150 NAT. ORDER. LEGUMNOS.E. 



in the bark, and afterwards hardens in the air. The barks of all the 

 species are highly astringent, and some are used in India for tanning-. 

 There are two kinds of g-um found in the shops in this country, and 

 often sold promiscuously, but distinguished in commerce by the names 

 of gum-arabic and East India gum. Gum-arabic consists of roundish 

 transparent tears, colorless, or of a yellowish color, witliout smell or 

 taste, and almost perfectly soluble in water. The pieces which are 

 most transparent, and have least color, are reckoned the best. They 

 are sometimes separated from the g^um-arabic, and sold for about 

 double the price, under the name of picked gum. The East India 

 gum is darker colored than gum-arabic, and is not so readily soluble in 

 water. Gum-tliur, the produce of Acacia Arabic, is almost colorless, 

 and resembles the picked gum, and giim-seneg-al resembles the East 

 India gum. 



About the middle of November, that is, after the rainy season, 

 which begins early in July, a g-ummy juice exudes spontaneously from 

 the trunk and principal branches. In about fifteen days it thickens in 

 the furrow down which it rans, either into a vermicular shape, or more 

 commonly assuming- tlie form of round or oval tears, about the size of 

 a p'geon's egg, of different color, as they belong to the white or red 

 gum tree. About the middle of December, the Moors encamp on the 

 borders of the forests, and the harvest lasts five weeks. The grim is 

 packed in very large sacks of tanned leather, and brought on camels 

 and bullocks to certain ports, where it is sold to the French and Eng- 

 lish merchants. Mr. Jackson, in his account of the Empire of Moroc- 

 co, informs us that from Mogodor they export two sorts of gum, one is 

 common gum-arabic, the other finer, called gum-soudan, brought from 

 Tumbucto by the caravans. He also says that die gum called ]Mo- 

 rocco or Barbary-gum, is produced fi-om a thorny tree called Allabch. 

 It yields most gum during the parching heat of July and August, and 

 the hotter the weather, and the more sickly the tree appears, the more 

 gum it yields. 



The gum is highly nutritious. During the whole time of the gum 



