ULMAOE^. 177 



with juice prepared from certain plants^ whicli coagulate the 

 caoutchouc. The latter becomes a floating mass in a brown liquor 

 of a cheesy odour ; the mass is subjected to an iron press and then 

 dried.^ In tropical Asia, in Australia and perhaps also in Angola 

 and Benguela, on the coast of Africa, there are other Artocarpece 

 which produce the greater part of the caoutchouc exported. They 

 belong to the genus Ficus and, among a great number of species 

 imperfectly defined,^ are especially mentioned F. elastica,'^ laccifera^ 

 and religiosa ® in Asia, macrophylla ^ and rubiginosa ® in Australia. 

 In the province of Assam the former of these is chiefly employed ; 

 incisions are made in the trunk and aerial portions of the roots 

 with a peculiar knife (daos). The juice flows into troughs dug in 

 the ground, or into channels formed by the leaves ; it is richer in 

 caoutchouc during the cold season. It is treated with warm water 

 till it coagulates ; after which it is pressed and dried in the sun. 

 In Java the juice is allowed to dry upon the tree itself. Generally 

 the caoutchouc of Ficus is impure. Even when it contains no bark 

 or earth, it is of less value than the American produce. Besides 

 this substance, now so serviceable in industry domestic economy 

 and medicine, the products of the Fig trees are so numerous and 

 so various that it is almost impossible to enumerate all. The 

 common Fig^ (fig. 124-126) is especially known for the quality of 



^ It is the Coasso and Aehete (^Ipomcea bona- Kohkhletm Java). 

 nox) that are previously macerated in the water. ' Eoxe. Fl. Ind. iii. 545. Wight, Icon. t. 656. 



Treated with water only, tho juice also coagu- — Urostigma lacciferum Miq. M. Ind.-Bat. i. p. 



lates, hut much more slowly. ii. 675. — Thw. Mmmt. PI. Zeyl. 265 [But). 



2 It hears the name of tortilla, torta, meros, and ^ W. Spec. iv. 1134. — Eoxb. Fl. Ind. iii. 647. 



weighs dry ahout a Mlogr. When it has been — Vrostigma religiostim Gasp. — Arcalu Eheed. 



dried hy contact with the iron, it is rolled into Sort. Malab. i. t. 27 (Asioat, Bogdla, Pippa, 



balls called cabezza. The bola or hwrucha, is the Eai, Figuier des Pagodes). 

 caoutchouc dried on the tree itself at the sur- ' Desp. ex Peks. Synops. ii. 609. — Benth. 



face of the incisions : it is the most esteemed in Fl. Austral, vi. 570.— J. Huegelii K.(ex Miq.). — 



the United States, but is little abundant. The Vrostigma macrophyllum Mia. Sook. Zand. 



loss due to dessicoation, estimated at about 15 lov/m. vi. 660. 

 per cent., is called merma (Coll.). ' Desp. ex Vent. Malmais. t. 114. — Benth. 



' Or less worked than the others, as i?. Tada Fl. Austral, vi. \6i.—Bot. Mag. t. 2939.— i?. 



Eeinw. {Vrostigma Karet Mia.), nymphaiifolia Australis'W. Spec. iv. 1138. — Urostigma rubigi- 



L. ( U. nymphceifoUum Mia.), populnea W. osum G-aspakr. N. gen. Fie. 7 ; Sic Caprif. 82, 



indiea L. elliptica H. B. K. prinoides H. B. K. t. 7, fig. 6-13. 



(which give the caoutchouc <fe G^MfliZMM in Colom- ' Ficus Carica L. Spee. 1513. — W. Spec. iv. 



Tiia,), gimimiferaMiQ,. Madula'W. [Pharmaseosyce 1131. — ^Eoxb. Fl. Ind. iii. 628. — Guib. op. 



Sadula Miq,.), anthelminthica Mixr.eto. cit. ii. 317. — Endl. Enchirid. 166 — Mer. et 



■• Eoxb. Fl. Ind. iii. 641.— Guib. Drag. Simpl. Del. Diet. Mat. Med. iii. 254. — Lindl. Fl. M4d. 



ed. 6, ii. 319.— Lindl. Fl. Med. 298.— Endl. 298.— Gken. et Godr. i??. (?e iV. iii. 103.— Beeg 



Enchirid.lQQ. — Bosenth. op. cit. 196. — Coll. et^cau. Darst. Off. Gew. t. 19 a.— Elueck. et 



Rep. on Caoutoh. 18. — Urostigma elastioum Mia. Hanb. Pharmacogr, i87 . {Bou,Arire & cariques). 

 [Kusnir, Kasmeer in India, Pohan Karet, 



VOL. VI. 12 



