THE PINEY TREE. 



481 



Sliming much more rapidly than ours. These 

 serious defects are perhaps attributable in a great 

 measure to the unappropriateness of the wick 

 employed, which' is merely a little rod of dry 

 light wood (generally bamboo), with the pith of 

 a rush wound round it ; the pores of this pith 

 serving as a medium to conrey to the wood the 

 inflammable matter with which it is surrounded. 



Father D'lncaryille mentions, in a letter writ- 

 ten by him from Pekin, and published in the 

 Philosophical Transactions for 1753, that almost 

 all the candles sold in the southern provinces of 

 China are made with tallow prepared from these 

 berries. There are very few sheep in that part 

 of the country ; animal tallow is therefore very 

 scarce, and this vegetable production is in con- 

 sequence held in high estimation. 



The Piney Tree {vateria Indica) growing on 

 the coast of Malabar, yields a substance very 

 much resembling that of the croton sebiferum. 

 The peculiar product of this tree is fuUy described 

 in an interesting paper on the subject, by Dr 

 Benjamin Babington, who, from many experi- 

 ments, has shown that its inflammable proper- 

 ties admirably adapt it for the manufacture of 

 candles, it being in every way superior to animal 

 tallow. 



The useful matter is obtained by simply boil- 

 ing the pulpy fruit of the piney tree in water, 

 when the fused vegetable tallow rises to the sur- 

 face, and, on cooling, forms a solid cake. No 

 farther preparation is necessary. This substance 

 is generally white, sometimes yellow, unctuous 

 to the touch, " with some degree of waxiness, 

 almost tasteless, and has an agreeable odour 

 somewhat resembling common cerate." It takes 

 a liquid form at the temperature of 97^° Fah- 

 renheit, and consequently generally remains solid 

 in India, in which respect it differs from palm 

 or cocoa-nut oil. Its specific gravity at the 

 melting point, or 97^°, is -8965, and at 60°, is 

 •9260. 



A piece of this tallow enveloped in folds of 

 blotting paper was submitted to strong pressure, 

 and scarcely suflftcient elain, or pure oil, was 

 expressed to imbue the inmost fold. Its tenacity 

 and solidity are so great, that the united efforts 

 of two strong men were in vain exerted to cut a 

 round piece of nine pounds weight asunder with 

 a fine iron wire, and it was no easy task to effect 

 a division even with the assistance of a saw. Dr 

 B. Babington likewise remarked that, "on a 

 fracture being made, it exhibits a crystalline 

 structure in small aggregated spheres, composed 

 of radii emanating from a centre, not unlike the 

 form of WaveUite." Animal tallow, when melted 

 into large casks, and slowly cooled, has a some- 

 what similar appearance. 



When piney tallow is manufactured into can- 

 dles, they come from the mould freely, differing 

 in this respect from wax, which it is found diffi- 



cult to cast. These candles afibrd as strong a 

 light as those made of animal tallow, and have 

 the great advantage of being free from the unplea- 

 sant odour of the animal substance. 



Piney tallow readily unites in all proportions 

 with wax, spermaceti, and tallow, forming, when 

 mixed with spermaceti and wax, a compound 

 which fuses at a temperature approximating to 

 their mean melting point, according to their rela- 

 tive proportions. A mixture with any of these 

 ingredients has been found to form a better can- 

 dle than when the pure and more fusible sub- 

 stance is alone employed. Dr B. Babington made 

 several experiments to discover its inflamma- 

 bility compared with other substances ; and 

 ascertained with tolerable accuracy, that the 

 piney tallow approaches nearer to animal fat in 

 its rate of combustion than to spermaceti or 

 wax, and that, all circumstances being similar, 

 a less weight was consumed of this in a given 

 time than of either of the other substances. 



The natives have never hitherto applied this 

 vegetable product as a means of aflFording light. 

 Its concrete form is probably the cause of their 

 having neglected it; as a solid substance is never 

 used in India for feeding the flame of their wicks, 

 and candles are unknown there. Their lamps 

 are supplied with many fluid vegetable oils, which 

 their country yields in profusion. The product 

 of the piney tree is, however, employed medici- 

 nally by the Indians, who consider it as an 

 excellent application for bruises and rheumatic 

 pains. 



A resin, very nearly similar in its properties 

 to that of copal, exudes from the same tree, and 

 furnishes a very durable natural varnish. This 

 resin, when mixed up with the tallow of the 

 piney tree, is used as a substitute for tar, in 

 smearing the bottoms of boats. 



The Valeria Indica grows very commonly 

 throughout the western coast of the peninsula 

 of India, as far northward as the extreme limit 

 of the province of Canara. A plentiful supply 

 might therefore be readily obtained, which could 

 be imported into this country at one-fourth the 

 price of wax. Although it may not possess all 

 the advantages of that substance, it is still con- 

 siderably superior to animal tallow. 



The Pitchek Plant, nepenthes distillatoria ; 

 diceeia, monodelphia, of Linnseus. This, though 

 a herbaceous plant, may be included among the 

 more singular productions of the vegetable 

 kingdom. It is a native of China and the East 

 Indies, and grows in marshy situations. The 

 flower is a panicle. The leaves are sessile, oblong, 

 and terminated at the extremities by a cylin- 

 drieal, hollow vessel, exactly resembling a com- 

 mon water pitcher. 



This pitcher is furnished with a lid, which 

 opens and shuts by the contractions of a mem- 

 branous hinge. In its native state this cup is 

 3 p 



