GUMS, RESINS, AND OTHER VEGETABLE EXUDATIONS. 191 



EuPHORBIACEiE. 



Aleurites molluccana, Willd., " Candle-Nut Tree." 



"A gum is produced from this tree, both spontaneously and on 

 incisions being made in the trunk; it is of a yellowish or amber 

 colour, inodorous and tasteless; the natives of the South Sea 

 Islands chew it, but the suspicious family to which it belongs 

 ought to make them cautious in its use. I tried it, however, as 

 a mucilage for the suspension of some balsams, and no ill-effects 

 arose from- it." (Bennett). This species would appear to be one 

 from which both a gum and a resin are obtainable. Queensland. 



BalogJiia lucida, Endl., "Scrub, or Brush Bloodwood," "Nun-naia" 

 and "Dooragan" of the aborigines. 



A blood-red sap oozes from the trunk when cut, and was 

 obtained in the following manner in Norfolk Island: — "A knife, 

 similar to a farrier's is used, but stronger, fixed upon a handle 

 four to five feet long, which enables the workman to reach high 

 up the trunk of the tree. A perpendicular incision is made 

 through the bark, an inch wide at the surface, but tapering to a 

 point near the wood, and from eight to ten feet long, forming the 

 main channel through which the sap flows to the base of the tree 

 where a vessel is placed for its reception; branch channels are 

 cut on each side of the main one, leading obliquely into it, six or 

 eight inches apart, and extending nearly two-thirds round the 

 trunk. The sap generally flows from the channels for about 

 twelve hours, when it is collected. The quantity produced by 

 each tree varies; sometimes about a pint, but on an average about 

 half that quantity. The sap forms an indelible paint, and was 

 formerly used in the island for marking bags, blankets, and other 

 articles." (Shepherd.) 



I have seen the inspissated juice collected from New South 

 Wales trees. Lauterer (33) gives an analysis of this substance. 

 The tree is native of New South Wales and Queensland. 



Berfya Cunninghamii, Planch. 



The branchlets of this tree exude a clear gum-resin so abundantly 

 as to give dried specimens, when held up to the light, a pretty 



