215 
portion of their length, being attenuated at both ends. They are brown 
to a red-brown in colour and longitudinally rigid. The transverse 
markings, due to their being wrapped with twine during the process of 
curing, give them a curious twisted appearance. They are generally 
li : 
r 
being compared to a s between a fermented sugar and heliotrope 
ur. They are afie of any seyotalling efflorescence 

CCLXVI.— MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 
The Museum of the Royal Gardens contains numerous illustrations of 
the applications of Cor, the bark of the Cork Oak (Quercus Suber. 
The tree grows in Spain, Italy, South of France, and Algeria, and the 
first crop of cork is taken from the trunk as it stands, at e age of 
about 30 years, and afterwards at intervals of from six to 10 years. The 
later crops furnish the best bark, which is used for o prat and 
similar purposes. The Museum collection has just been made more 
complete by the o ot an axe, scraper, and knife, sia as are used 
in collecting cork in ria. These hav e been presented by Mr. Vice- 
Consul Scratchley, of Philippeville, dera. 
Samples of AwwATTO Seeds and Annatto Dye from Biva Orellana, 
L., have recently been received from . Man, Esq., grown and pre- 
pared in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The seeds were of a bad 
colour, and the so-called dye apparently consisted of the coloured portion 
of the ‘seed reduced to powder, five ounces o which were obtained from 
h 
hoth the seeds and prepared dye were valueless in the English market. 
The fact is, Ceylon n now supplies annatto dye of such excellent quality 
that other countries can scarcely compete with it, except when prices are 
exceptionally high. 
In n consequence of the great demand for Gurra PERCHA, any new sub- 
stance of a similar nature is looked upon with keen interest. A specimen 
, obtained from Dic: ee obovata, C. B. Clarke, has been 
received at Kew from Mr. H. M. S. Mathews, Officiati ing-Director of Land 
Records and Agriculture, Burma. The Gutta was obtained from the 
up, i t : 
occur in considerable numbers. e sample received at Kew weighed 
26 ounces, and is the produce of one tree. It was thought that if the 
substance was found to be of fair market value, a trade of some import- 
ance might be established i init. Upon submitting the sample in arci 
to Messrs. Hecht, Levis, and Kahn, of London and Liverpool, they 
reor ted as follows :—* This is not real Gutta Percha. The sample 
* contains a large quantity of gum which renders it almost valueless, we 
« do not think that it would be worth more than one penny, or at the 
“ outside three-halfpence, per pound. It is very brittle.’ 
In the Pharmaceutical Journal for July 23rd, 1892, p. 61, Mr. 
Leonard Wray, Junior, Curator of the Perak Giovennicat "Museum 
U 73078. e 
