192 J. H. MAIDEN. 



hyaline appearance. The substance is of a yellowish colour, and 

 no doubt would prove exceedingly interesting if examined, but the 

 author has, up to the present, been unsuccessful in obtaining a 

 quantity of it. It has a pleasant bitter taste, something like 

 wormwood. 



Many of our Euphorbiaceous plants yield resin in greater or less 

 quantity, and will provide useful material for future experiment, 



JBeyeria viscosa, Miq., the "Pink Wood" of Tasmania, also called 

 "Wallaby Bush." 



A resinous substance exudes from the leaves, sometimes so 

 abundantly that characters can be traced in it by means of a style. 



As we have an Australian Macaranga, the following references 

 will be useful : — 



1. Macaranga Kino (Pharm. Journ. 18th May 1901, p. 617). 



2. Macaranga ferruginea, Baker. A tree whose stems con- 



tain an abundant supply of resin, the nature of which 

 requires investigation. Madagascar, (Kew Bulletin y 

 1890, 210.) 



Urtice^e. 



Latex. The substance referred to in the following paragraphs is 

 neither a gum nor a resin but belongs to what may be termed the 

 "India-rubber group." It consists of a dried milky juice or latex 

 (of which examples are afforded by other Natural Orders common 

 enough in Australia, eg., Euphorbiacea? and Asclepiadacese). For 

 information in regard to the physiology of the subject see "Botany" 

 by Sachs (Yines), pp. 85, 94, etc. 



Ficus macrophylla, Desf., "Moreton Bay or Large-leaved Fig." 



Specimens of the juice of this well-known tree which I caused 

 to be sent to Kew for report in 1894 are reported upon (8), and 

 the correspondence is interesting to those who may be tempted to 

 incur expense in experimenting with it as a rubber producer. 



Experiments at the Ham ma Garden to obtain a coagulable 

 latex have been abandoned, only negative results having been 

 obtained. (Rev. des Cult., Coloniales, 20th Sept. 1901, p. 188). 

 See also F. rubiginosa, which yields a similar juice. 



