NOTES AND QUERIES ON ASIATIC COPALS. 24.'j 



is then mixed with the paint, which has been well powdered ; with 

 these the wooden work is first painted, it is then allowed to dry for one 

 day, and afterwards receives a coat of pundum, which is the fresh juice 

 of a tree called Peini Marum. The pundum must be used while it is 

 fresh, and will not keep for more than two or three days. After the 

 first coat of pundum has dried, another coat of paint is given, and that 

 is followed by another of varnish. In the same manner leather may 

 be painted and varnished. The varnish effectually resists the action 

 of water. All my attempts, however, to find out the varnish tree were 

 vain." 



The tree which yields the piney resin, the Elosocarpus copaliferus of 

 Eetz, Chlor^xijl m dupada, Buchanan, and the Vateria Indica, Gaertn., is 

 called Peini-Marum in Malabar, Velli-koondricum in Tamul, and Du- 

 pada mara in Telugu, and is the white Dammar tree of English resi- 

 dents. As already stated, this resin forms no portion of the India Copal 

 of English commerce. 



Saul Dammar (Shorea robusta). — This resin also has such a distinct 

 character that it could not be mixed with or mistaken for any other. It 

 is the produce of a tree still more common on the continent of India 

 than the last, forming immense forests, and yielding a valuable timber, 

 perhaps only second to teak. The tree is confined more. to the northern 

 portions of India, along the bases of the Himalayas, where it attains a 

 height of from 100 to 150 feet. Dr. Royle has observed that these 

 trees form extensive forests of themselves, frequently unmixed with any 

 other tree. The resin, when hardened, is of a dull opaque tawny colour 

 with darker streaks. It is met with in irregular flattened masses, from 

 an inch or two in length and width to several inches, flattened, and with 

 the impression or fragments of the bark on the under surface. The up- 

 per, or exposed face, is furrowed irregularly by the trickling of the semi- 

 fluid resin, as it issues from the trunk. It is of a dull fracture, brittle, 

 and entirely different from any of the substances known as copal or 

 Dammar in this country. This resin is affirmed to be partially soluble 

 in alcohol, almost entirely in ether, perfectly in oil of turpentine, and 

 sulphuric acid dissolves and gives it a red colour. Equal parts of 

 this Dammar and oil of turpentine make a good varnish for lithogra- 

 phic drawings. 



In Southern India the Saul tree is replaced by an allied species 

 (Vatica Tambugaia) which yields a similar resin; but smaller quanti- 

 ties are collected, and it is doubtful whether it forms any proportion of 

 the Saul Dammar of the bazaars. 



The true resin of Shorea Robusta is also produced in Borneo and 

 Sumatra, and is one of the kinds known to the Malays as Dammar 

 Batu. It is not an article of export to Great Britain. 



Black Dammar (Canarium striatum): — This is another very charac- 

 teristic resin, and likely to prove a valuable one, if the prejudice against 

 its colour can be overcome. This also is an Indian product, though not 



u 2 



