 nearly the same properties ; this point, however, was not fully 

 examined. 



It is a vegetable product, intermediate with the resins and 

 gutta tuban or percha. 



Dr. A. A. Gould read a communication from Dr. Skil- 

 ton, of Troy, N. Y., upon Equus Major, as follows : — 



EQUUS MAJOR. 



The last summer, 1857, Col. Leonard McChesney found, in 

 his ploughed field in Brunswick, one mile from the city of Troy, 



