Unsatisfactory 

 Tannage. 



Medicinal Uses. 



Tooth-brushes. 



D.E.P., 

 ii., 233-4. 

 Toon or 

 Indian 

 Mahogany. 



Timber. 



Cigar-boxes. 



" Moulmein 



Cedar." 



Trade. 



Medicine. 



Dye. 

 Fodder. 



N.W. Himalayan 

 Form. 



THE TOON WOOD 



cassia bark as the fourth most valuable in a series exhibited by him, the 

 cassia having 23 per cent, of tanning matter. Prof. Hummel, York- 

 shire College, Leeds, found the tannin to be 20'5 per cent. On the other 

 hand, Leather mentions only 15'5 per cent, of tannin, but a high ac- 

 companiment of soluble non-tannings. So also Prof. Procter (Kept. 

 Soc. Arts, 1904), who places this bark as one of the Catechols, speaks of the 

 " thoroughly unsatisfactory character of the turwar tannage, for the use 

 of book -binding and upholstery," and asks whether there may not be 

 other more desirable materials. These modern results and opinions 

 would thus seem to assign a much lower position to the Tanner's Cassia 

 than seems to be the belief in South India. By way of conclusion it 

 may be mentioned that in the Northern Division of Madras the 

 bark (tanghedi) or some babul gum is added to sesamum seed when it is 

 to be pressed for its oil. It is said that this practice enhances the value 

 of the cake (see p. 986). 



The seeds, like those of C. Absun, are valued as a local application in 

 purulent ophthalmia. An infusion of the leaves is esteemed as a cooling 

 medicine and as a substitute for tea. The leaves are also eaten as a green 

 vegetable in times of famine. The shoots are largely utilised as Native 

 tooth-brushes, and the root is spoken of as of great value in tempering iron 

 metal (see Acacia, p. 5 ; andc/. Wiesner, Die Rohst. des Pflanzenr., i., 716). 



CEDRELA TOONA, Itojcb. ; Fl. Br. Ind., i., 568-9 ; Gamble, 

 Man. Ind. Timbs., 157-9 ; Cooke, Fl. Pres. Bomb., i., 217 ; Duthie, Fl. 

 Upper Gang. Plain, i., 153 ; Brandis, Ind. Trees, 145 ; MELIAOE.E. The Toon 

 or Indian Mahogany, Moulmein Cedar, tun, Urn, lud, drawi, poma, tundu, 

 thit-kado, etc. A large, rapidly growing, deciduous tree, 50 to 60 or even 

 80 feet high and sometimes as much as 20 feet in girth It is met with 

 chiefly near streams in the tropical Sub-Himalayan tracts, from the Indus 

 eastwards to Sikkim and Assam ; also at low elevations throughout 

 Western and Southern India : less common in Eastern Bengal and Burma. 



This important Indian timber tree is extensively cultivated and often self-sown. 

 It would appear to have been first described, so far as India is concerned, 

 by Jones (As. Res., 1795, iv., 281 ; also Fleming, As. Res., 1810, xi., 163). The 

 roots are surface-feeders, so that it ought not to be grown on the borders of 

 fields. In the plains of the Panjab the young plant must be protected against 

 frost. The TIMBER is durable, not eaten by white ants, and not liable to 

 warp. It is therefore much in demand for furniture and carvings, especially in 

 Saharanpur (Indian Art at Delhi, 1903, 111), and in Bengal and Assam is 

 constantly used for tea-boxes, hence its having become scarce. In Assam it was 

 formerly much employed for boats and canoes, and in South India is very largely 

 converted into cigar-boxes. It is exported from Burma as " Moulmein Cedar," 

 and knowja. under that name on the English market. Col. Seaton gives the 

 cost of^ cutting and delivery as Rs. 44 per ton. Specimens sent to London 

 from 'i5ehra Dun in 1883 realised 4d. per superficial foot, and in Malabar in 

 1902, -inch planking fetched Rs. 2 per cubic foot, J-inch planking was sold at 

 Rs. 1-14-0, and 1-inch at Rs. 1-12-0. [Of. Ind. For., 1883, ix., 427 ; Capital, 

 July 24, 1902, 118.] 



The bark is used, especially along with a powder of the nuts (seeds) of Cn>H(tl- 

 pinin itoittiitfditi. as a tonic and antiperiodic in Native MEDICINE. The flowers 

 afford a red and yellow DYE. [Of. Taleef Shereef (Playfair, transl.), 1833, 61.] 

 The seeds, young shoots, and leaves are given as FODDER to cattle. 



There are several other Indian forms, the properties of which are similar 

 to those just detailed. The most important are c. mierocurpn, C. DC., 

 and c. ttcri-ata, Royle (the ddl, dauri, soni, etc.). The latter is particularly 

 abundant below Simla and elsewhere in the N.W. Himalaya, where the timber 

 is in considerable local demand, being employed for beams and sleepers, on 



290 



