394 APPENDIX D. 



there is, however, scarcely any diflFerence in the quality. The 

 Attaleh is not so large a tree as the Arar, which produces the 

 Sandarac gum, nor does it reach the size of the Auwar tree, which 

 produces the gum Senegal. It has a low crooked stem, and its 

 branches, from the narrowness of its leaves (long and scanty), 

 have a harsh, withered, and unhealthy appearance at the time 

 it yields the most gum — that is, during the hot and parching 

 months of Jvily and August ; but although not an ornamental 

 tree, it is a most useful plant, and will always be considered 

 valuable. Its wood is hard, and takes a good polish ; its seeds, 

 which are enclosed in a pericarpium, resemble those of the Lupin, 

 yield a reddish dye, and are used by the tanners in the preparer 

 tion of leather. These seeds attract goats, who are very fond of 

 eating them. The more sickly the tree appears, the more gum 

 it yields ; and the hotter the weather, the more prolific it is. A 

 wet winter and a cool or mild summer are unfavourable to the 

 production of gum.' 



As observed in the body of this work, the gum does not 

 seem to be collected in the western portion of its range in South 

 Marocco, but in Demnet, whence it is brought to Mogador; 

 and it may very well be that it is only in the hotter and drier 

 regions of the interior that the gum is produced in sufficient 

 quantities to be worth collecting. 



It is remarkable that no notice whatever of Acacia gummi- 

 fera occurs in Fliickiger and Hanbury's invaluable ' Pharmaco 

 graphia' (1874), where the Marocco gum is supposed to be the 

 produce of Acacia arabica Willd., a plant which extends from 

 Nubia to Natal, and eastward to Central India, but which 

 is not known as a native of Marocco. In another passage 

 of the above work (p. 211), the 'Marocco, Mogador, or brown 

 Barbary gum,' is described as consisting ' of tears of moderate 

 size, often vermiform, and of a rather uniform light dusky 

 brown tint. The tears, which are internally glassy, become 

 cracked on the surface and brittle if kept in a warm room ; 

 they are perfectly soluble in water.' 



It is possible that the Acacia arabica, which is found in 

 Senegal, may extend to the Sus Valley, and be the source of 

 some of the Marocco gum; and that more than one species 

 producing gum are confounded together by the Moors; this 

 is the natural inference from Jackson's account, itself anything 



