120 COMMERCIAL BOTANY. 



to avoid the conclusion that artificial indigo -will most 

 seriously interfere with, even if it does not within a very 

 few years altogether displace, the natural article." 



Though this was written ten years ago, vegetable indigo 

 stiU retains its position in the market. 



The hard, dried fruits now imported from India in such 

 large quantities under the name of Mtrobalans were only 

 just making their way into commerce when Her Majesty 

 ascended the throne ; at the present time they come into 

 this country from India for tlie use of tanners to the extent 

 of over 640,000 cwt. a year. Two kinds are known in com- 

 merce — the Chebulio Myrobalan (Terminalia chebula) and 

 theBELLERic Myrobalan {T. belerica). 



In 1875 the pods of a leguminous tree of South America 

 (Ccesalpinia brevifolia) were introduced from Santiago under 

 the name of Algaroba. They were said at the time to 

 contain a large amount of tannin — 90 per cent. — and to be 

 superior even to Divi-Divi (Ccesalpinia coriaria). In 1878 

 some pods of Wagatea spicata were sent from India to test 

 their value for tanning purposes. They were said to con- 

 tain 15 per cent, of tannic acid. The plant is a native of 

 the Concan, and is a scrambling thorny shrub belonging to 

 the natural order Leguminosse. Seeds of this plant were 

 distributed from Kew to Demerara, Dominica, Jamaica, 

 Trinidad, and other places. 



Elepliantorrhiza Burchellii. — Under the name of Elands 

 BoNTJES the root-bark of this leguminous plant fii-st attracted 

 attention in 1866, when a paper was read before the Phar- 

 maceutical Society by Professor Attfield, and published in 

 the Pharmaceutical Journal, Vol. VIII., 2nd Series, p. 316. 

 The plant, which was there referred to a species of Acacia, 

 is said to furnish food from its seeds, a medicinal infusion 

 from its root, and also a valuable tanning material. It was 

 found upon analysis to contain 20 per cent, of tannic acid. 

 Nothing further was heard of this root till 1886, when it 



