51 



" The resiu, when freed from the thin outer layer of altered material, 

 was soluble in turpentine oil, chloroform, benzene and ether, and 

 ahnost completely so in alcohol. It melted at (35" C (15!/^ F.), and on 

 ignition furnished 0.21 per cent, of ash. One grain of the resin required 

 89.2 milligrams of potassiiun hydroxide for neutralisation, and 93.5 

 milligrams of this re-agent for complete saponification. It contains, 

 therefore, a large proportion of free resin acids, and a comparatively 

 small amount of resin esters. 



" When dissolved in turpentine oil and the solution applied as a 

 varnish to wood, there was left on drying a hard almost white ' coat,' 

 similar to that produced by damar varnishes. 



" A small sample of the resin was submitted to a firm of varnish 

 makers for technical trial : they reported that it could probably be 

 used as a substitute for damar resin in the preparation of varnishes 

 suitable for in-door woi'k, but that it would be necessary to carry out 

 experiments on a large scale before a definite commercial value could 

 be assigned to the material. 



" These results indicate that this Garcinia resin is a product of 

 considerable interest and likely to prove commercially valuable, and 

 it has been suggested that a larger sample of about 14 pounds of 

 the material should be prepared and forwarded to the Imperial Insti- 

 tute for further examination, technical trial and commercial valuation. 



" At the same time a similar sample of the hard insoluble resin 

 prepared by evaporating the whole of the water from the saj), as de- 

 scribed iu the letter accompanying the present specimen, has been 

 requested, since it is possible that a process might be devised for jn'e- 

 paring a resistant varnish of the copal type from this material. 



" It is desirable that steps should be taken to identify the particular 

 species of' Garcinia from which this resin is derived. In this connection, 

 it is of particular interest to note that this resin appears to be quite 

 different in constitution from the gum-resin, gamboge, obtained from 

 the nearly allied plants Garcinia hanhitrii and Garcinia Dtorella.^' 



I will now supplement the above particulars as to its collection 

 and use with further details obtained from some Perak Malays. 



The method of collection is as follows : 



Small horizontal notches are cut in the bark of the trees down to 

 the wood. Each notch is made by a double cut, one with the knife 

 held with the edge turned upwards and the next with it pointing 

 downwards. The result being that a wedge-shaped piece of bark is 

 removed. The tapping is to be done about 5 p.m., and it is essential 

 that the trees be visited early in the morning as soon after sunrise 

 as possible, otherwise the small bees, called Jcehdat, will carry away 

 all the gummy sap for use in their nest building. During the night 

 the sap oozes out and there is found in the morning a small quantit 



