507 



Resin 2 parts, Sal Soda i part, Tobacco tea I part. Boil all 

 together stirring slowly over a slow fire till all the resin is dis- 

 solved. After simmering about 15 minutes, remove from the fire 

 and add little by little 10 to 15 parts of tobacco tea, stirring ra- 

 pidly for five minutes or more. This should produce a very frothy 

 soap which contains only just enough of the alkali to hold the 

 resin in solution. Apply with a large syringe or coarse holed spray 

 pump directly to the open holes or galleries of ants' nests. It 

 should not be used in large quantities round the roots of young 

 trees since the caustic action of the soda might injure the small 

 roots. As the termites do not make the long galleries which ants 

 do, it would be necessary to bore under the tree till near the nest 

 and then inject the material. It might be worth while trying 

 this remedy. 



In the same leaflet a paint for healing wounds and preventing 

 the attacks of insects is described as follows: — Four parts of com- 

 mon yellow resin and 3 parts by weight of linseed oil, preferably 

 raw, melted together over a slow fire and boiled for about ten 

 minutes. After removal from the fire but while still hot, this li- 

 quid is beaten up with a small per cent of cold tobacco tea, 

 about half a pint of the tea to three pints of the resin mixture. 

 The tobacco tea should be added little by little while the wax is 

 being stirred. 



As a rule people here use tar for tree wounds, such as those 

 caused by a broken bough, but this preparation would probably 

 be better. — Editor. 



STERCULIA SCAPHIGERA. 



Sterculia Scaphigera^ Wallich., the Kembang Semangko of the 

 Malays is at present fruiting in the Botanic Gardens, Singapore, in 

 the garden jungle. It is a tree of considerable size, flowering when 

 about 60 feet tall but eventually attains a much greater height. The 

 leaves are ovate dark shining green and stiff in texture on long 

 petioles. The tree flowers about June shedding its leaves completely 

 previously. The flowers are small and yellow and produced in great 

 abundance, and are unisexual. The fruit is very curious, consisting 

 of from one to five large green papery boats about 6 inches long at 

 the base of which is a black wrinkled seed oblong or rounded about 

 an inch long. One of these seeds put in a tumbler of water exudes 

 such a large amount of mucilage that in a few hours the cup is 

 nearly full, and hence the Malay name Kembang Semangko, or 

 fill-cup. This mucilage, which resembles gum arabic in appearance, 

 tastes something like boiled sago, and is eaten with a little sugar 

 by Malays to clear the mouth in the morning. The seeds dried are 

 exported to China, and used as a remedy for dysentery, and was 

 formerly sent to France under the name of Boa-tampaijang. An 

 analysis given by GUIBERT gives 59*04 per cent of bassarin, a sub- 

 stance also found in gum Tragacanth, it acts as a demulcent and is 

 very cooling and pleasant to taste. The seeds are sold in the local 



