AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 425 



out in every direction. A man fell down in the flood of calcined 

 starch and water. He thought no more of it until next morning, 

 when dressing himself he found the legs of his pantaloons, sleeves 

 of his coat, pockets, and every other opening firmly obstructed. 

 On examination he thought he had fallen into gum, but on re- 

 visiting the scene of fire he discovered that the properties must 

 be contained in the potato starch, and by a few simple ex- 

 periments he made a discovery wliich has resulted in large 

 profits. 



According to Dr. Vaughan of Aden, the acacia which yields gum 

 arable is generally a small shrub of a dry and withered appear- 

 ance; occasionally, however, it shoots out into a tree from 20 to 

 30 feet high. The gum is collected on the northeast coast of 

 Africa in December and January — long incisions are made in the 

 stem and branches from which the juice flows, which when dry 

 is removed. There are three kinds, styled severally Felich, 

 Zeila and Berbera. None of the first named (Felich), which is 

 esteemed the best, finds its way to Aden, the mass being usually 

 bought up by the Banians or Hindoo merchants, and shipped 

 direct to Bombay, where it realizes about 50 shillings the cwt. 

 (about $12). The other two gums fetch about half price. 



In 1851, 250 tons of gum arable passed through the Aden 

 Custom House. Selling price there about 24 shillings ($6). The 

 local names for the gum arable or Summuk are Adad, Wadi and 

 Anhokib, the latter considered the best. The tree is found on 

 the mountain sides in good red soil and varies in height from 19 

 to 20 feet. The gum is highly nutritious. During the harvest 

 of it the Moors of the desert live almost entirely upon it, and 

 experience proves that a man is supported 24 hours by 6 ounces 

 of it. The harvest lasts about six weeks, during which time the 

 Moors encamp on the border of the forest. 



In the Indian Bazaars the gums of many trees are mixed and 

 indiscriminately vended as Arabic by the native druggists. 

 Among them gum from the Neem, Mango, Babool (Jlrabica). 

 Cassia — Auriculata — Cotton tree, and several others, which are 

 much inferior to the Arabic. 



A large quantity of excellent gum is obtained from the wood 

 apple. {Feronia elephantum.) 



The bastard ebony tree of Central India, and also many other 

 of the forest trees which abound there, yield large quantities of 

 rich and valuable gums. Dr. Spry collected as many as fifteen 

 varities in one locality. 



