BENZOIN. 233 
is more translucent, contains a larger percentage of benzoic acid, 
and appears to contain a considerable amount of moisture, very 
likely owing to some difference in the mode of preparation or 
melting into blocks. The Siam benzoin comes from Luang 
Prabang in the Laos States ; it has a distinct odour of vanilla, and 
there is sufficient botanical evidence of its being the product 
of a different species of Styrax. 
In Sumatra, benzoin is collected in the northern and eastern 
parts of the island, especially in the district of Batta *, situate im 
the south of the State of Achin. The tree also grows abundantly 
in the high parts of Palembang in the south of the island. Large 
plantations are generally established in the vicinity of the coast. 
It is also cultivated along the Batang Leko river, where the trees 
attain a height of about 15 feet. The benzoin produced in the 
interior is generally obtained from wild trees which grow at the 
foot of the mountains at an altitude of 300 to 900 feet. The tree 
is a rapid grower; being planted along the banks of rivers, the 
only attention they require for the first six years is to prevent 
them being overgrown by other plants. At that age the trunks 
will have attained a thickness of 6 to 8 inches, and are old enough 
to yieldresin. An incision being made in the trunk, a thick white 
resinous sap flows out, which rapidly hardens by exposure to the 
air; this is carefully scraped off with a knife. Each tree will 
continue to yield during 10 or 12 years about 3 lbs. of resin per 
year. The tree is then felled. The resin exuded during the first 
3 years is the most rich in the white tears, consequently superior 
to that which is afterwards produced; it is designated by the 
Malays “ Head Benzoin.” The resin produced during the 7 or 
8 succeeding years is browner and not so fine, this is termed 
“ Belly benzoin.” The third quality, called “ Foot Benzoin,” 1s 
obtained by cutting down the tree and scraping the wood. The 
benzoin is carried down to the port in large cakes called ‘ Tam- 
pangs,” enveloped in rush mats. They are then broken up and 
re-melted, either by the heat of the sun or by boiling water, and 
then filled into square boxes. 
The only information known respecting the method of harvest 
in Siam was furnished a few years ago by the English Consul at 
* Miquel, ‘Prodromus Flora Sumatranz,’ p. 72, and Fliickiger, ‘ Hist. des 
Drogues,’ ii. p. 12. 
