THE GAMBOGE PLANT 



GEM-STONES 

 MAJOR 



small incisions as a rule are made, and the ream collected in small tear-drop*. 

 procured by cutting hero and there a thin Hlico of! the bark and 

 scraping away the resin which collects on the exposed surface. Cake and 

 (ir.muhir Gamboge are thus obtained, but both these are lens pure than 

 |ii|>.- iMini'..^.. Tim best commercial samples of the pipo gamboge are of a 

 rich hn-wii colour externally, dense and brittlo, with a conchoidal fracture of 

 lish-yellow colour, odourless and tasteless at first, then acrid. .Mi <l 

 with wuti'r it forms a yellow emulsion. Hurst (Painters' Colours, Oil*, etc., 

 liioi. 461) gives an account of the chemistry. Analysis shows it to contain : 

 moisture, 2*50 percent. ; mineral matter, 1*05) resin soluble in ether, 66*05; 

 wax soluble in alcohol, 4*31 ; gum, 26-03. Gamboge dissolves in ammonia with 

 a yellow colour, and this solution produces yellow and red dyes with zinc, alumina, 

 mill linn- mordants. The average London quotation for Siam gamboge varies 

 from about 6 10. to 10 per cwt. 



In MKIHCINE, gamboge is employed as a hydragogue and drastic cathartic 

 and autheliuiritic. From the seeds a semi-solid OIL or fat is obtained, used 

 as a lamp-oil or a substitute for ghi. [Cf. Milburn, Or. Comm., 1813, ii., 507 ; 

 Co.iko, Gums, Resins, etc., 1874, 41-4, 46-8 ; Moodeen Sheriff, Mat. Med. Mad., 

 1891, 43-4 ; Pharmacog. 2nd., 1890, i., 168-70 ; Trop. Agrist., 1895-6, 

 -'16-7, 319; Yearbook of Pharmacy, 1897, 177-8; 1899, 164-5; Livache, 

 Manuf. Varnishes, Oil Crushing, etc., 1899, 77-8 ; Horitz Lewinthal, Ueber das 

 Gummigutti, 1900 ; Chem. and Drugg., 1901, lix., 102 ; Allen, Comm. Organ. Anal., 

 I'.'i'l. iii., pt. i., 461-3; Barry, Legal Med. Intl., 1902, i., 532, 558; Mitchell, 

 Animal and Veg. Fats, etc., 1903, 299 ; Blyth, Foods, 1903, 353, 491 ; White 

 1 Humphrey, Pharmacop., 1901, 543 ; Tschirch, Die Harze und die Harze- 



iltrr. 1906, ii., 833-50.] 



G. Xanthochymus. Hook., f. ; Rec. Bot. Surv. Ind., i., 336 ; Talbot, I.e. 27-8 ; 

 tooke, I.e. 78 ; Praia, Beng. Plants, i., 247 ; Firminger, I.e. 290. The darnpcl, 

 tamdl, tepor, manhola, tavir, iwara memadi, mukki, jandfji, madaw, etc. A medium- 

 sized evergreen tree of E. Himalaya and E. Bengal ; from Kanara south, through 

 Coorg and the Nilgiris ; also in the N. Circars, Burma and the Andaman Islands. 



A large quantity of an inferior gamboge is obtained from the GUM-RESIN of 

 this species. In Assam it is extensively used as a DYE. The Phakials of Lak- 

 himpur also employ the bark to produce a bright yellow. The mordant used 

 is the green leaves of *>f/ij*io<'o* ;/ m/</fr (bhomrati). [Cf. Duncan, Dyes 

 and Dyeing, Assam, 1896, 26.] The FRUIT is utilised in medicine either fresh or 

 dried, and also eaten as a FOOD. It ripens in January and February, and is some- 

 times used in place of the tamarind for preparing curry, and this fruit, as also 



it of G. jmiiirtiiata, are used in the preparation of vinegar (see p. 1109). 



Cake and 



lirunular. 



CompotflUoti. 



MM. 



MM* 



OIL 





Inferior 

 Gamboge. 



Yellow Dye. 

 Fruit. 



GEM-STONES. Holland, Rev. Min. Prod. Ind., 1898-1903, in Gem- 

 flee. Geol. Surv. Ind., 1905, xxxii., pt. i., 106-9 ; also Imp. Gaz., 1907, iii., stones - 

 160-3. Holland states that the most important of the precious and 

 serai-precious stones of India are amber, jadeite and ruby. "The only 

 precious and semi-precious stones at present mined in India are the 

 diamond, ruby, sapphire, spinel, tourmaline, garnet, rock-crystal, and the 

 various chalcedonic forms of silicon, jadeite and amber " (see p. 64). The 

 Pearl, though not a mineral but an animal gem-stone, may be described 

 here. In the present article, therefore, a classification into MAJOR and 

 MINOR gems may be adopted advantageously. Under the heading of 

 MAJOR GEMS will be taken up in alphabetical sequence Beryl, Diamond, 

 Pearl, Ruby, Sapphire, Spinel, Topaz and Turquoise ; under MINOR 

 EMS Garnet, Jade, Lapis Lazuli, the Quartzose minerals (Rock Crystal, 

 Agate, Onyx, Jasper, etc.), arid Tourmaline. 



Total Trade. The value of the precious stones found annually in 

 India does not apparently equal the value of the unset stones and pearls 

 imported. The IMPORTS in 1903-4 amounted in value to Rs. 1,52,15,502, Imports, 

 and in 1906-7 to Rs. 93,38,103, and came chiefly from the United King- 

 dom, Arabia, France and Persia. The share of Bengal was Rs. 94,62,278 



555 



