352 GUM OLIBANUM. 



We know little of the cultivation of this plant, except that it re- 

 quires a temperature much above that of any country north of Lyons. 

 According to Girardin and Dubreuil it requires good, alluvial soil, or 

 even sandy soil which is well watered, and has been heavily manured. 

 In the month of May in Spain it is dibbled in lines so as to leave the 

 plants a foot apart in all directions. As soon as the flowers appear, the 

 plants are earthed up, and this is continued as long as growth continues. 

 When the temperature falls to 58° the Arachis ceases to grow, its leaves 

 turn yellow, and it may then be dug. Each acre should yield about 

 half a ton of seed. These produce from 34 to 60 per cent, of good oil, 

 fit for burning or for cloth dressing. The cake is very rich in nitrogen, 

 and makes excellent manure or cattle food, but it is poor in phos- 

 phates. The leaves or haulm of the plant may be used for fodder. 



We notice the plant thus at length in the belief that it may prove a 

 profitable crop in all our tropical colonies where there is moisture 

 enough to suit it. In Spain and Algeria it is found to rank among the 

 more advantageous objects of field cultivation. S. 



GUM OLIBANUM. 



BY M. C. COOKE. 



The question of the varieties and sources of Olibanum has again 

 been opened up by the enquiries of Dr. Birdwood, of Bombay, who 

 adverts, in the first instance, to the researches of Dr. Vaughan, the re- 

 sults of which are recorded in vol. xii. of the Pharmaceutical Journal. 

 Dr. Vaughan states that the following are the different kinds of Lubdn 

 imported for sale into the Aden Bazaar : — 



I. " Lubdn Mattee, so called from Bunder Mattee, the port whence 

 it comes. This gum is collected chiefly by the Agardagahala tribe of 

 Somalis. The season for piercing the trees, from which it is procured' 

 is during the north-east monsoon in the months of July and August." 

 In a note to this, Mr. Hanbury states that the specimen which accom- 

 panied it "is very dissimilar to any resin known in England as oli- 

 banum. It is in stalactitic masses, which have evidently been the pro- 

 duce of a very copious flow of the peculiar secretion of the tree. These 

 pieces, whose weight varies from one to three ounces, are in parts white 

 or yellowish and highly opaque, in other parts brightly transparent. A 

 thin, brown, paper-like bark is occasionally adherent. The Lubdn 

 Mattee possesses a strong, agreeable, somewhat citron-like odour, and 

 but little taste. It is closely allied in its characters to the Tacamaque 

 jaune huUcuse of Guibourt, which is the Resina anime of the German 



