GAMBOGE. 447 



from ,1 to 3 per cwt. exclusive of the heavy duty, 

 which is 2 for that quantity. 



Myrrh is another gum-resin which was much prized 

 by the ancients and which partook of the mystery 

 in which frankincense was shrouded. Even to the 

 present day there is no certain accounts of the tree 

 whence it is obtained. It is certainly the product of 

 Ethiopia as well as of Arabia. 



This gum-resin is now classed among medical 

 drugs. 



Gamboge is a concrete vegetable juice, having all 

 the characteristics of a gum-resin. It is the pro- 

 duct of the Stalagmitis gambogioides, a middling- 

 sized tree, a native of Ceylon, Siam, and Cochin 

 China. Deep incisions being made in the bark the 

 juice issues out in a liquid form, and is afterwards 

 inspissated by the heat of the sun; it is then made 

 into large cakes or rolls. The best sort is of a deep 

 yellow colour, divested of all smell, and has very 

 little taste. The Siamese gamboge is in small tears 

 formed by the concretion of the drops of the juice as 

 they exude from the leaves, stalks, and young shoots, 

 when they are broken off from the tree. 



It is not, properly speaking, soluble, but is ex- 

 tremely diffusible in water, with which it forms an 

 opaque yellow-coloured infusion. Alcohol is a more 

 effectual solvent ; this takes it up in large quantities 

 and forms a clear gold-coloured fluid : if water be 

 added, the solution becomes turbid. Its alcoholic 

 tincture forms one of the ingredients of the gold- 

 coloured lacquer which is generally spread over the 

 surface of the smaller articles of brass-work. It is 

 well known as a water-colour pigment, and is likewise 

 used as a powerful medicine. 



Gamboge is fusible and inflammable; when 

 ignited it blazes, throws out sparks, and emits a dense 

 black smoke. 



