23 
The real source of the drug was cleared up air the specimen 
of Euc ucommia, collected in Hupeh in 1887 by Dr. A. Henry, was 
described in 1890 by Prof. Oliver in the Icones Pla niarum. Dr. 
Henry's specimens were accompanied by the following note :— 
The Tu chung tree, 20-30 feet. The bark of this ge^ s a most 
valued medicine with the Chinese, selling at 4s. to 8s. 
Mons. Pierre concurred a the suggested aoi with 
Pürameri ia must ndoned. 
Subsequently further specimens were received from the Museum 
d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris. These had been collected in Szechuen 
in 1874 by Rev Agen Farges. They were accompanied by the 
following note 
Lorsqu’on ETE l'écorce les vaisseaux corticaux s'étirent comme 
des fils de soies; c'est pour cela qu'il est appelé aussi vulgairement 
mien. Kcorce officinale usitée Rae les maladies des reins et 
comme une charpie dans les blessure 
Eucommia is a tree of spb omer districts. The name Tu. 
chung is, however, applied by the hy passi = e tree of the plains, 
which is almost certainly a Huo not improbably 
E. hamiltonianus, Wall. (See nei Bulletin, "1899, p. 219). 
VIII.—A HARDY INDIA-RUBBER TREE. 
(Eucommia ulmoides, Oliver.) 
[K.B., 1904, pp. 4-6.] 
In the Kew Bulletin for 1901 (pp. 89-94) [p. 18], under bas 
title * Gutta-Percha from a Chinese Tree," some account is gi 
of this interesting merce : 
The figure given Professor Oliver in  ZHooker's Icones: 
PIA (pl. 2361) i i now reproduced. 
To this may be added the following interesting D sugs 
furnished by Dr. Henry, the well-known Chinese Botan 
Tu Chung is the name given by the Chinese to the vs ee, “which 
has been described by Prof. Oliver as Eucommia ulmoides e 
bark is the only part used, and is much esteemed by the Chinese 
a drug, tonic and various other properties being assigned to it. 
It is described i in nearly all Chinese works on materia medica and 
tany, the earliest mention of it being given in the herbal 
of which the Emperor Shén-Nung is the reputed author, and 
which was pU iam to writing probably as early as the first 
century of our 
The tree is uai in small plantations in the mo 
regions of Szechwan, Hupeh, and Shensi ; and from these districts 
it is brou ught to Hankow, the ve mart for drugs that ar 
produced in the western prov From this port seme 
100 tons are annually exported by preci to the other treaty 
e value of this export is put down in the Customs 
ports. Th 
returns at about £18,000; the price varies much from year to 
year and with the quu of the bark. 
