190 



POPULAR ECONOMIC BOTANY. 



Banyan tree. Importations of the bark have been occa- 

 sionally received from the West Indies^ and more frequently 

 from Africa^ but it is by no means a common commercial 

 article. Its only value is as a tanning material, and in this 

 respect it is of second-rate importance. 



Acacia Bark. Acacia melanoxylon, (Nat. Ord. Legu- 

 minom^ — This bark is extremely valuable in tanning pro- 

 cesses ; but as it is one of the natural products of Austraha, 

 shipments to this country are very irregular and lately have 

 been very scarce, its bnlk almost precluding the possibility 

 of its importation with profit. An extract made from this 

 bark has however frequently been imported, and will pro- 

 bably at some future day form a valuable export from Aus- 

 tralia, rivalling the Cutch and Gambir of India. 



Babool Bauk. — The barks of the Acacia Arabica andr 

 Acacia Catechu, generally mixed. — -These barks, under the 

 name of Baiool, are extensively used in the East Indies, and 

 have been occasionally, but without success, imported to 

 England. 



PoMEGEANATE Bark. — The rind of the fruit of the 

 Pomegranate, Punica Granatum, (Plate IV. fig. 19.)— A 

 few packages of this rind or bark are occasionally im- 

 ported from Barbary for tanning the finer kinds of leather ; 



