GUMS, RESINS, AND OTHER VEGETABLE EXUDATIONS. 161 



THE GUMS, RESINS AND OTHER VEGETABLE 

 EXUDATIONS OF AUSTRALIA. 



By J. H. Maiden, Government Botanist and Director of the 

 Botanic Gardens, Sydney. 



[Read before the Royal Society of N. S. Wales, December 4, 1901.'] 



Both for the Technological Museum and for the Botanic Gardens 

 Museum, I have been a collector of Australian vegetable exuda- 

 tion for twenty years. These products are valuable for diagnostic 

 botanical purposes apart from their economic uses. The vast 

 majority of our exudations are mere museum curiosities at present, 

 and some of these which are readily obtainable in large quantities, 

 eg. Eucalyptus and Angophora kino, Grass-tree gum, Australian 

 Sandarac, have not obtained that footing in the world's commerce 

 that it was expected they deserved. There is no doubt, however* 

 that these exudations will for many years provide interesting 

 material for research, and as many of them doubtless do not con- 

 tain new bodies or are of complex constitution, they may attract 

 the attention of the young man who is feeling his way towards, 

 scientific research. Some of them of course require a sound! 

 knowledge of organic chemistry and the appliances of a modern 

 laboratory. 



A botanical classification has been adopted for these exudations; 

 at the present time it will be found most useful, and allied Natural 

 Orders being in justaposition it will be seen to what extent allied 

 Orders yield allied exudations. When the exudations are more 

 comprehensively examined it will be found a simple matter to 

 arrange them in regard to their chemical composition, which will 

 be a very interesting and practical classification, since the user is, 

 as a rule, not much concerned with the origin of his material, so 

 long as it is uniform in composition, properties and appearance. 



K— Dec. 4, 1901. 



