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X. A Botanical Dcfcription of Urceola Elajllca, or Caout- 

 chouc Vine of Sumatra and Pullo-ptnang ; ivith an Account 

 of the Properties of its infpiffated Juice, compared with thofe 

 of the American Caout-chouc. 5y William Roxburgh, 

 M.D.* 



X^ OR the difcovery of this ijfeful vine, we are, I believe, 

 indebted to Mr. Hov^-ifon, late furgeon at PuUo-pinang ; but 

 it would appear he had no opportunity of determining its 

 botanical charader. To Doftor Charles Campbell, of Fort 

 Marlborough, we owe the gratification arifing from a know- 

 ledge thereof. 



About twelve months ago I received from that gentleman, 

 by means of Mr. Fleming, very complete fpecimens, in full 

 foliage, flower, and fruit. From thefe I was enabled to re- 

 duce it to its clafs and order in the Linnjean fyftem. It 

 forms a new genus in the clafs Pentandria, and order Mono- 

 gjnia, and comes in immediately after Taherncemotitava, 

 confequently belongs to the thirtieth natural order, or clafs 

 called Contorts by Linnaeus in his natural method of claffi- 

 fication or arrangement. One of the qualities of the plants 

 of this order is, their yielding, on being cut, a juice which is 

 generally milky, and for the moft part deemed of a poifonous 

 nature. 



The generic name Urceola, which I hnve given to this 

 plant, is from the ftrufture of the corol, and the fpecific 

 name from the quality of its thickened juice. 



So far as I can find, it does not appear that ever this vine 

 has been taken notice of by any European till now. I have 

 carefully looked over the Hortus Malaharic7is, Rumphius's 

 Herbarium Amhoincnfe, &c. &c. figures of Indian plants, 

 ■without being able to find any one that can with any degree 

 of certainty be referred to. A fubftance of the fame nature, 

 and probably the very fame, was difcovered in the ifland of 

 Mauritius by M. Poivre, and 'from thence fent to France ; 

 but, fo far as I know, we are ftill ignorant of the plant that 

 yields it. 



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