LIGNUM ALOES. 439 



about 16s. 9d. or 23s. 4d. per cwt. In the Chinese ports it fetches 

 nearly double that price the cwt. The Chinese burn the roots as 

 an incense in the temples of their gods, and they also attach great 

 efficacy to it as an aphrodisiac. The imports into Canton in 1848 

 were 414 piculs ; in 1850, 854 piculs ; valued at 5,150 dollars. In 

 Cashmere it is chiefly used for the protection of bales of shawls 

 from insects. The exports from the port of Calcutta were, in 

 1840-41, 19,660 maunds; in 1841-42, 12,847 ; in 1847-48, 2,050i ; 

 in 1848-49, 2,110f ; worth about 1,500 annuaUy. 



Specimens of amboyna wood, the odoriferous sandal wood from 

 Timor, clove wood, and other choice woods from the Moluccas and 

 Prince of Wales Island, were sent home to the Great Exhibition 

 in 1851. 



LIGNUM ALOES, the eagle wood and Calambak of commerce, 

 yielding an aromatic perfume, is furnished by the Aquilaria malac- 

 censis, and agallocha, in Silhet, an ornamental evergreen shrub, A 

 very high artificial value is placed on the better qualities of this 

 product by the natives of the East ; the best quality being worth 

 about 14 the picul of 133 Ibs. 



This fragrant wood is probably the lign aloes of the Bible. 



Incense to the value of nearly one million and a quarter francs 

 was exported from Alexandria in 1837. 



Calambak or eagle wood, the true lignum aloes so highly esteemed 

 in the East as a perfume or incense, is said to be produced by the 

 Alcexylum agallochum, Lour. This remarkable wood contains a 

 large quantity of an odoriferous oleo-resin ; when heated it under- 

 goes a sort of imperfect fusion, and exhales a fragrant and very 

 agreeable odor. Its price in Sumatra is about 30 per cwt. Inferior 

 specimens are obtained at Malacca. Eagle wood is also obtained 

 from several other trees. The true eagle wood is however very 

 scarce. 



