ALMACIGA TREE: AGATHIS ALBA (LAM.). 



175 



boanga. It is probable that it is more widely distributed than is shown by our 

 collections. It is found in the extreme north of Luzon and in the most southern 

 islands of the group. 



This tree is the source of almaciga or Manila copal, which is a con- 

 siderable article of export from the islands. The almaciga seems to 

 be the only product of this tree which is used. It is employed locally 

 for incense in religious ceremonies. The resin is found in the bark, as 

 already indicated, and it oozes out wherever the bark is cut. Oc- 

 casionally, lumps of hard resin are found in the forks of branches and 

 sometimes the so-called fossil resin is encountered in masses in the ground 

 at the base of the tree. The gathering of the resin is the principal 

 occupation of some of the Tagbanuas of Palawan. 



The dipterocarp resins are not gathered to any considerable extent 

 in the Philippines; consequently, there is not much likelihood that the 

 resins of the Dipterocarpacece will be mixed locally with Manila copal. 



Doctor Beccari met with this tree on the upper slopes of Mount Poe, Sarawak. 

 He says u that the resin collects at the foot of the tree and forms stone-like 

 masses. There he heard it called "Dammar daghin" or "flesh-resin," and con- 

 sidered it to be one of the best resins. I collected specimens from the tree in 

 the same locality as Doctor Beccari and found the Land Dyaks terming it "Dama 

 bindang." I did not see any of the deposits at the base of the tree, but I learned 

 that the Land Dyaks make a business of collecting the resin from the tree. I 

 found one tree which had a ladder on it made by driving pegs at intervals of about 

 1 meter and tying saplings to these. This, I was told, is a common means of 

 enabling the dammar hunter to get at the clear, lump resin which is found at 

 the forks or on the branches. 



The Sarasins 12 describe the same method of collecting Agathis resin in Celebes 

 and say that the bark is also cut into to produce a flow of resin. 



11 Loo. cit. 



"Reisen in Celebes (1905), 1, 182. 



