196 
tle Chunam, or Lime, they make a deep 
orange-colour, both tints being much used 
in the decoration of their temples, and 
Boodh himself is always represented in 
yellow garments. Yellow is indeed the 
sacred colour, the priests being invariably 
arrayed in yellow robes 
‘ Asa medicine, the Gamboge is ground 
to a fine powder, and being mixed with the 
juice expressed from theleaves ofthe Tama- 
rind Tree, is taken with a little water. This 
is the most common mode of administering 
it as an aperient; but when mixed with other 
ingredients it is considered by native prac- 
titioners to be beneficial in many diseases. 
It is collected by cutting pieces of the 
bark completely off, about the size of the 
palm of the hand, early in the morning. 
The Gamboge oozes out from the pores of i 
the bark, in a semi-liquid state, but soon 
thickens, and is scraped off by the collec- 
tors next morning without injury to the 
tree, the wounds in the bark readily heal- 
ing and becoming fit to undergo the opera- 
tion again. The learned doctor, who gave 
us this information, presented us with a 
large pot or jar of Gamboge, and promised 
to send us more, which promise he faith- 
fully kept, and I shall forward specimens to 
you of his present by the first opportunity. 
The Garcinia Cambogia, of which I trans- 
mit you a representation, is one of the 
most common trees in this neighbourhood, 
attaining a large size, and is very hand- 
some, with remarkably thick and dark fo- 
A quantity of resinous juice pro- 
ceeds from its bark, in the same manner 
that Gamboge does from the Stalagmitis ; 
but it never seems to harden thoroughly, 
and no use is made of it by the natives. 
The outer husk of the fruit, however, is a 
favourite ingredient in their curries, They 
prepare it by taking out the pulp and seeds, 
reaking it to pieces, and putting it in a 
heap, which is covered for two or three 
days, till it becomes soft. It is then smoked 
by burning cocoa-nut shells below the 
grating on which it is spread. This ope- 
ration is continued for many days, when it £ 
is tied up tight in a bag, and kept for use 
by being hung, I cannot say in the chim- 
REMARKS ON THE GAMBOGE TREE OF CEYLON. 
ney, for chimneys they have none, 
where it is under the influence of the sm 
from their fires when cooking. They 
use it in pickling or preserving, along 
salt, a kind of small fish, 
The flower of No. 2, which I suppose is y 
also a Garcinia, differs much from No. LA 
but the fruit appears almost the same, and 
is used by the natives in the same way. 
In a subsequent letter, dated jua 
1835, Mrs. Walker says, “ I am convinced 
Pitcairn is of the same opinion, and desires : 
me to tell you that he has administered it 
1 shall now state what the plant seems 
to be which is called by Mrs. Walker Sta- 
lagmitis cambogioides, and what are my 
reasons for forming the opinion which I 
entertain. 
Linneus, in his Flora Zeylanica, No 
195, under the name Cambogia, quotes % 
a synonym, '* Carcapuli Acoste, fructu 1 
malo aureo simili," of Plukenett’s Almages- 
tum Botanicum ; which, if it be the same — 
as the twig figured by Plukenett in his m 5 
tographia, t. 147, fig. 3, seems to me to be 
Xanthochymus ovalifolius. = 
In the same work, Linnæus also ge : 
as a synonym of his Cambogia, the E 
bor Indica, que gummi ae oa ^* 
fructu acido sulcato mali magn! as i 5 
Comm melyn' s Flora Malabarica, whet? 
ate 
bogia of Gertner, Garcinia Cam 
Desrousseaux and of De Condi ne 
Linneus lastly, in the same WO , al 
as a synonym for his Cambogia * ' Care" 
1 No.1. I believe this to b 
of 
