252 ° 
syrup, and baled out into buckets. When sufficiently cool, it is 
und 
the thickened portion being constantly rubbed off while at the same 
time the whole is in motion, it gradually sets into a mass, a result 
which the workman affirms would never be produced by simple 
stirrin round. Though we are not prepared to concur in the work- 
man’s opinion, it is reasonable to suppose that his manner of treating 
the liquor favours the crystallization of the catechin in a more concrete 
form than it might otherwise assume. The thickened mass, which is 
n 
ins on ,000 
80, 000 shrubs, and yields 40 to 50 catties (1 catty=1} 1b.) f Games 
The United MEE Consul at Singapore, in view of the more exten- 
sive use of ier in his country, furnished a report on the industry 
(Tropical Agri riculturist, vol. ii., pp. 321, 322), which supplements in 
one or two particulars the account already iven. He states that 
* Rich Chinese capituli known as *towkays, upon the arrival of 
* shiploads of poor coolies from China, either hire them and make 
* contracts vilis them for planting and boiling Gambier, or they advance 
* them money upon condition of obtaining a certa ain share of the cro 
* and take care that eid receive the *lion's share.’ By dint of careful 
* management and great industry some of the coolies that plant on 
" shares, earn a little more than a living, and invest this in such a 
** careful manner in something or cd some way, that in a few years 
* they become small "towkays' themselves, and pretty soon wealthy 
* ones. There are to-day in Singapore immensely wealthy Chinese 
“© «towkays, who were once Gambier-planting coolies, 
* * * * * $ 
* Gambier is exported chiefly for tanneries in Europe and America 
“ as a very excellent substitute for bark. It is also used for dyeing, 
“ and in a purified state for medical purposes. I have also been told 
* that beer-brewers purchase it, bus I have been unable to learn for 
* what special purpose—1 suppose o give beer a dark brown colour; 
* if so, while it serves to cheat, it is af least harmless if not used too 
LI 
y. 
“ When I first came here Gambier was not largely exported to the 
- United | States, and rather to Europe—England principally. At that 
* time it vacillated d $3 to $3:50 per picul, and that figure 
* was (for the com sort and not for *cube") not often ex- 
* ceeded until the latter half of 1879, when it gradually rose, owing 
* to unprecedented demands, to ie nd over, and this without getting 
" lower than $4 to the present tim 
“ The exports of Gambier to ue United States during the last three 
* years have amounted to he: a vd 05. Considering this large 
“ quantity, it must be in cesis and must be regarded 
.* at home as a peulltabie mätorial pen that purpose 
