1843.] Asiatic Society. 417 



live and six feet high, the tree itself is ornamental, and to shew how profitable a plan- 

 tation of them would be if cultivated for the sake of the oil, I annex the following : — 



Say, 40 Trees upon each Beegah, 40 



Each Tree averaging 1 ^ maund of oil, 1| 



Such oil would fetch at the least even in Calcutta, 12 Rs. , 

 per maund. 



60 

 Rs. ) 



Rs. 720 each Beegah, 

 from which must be deducted the cost of manufacture, which, however, would in all 

 likelihood be paid for by any crop on the same ground, such as Indigo, Mustard, &c. &c. 

 I extracted the oil sent you by pressure, in a manner exactly similar to that in use in 

 the manufacture of cold drawn castor oil ; the nut itself I have eaten, and found very 

 palatable, far*nore so I think than the walnut, and I never experienced any bad effects 

 from eating it. The natives say it is a purgative, but I did not find it so. At the present 

 season the tree is particularly handsome, being covered with a handsome white blossom, 

 which contrasts well with the large dark leaf of the tree. It is my intention to send 

 some of the young plants I have to the Agricultural Society, and I shall have much 

 pleasure in sending you as many young trees, and as much seed as you may require. 



Yours very faithfully, 



Eaugundee, 2d April, 1843. W. Maling. 



P. S. — You will not fail to observe the remarkable difference between the leaves 

 attached to the blossom, and those separate, and yet they are off the same tree. 



Read the following Letter and Memorandum from Captain Macleod, of 

 Moulmein, of 10th ultimo, on a specimen of Black Dye, of which samples 

 were on the table : — 



My dear Torrens, 



The accompanying will speak for itself, the black colour conveyed by the Dye is 

 the most beautiful I have seen. I would write more on the subject, but the letter and 

 the Dye have just reached me, and 1 fear to delay, the Steamer being on the point of 

 starting. Yours very truly, 



Moulmein, 10th April, 1843. W. Macleod. 



Zimmay, February, 1843. 



" I have the pleasure of sending you a specimen of the Black Dye. I made the experi- 

 ment myself, and find it is produced from the pulp growing round a kind of plum of a 

 very light colour inside, until broke, exposed to the air and sun, when it gradually 

 assumes the intense Black Dye, and becomes insoluble in water, and must go through the 

 same process as Indigo, both being insoluble in water. The manner of dying silk is 

 very simple ; it is immersed in a quantity of the pulp mixed with water sufficiently thin, 

 and either dipped or rolled over the silk which immediately being exposed to the sun 

 grows darker, and if not sufficiently dyed, this is repeated ; it requires but a small quan- 

 tity to dye a quantity of silk. 



I shall bring down with me a piece of Long Cloth I have had dyed ; the process of 

 dying cotton is different, it is first put in a solution of Indigo, dried, and then immersed 

 and exposed to dry,becomes entirely black. The natives keep the Indigo in solution ; with 



