THE VEGETABLE PRODUCTS OF SIAM; 359 



to the Musa tribe ; it is much more probable that it is procured from the 

 theet-tsee or kkeu, a plant called by Wallich Melanorrhcea usitatissima. 

 The milk from which the varnish is prepared, flows from the tree after an 

 incision has been made into the trunk, and is very caustic, causing pustules' 

 where it comes in contact with the skin. This very circumstance does not 

 render it likely that the vegetable production which yields the varnish 

 belongs to the tribe of plants which the Bishop designates* 



Wood-oils, which more properly ought to be called resinous balsams, 

 are yielded by Dipterocarpus trinervis, and allied species. They give to 

 teakwood a fine polish, and are substituted in house decorations for the 

 coloured paints for verandahs, window-sashes, doors, &c. 



Mr Edward O'Biley, when speaking of the vegetable products of the 

 Tenasserim provinces, says that it is not generally known that the oil of the 

 Dipteracece possesses the same quality as the balsam of copaiba.f This had 

 been stated previously by Dr Blume, and it has been recommended lately 

 in England. 



These balsamic resins, which are yielded by numerous trees of the 

 forests of Siam, deserve much more attention than they have hitherto 

 received. 



The damar, or dammer, is the resinous produce of trees belonging to the 

 same kind which yield the wood-oil, namely, Shorea and Tumbugaia. The 

 damar is found at the foot of the trees, much like the gum anime of South 

 America, and is frequently fished up (just like the latter), floating on the 

 surface of rivers, carried there by floods of rain. No care is taken in 

 collecting it ; hence it is frequently mixed with extraneous substances, 

 which greatly lessen its value. It is used as a substitute for pitch or tar, 

 and forms an article of export to Singapore. 



Gum benzoin, or benjamin (probably the produce of Styrax Benzoin), is 

 brought to Bangkok from the Laos country, and a kind of camphor, perhaps 

 the balsamic resin of Dryobalanops camphora, from the Malay Peninsula. 

 The tree is destroyed to produce the gum benjamin. The bark is 

 chipped all over ; and after the gum has exuded and hardened, it is 

 found between the stem and bark, which is then stripped off. The tree is 

 called kanyan by the Siamese. The gum which exudes naturally, has a 

 much stronger perfume than that procured by cutting ; but, from dropping 

 on the ground, it is a good deal mixed with earth and other impurities. It 

 is not white, but of a clear brownish colour. From the manner in which 

 it is brought down the country, it is much destroyed, being broken into 

 dust, often from the knocking about which it receives before arriving at 

 the navigable parts of the Menam. The common way of bringing it to 

 the river, is in small baskets, strapped in pairs, across bullocks' backs, 

 which are never taken off till arriving at the boats. 



* I have every reason to believe that the varnish alluded to by the Bishop is 

 prepared from the milk of a species of Ficus, called tomsie by the Siamese. 

 *r 'Journal of the Indian Archipelago/ vol. iv., p. 62. 



