312 



ANALYSIS OF THE TELLGW QVK. 



Prcbably the 

 eagle wood of 

 Ilidj;i. 



Physical pro- 

 perties of the 

 yellow resin. 



Action of 

 heat on it. 



Action of 

 alcohol. 



THe tincture' 

 partly ijreri pi- 

 tied by water. 



q^iarter of a league [half a mile] distant merely by the smell 

 it emits inbiirrimg. 



*• Mr, Martin-Moncan, formerly agent of the French go- 

 vernment to Hyder AW Khan, told me, on seeing a piece 

 of the xanthorrhcEa, and smelling to it, that it very much 

 resembled the celebrated eagle wood, which fetches such a 

 hif>;li price in India, and the country of which is hitherto 

 unknown to Europeans. Mr. Martin-Moncan considered 

 it as by no means impossible, that the Malays, who in fact 

 have long had a commercial intercourse with New HoUarid, 

 visit its coast to procure the wood of the xanthorrhoea, 

 which he believes to be the eagle wood itself." 



The resin of the xanthorrhtea is friable and ensily sepa- 

 rates into scales before the nail. Its -fracture is shining and 

 compact. It has a yellow colour, and a very pleasant ba(-r 

 eamic smell, resembling that of poplar buds. When 

 |-ubbed in a mortar, it clots, and adheres to it strongly. It 

 js rendered very perceptibly electric by friction. The paper 

 on which it has been put when powdered retains enough of 

 it to acquire a deep yellow colour, which cannot be re- 

 moved. 



Exposed to a gentle heat, it melts, swells up, gives out a 

 considerable portion of aquepus vapour, diminishes in bulk, 

 ^nd acquires a brownish rpd colour inclining to purple. 

 Placed on burning coais, it rises in dense fumes, very pun- 

 gent, and so strongly aroinatic as to be disagreeable ; ^ud 

 soon after it flames, sv/ells up considerably, and leaves a 

 very bulky and very light coally residuum. 



As thi.=; substance does not mix with water, andimpartBto 

 it no cploar, acting in this respect as a resin, I employed 

 for analysing it alcohol at 40* [sp. grav. 0'817]» which dis- 

 solved it with the greatest facility, and without the assistance 

 of heat. Nothing was left undi-soUed but O-oy of an in- 

 sipid, grumous substance, resembling a gum, and particu- 

 larly that which is called iii the shops gum of Bassora, for. 

 it is neither soluble nor diffusible in water, it is only soften- 

 ed and swelled up by the ^ctioa of this fluid when boiling. 



The alcoholic solution when hltered has a reddish colour, 

 • and is remarkable for its limpidity and pleasant smell. It 

 ' may be kept several months without undergoing any altera- 

 tion^. 



