NATURAL HISTORY. 



567 



produced by a species of the 

 laurel, the information which 

 accompanied the specimen in 

 question may have been in every 

 part inaccurate. 



As this point, however, is 

 uncertain, and the specific charac- 

 ters of Gcertner's species are 

 unknown, or at least unpublished, 

 it is for the present necessary to 

 allot a distinct name to the 

 camphor tree of Sicmatrd. I pro- 

 pose therefore to name it Dryo' 

 balanops camphora, until its iden- 

 tity with D, aromatica be esta- 

 blished. The description which 

 I shall offer of it is unavoidably 

 imperfect, as the flower has not 

 yet been seen by a botanist. But 

 the generic character is so 

 strongly pronounced in the fruit, 

 that there can be no doubt of its 

 place in the same natural order 

 with the Shorea, the Dipterocar- 

 pus, and Valeria, to which the 

 Hopea of Doctor Roxburgh is 

 to be added ; and most probably 

 in the same class and order in 

 the Linnean artificial arrange- 

 ment, viz. Polyandria monogynia. 



This section of Juissieu's 

 natural order of Guttifera com- 

 prises trees remarkable for their 

 aromatic and resinous produc- 

 tions. Shorea rohusta and Zam- 

 buga, and perhaps other species 

 of the genus, yield in great abund- 

 ance the resin called by the Hin- 

 dustanis Dhuna, and by the 

 English in India Dammer, which 

 is very generally used as a sub- 

 stitute for pitch for marine pur- 

 poses. The natives of India also 

 employ it in their temples in the 

 manner of incense. Dipterocor- 

 pus costatus, turbinatus, incanus, 

 alatus, and probably other species 

 of the genus, afford the several 



sorts of balsam called by the 

 natives of India Garjan ; by the 

 Singhalese, Dhornatcl; and by 

 the English, Wood Oil. Vateria 

 hidica produces the resin in 

 India called Copal, as very nearly 

 approaching the true resin of 

 that name. The best specimens 

 are employed as ornaments, 

 under the denomination of amber 

 (KahrobaJ to which it bears ex- 

 terior resemblance, : in its recent 

 and fluid state it is used as a 

 varnish in the south of India, 

 (Buchanan's Mysore, 2, p. 476), 

 and dissolved by heat in closed 

 vessels is employed for the same 

 purpose in other parts of India. 

 Another plant of the same genus, 

 Vateria lancecx;-folia, affords a 

 resin, from which, as from other 

 resins, the Indians prepare one of 

 the materials of their religious 

 oblations. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Dryobalanops Camphora. Cole. 



Ess. Char. 



Calyx one -leaved, permanent: 

 the five divisions of the border 

 growing into long, remote, reflex 

 wings. 



Corol— • 



Capsule, superior, one-celled, 

 three valved, one seeded. Era. 

 bryo inverse without perisperm. 



A large tree, native of forests 

 on the north-western coast of 

 Sumatra ; and especially in the 

 vicinity of Tapanooly. Sans. 

 Carpura. Arab. Cafur. Mai. Ca- 

 pur. Hind. Capur. 



Trunk arboreous. Bark brow- 

 nish. 



Leaves, superior alternate : 

 inferior ones opposite ; elliptic, 

 obtusely acuminate, parallel 

 veined, entire, smooth ; 3-7 

 inches long; 1-2 broad. 



Petioles 



