RUBIACEM. 375 



of wine. Those of the Banewort^ (fig. 382-884), baked in vinegar, 

 dye skins and cloth violet. The Romans, at festivals, painted the 

 &ces of their idols with it. The root of Lonicera Periclymenum ^ dyes 

 pale blue; the leaves of L. (?) corymbosa,^ of Chili, black ; the shoots 

 of L. cm-ulea* and alpigena^ (fig. 379), apricot-yellow; but these 

 plants, are now little used. 



A great many Ruhiacece are rich in astringent or alkaloid matters 

 which render them tonic, digestive, febrifuge. Those containing 

 substances analogous to Catechu and often, for medicinal purposes, 

 substituted for it, are the plants yielding Kino and Gambler. The 

 most celebrated is Ourouparia Gambir * (fig. 349-354), a species from 

 the shores of the Straits' of Malacca chiefly from the numerous isles 

 at the eastern extremity. It has probably been introduced there and 

 is found also in Ceylon where it is not cultivated.. It has been 

 regularly cultivated at Singapore since 1819 for the medicinal extract, 

 which is obtained by boiling the leaves and young branches in iron 

 cauldrons ; the liquid is then beaten in a particular manner with 

 sticks '' around which the Grambir collects in the form of a yellowish 

 paste or mud; it is then placed in boxes and, when sufficiently 

 hardened, is cut into small cubes. The cubes, of a reddish colour 

 externally, more yellow internally, are full of needle-like crystals : 

 they are said to consist entirely of catechic acid, andihat the yellow 

 colour of the mass is due to quercetin (?). It is thought that Gambir 

 is also extracted from Ourouparia acida,^ a Malay species, and from 

 0. ovalifoUa and sclerophylla. Nauclea, a near neighbour of Ourouparia, 



1 Sambueus Mulm L. Spec. 385. — (Ed. Fl, liicida M(enoh. 



Dan. t. 1156. — Sow. JEnffl. Bot. t. 476. — DO. ^ Nauclea Gambir Hunt. Trans. Linn. Soe.ix. 



Frodr. n. 1.— Lindl. Fl. Med. ii6.— Cat:. PI. 218, t. 22.— Uncaria Gambir Roxb. Fl. Ind. 



MM. Indig. (ed. 3) 511.— ;S. htimilis Lamk. Fl. ii. 126.— DO. Prodr. iv. 347, n. 1. — Guie. Drag. 



Fr. iii. 370. Simpl. (ed. 6) iii. 406, fig. 720.— Lindl. Fl. 



2 L. Spec. 247.— DO. Prodf. iv. 331, n. 6.— Med. 405.— Fldok. et Hanb. Pharmacogr. 298. 

 Ferieh/menum vulgare Mcench. — Caprifolium — Fmiis uncatus angustifolius Rumph. Sort. 

 Periclymenum E(EM. et ScH. — C sykatieum Amb. v. 63, t. 34. 



Lakk. J/. JV. iii. 365. 'Often made of Artooarpus, the wood of 



-' L. Spec. 249 ("apparently a Subiacea Bert." which is Ught, porous and milky. 



.ex DC. Prodr. iv. 338" n. 61). s lj„caria acida Roxb. Fl. Ind. ii. 129.— DC. 



* h. Spec. 249. — Ohmruecerasus ccerulea De- Prodr. n. 2. — BER&et Schm. Darst. Off. Oew. t. 



LAKB. — Caprifolium eoeruleum Lamk. 33 c. — Nauclea acida HvHi. — N. longifolia Poie. 



^ L. Spec. 248. — DC. Prodr. n. 39. — Caprifo- (ex DC). — Cinchona Knttukambar Kcen. Metx. 



Hum alpinum Gjertn. — Lamk. — ChamcEceraaus Obs.iv.6. 



■alpina Delare. — Isika alpigena Bobok. — H. 



