RUBIACJEJE. 375 



of wine. Those of the Danewort ^ (fig. 382-384), baked in vinegar, 

 dye skins and cloth violet. The Romans, at festivals, painted the 

 faces of their idols with it. The root of Lonicem Perichjmenum ^ dyes 

 pale blue; the leaves of L. (?) corymhosn,^ of Chili, black ; the shoots 

 of L. cwnilea^ and alpigena^ (fig. 379), apricot-yellow; but these 

 plants are now little used. 



A great many Riihiacece are rich in astringent or alkaloid matters 

 which render them tonic, digestive, febrifuge. Those containing 

 substances analogous to Catechu and often, for medicinal purposes, 

 substituted for it, are the plants yielding Kino and Gambler. The 

 most celebrated is Ourouparia Gamhir^ (fig. 349-354), a species from 

 the shores of the Straits of Malacca chiefly from the numerous isles 

 at the eastern extremity. It has probably been introduced there and 

 is found also in Ceylon where it is not cultivated. It has been 

 regularly cultivated at Singapore since 1819 for the medicinal extract, 

 which is obtained by boiling the leaves and young branches in iron 

 cauldrons ; the liquid is then beaten in a particular manner with 

 sticks ^ around which the Gambir collects in the form of a yellowish 

 paste or mud ; it is then placed in boxes and, when sufficiently 

 hardened, is cut into small cubes. The cubes, of a reddish colour 

 externally, more yellow internally, are full of needle-Hke crystals : 

 they are said to consist entirely of catechic acid, and that the yellow 

 colour of the mass is due to quercetin (?). It is thought that Gambir 

 is also extracted from Ourouparia acida,^ a Malay species, and from 

 0. ovalifolia and sclerophylla. Nauclea, a near neighbour of Ourouparia, 



* Sambucus Ebulus L. Spee. 385. — CEd. Fl. lucida Mcench. 



Ban. t. 1156. — Sow. Fngl. Bot. t. 475. — DC. ^ Nauclea GamhirTLusT. Trans. Zifin. SocAx. 



Prodr. n. 1.— Lindl. FL Med. 446.— Caz. P^. 218, t. 22.— Unearia Gambir Roxb. Fl. Ind. 



Med. Indig. (ed. 3) 511.— /S. humilis Lamk. Fl. ii. 126.— DC. Prodr. iv. 347, n. 1.— Guib. Drog. 



Fr. iii. 370. Simpl. (ed. 6) iii. 406, fig. 720.— Lindl. FL 



2 L. Spec. 247.— DC. Prodr. iv. 331, n. 6.— Med. 405.— Fluck. et Hanb. Pharmacogr. 298. 



Periclymenum vulgare Mcench. — Caprifolium — Funis uncatus angiistif alius Rumph. Hort. 



Periclymenum R(em. et ScH. — C. sylvaticum Amb. v. 63, t. 34. 



Lamk. i^/. jPr. iii. 365. 7 Often made of Artocarpits, the wood of 



^ L. Spec. 249 ("apparently a Rubiacea Bert." which is light, porous and milky. 



■ ex DC. Prodr. iv. 338, n. 51). » Uncaria acida Roxb. FL Ind. ii. 129.— DC. 



* L. Spec. 249. — Chamcecerasiis coerulea De- Prodr. n. 2.— Berg et Schm. Burst. Off. Gew. t. 

 LARB. — Caprifolium ccerulewn Lamk. 33 c. — Nauclea acida Hunt. — N. longifolia PoiR. 



^ L. Spec. 248. — DC. Prodr. n. 39. — Caprifo- (ex DC). — Cinchona Kattukambar Y.(Efi: Retz. 



limn alpinum G^rtn. — Lamk. — Cham(ecerasus Obs.ix.Q. 

 nlpina Delarb. — Isika alpigena Borck. — /. 



