33 
furnaces,—shallow, and with a slight convex d roof pierced for 
twenty ides y ett earthen pots. This operation takes place in about 
an ho f e liquor resembles thin light port, and the 
Kathi sere чаш on leaves and twigs thrown into it for the purpose, 
Each pot yields about a seer of an ashy white colour. The work is 
carried on for twenty out of the twenty-four hours by relays of women 
and children; the men рар: preparing the wood, which, after being 
exhausted, is made use of as 
Fluckiger and Hanbury (Pharmacograplin pp. 242, 243) give "^ 
following account of Pale Cutch as the result of their own researches 
* In Kumaon, in the north of India, a slight modification of the topes 
affords a drug of very different appearance. Instead of evaporating the 
decoction to the condition of an extract, the рата is stopped at a 
certain point and the liquor allowed to ‘cool, © coagulate,’ and jen 
over twigs and leaves thrown into the pots for the purpose. 
drug is finished off we do not exactly know, but we are told that by 
this process there is obtained бов заа pot about 2 Ib. of * Kath,’ or 
Catechu, of an ashy whitish appear 
“ The Pale Cutch iras o о аз nt ren. in the north of ова 
is in the form of irregular fragments of а саке ап inch or more thick, 
which has a laminated structure - agp to ка been deposited in 
a round-bottomed vessel. It porous, opaque, earthy-looking 
substance of a pale Sirera ay light and easily broken. Under the 
microscope it is seen to be a mass of needle- “shaped aar exactly like 
Gambier, with which in all essential points it corresponds. e have 
received from India the same kind of Cutch made into little round cakes 
like lozenges.’ 
The following documents give а. most recent information on {һе 
subject : 
INDIA Orrick to ROYAL GARDENS, Kew. | 
India Office, Whitehall, S.W 
Sm, 17th January 1891. 
I am directed by the Secretary of State for India in Council to 
forward to you the enclosed copy of à Memorandum by . Warth, 
of the Geological Survey of India, on the preparation of К ath from the 
wood of Acacia Catechu. Viscount Cross hopes it a be considered of 
sufficient interest for publication in the Kew Bulle 
m, &e. 
(Signed) - A. GODLEY. 
W. T. Thiselton Dyer, Esq., C.M.G., F.R.S., 
Director, Royal Gardens, Kew. 
[ Enclosure. | 
MEMORANDUM on the preparation of Kath, or Pale Catechu. 
n Dr. Watts’ Dictionary of the Economic Products of India we find 
it stated that the merits and the preparation of Kath deserve to be 
aig cod investiga 
е had occasion to study the ления and to make experiments, 
it may be useful to record the following fac 
The Kath of the North-west Provinces which i is used with pán and the 
prepared from the wood of Acacia Catechu. The Kath is in its purest 
state chiefly catechin, a crystallizing substance, nearly insoluble in cold 
water. The Catechu is chiefly catechu tannin, a substance soluble in 
€old water and not crystallizing, but some eatechin is usually mixed up 
