33 



identical with the D. accedens of Blume. From this it may be 

 concluded that dragon's blood is produced by Daemonorops 

 propinquus Becc. of Malaya, Penang, Sumatra, and D. ruber, 

 Mart., of Java. Beccari also mentions another Borneo species 

 named by him D. Motleyii (Motley, No. 1,103) having fruits with 

 a broadly ovate base, and yielding a red resin abundantly. We 

 thus have four species known certainly to yield commercial 

 dragon's blood. There are also the following species which are 

 mentioned by Beccari as having fruits which exude a red resin, 

 although whether it is commercially obtained from them is not 

 certain. There are D. micracanthus, Becc, a native of 

 Malaya; D. sparsifloms, Becc, of Borneo and Labuan ; 

 D. mattaniensis and D. draconcellus, Becc, natives of Borneo. 

 It may, therefore, be concluded that Indian dragon's blood is the 

 produce of several species, and that it differs in tint and quality 

 according to the species from which it is derived. It must not 

 be forgotton, however, that in Pontianak, and possibly elsewhere 

 also, the resin is nearly always mixed with the milky juice of 

 Garcinia parvifolia, Miq., in order to give it more weight (1. c. p. 



519). 



" During the present year I took advantage of the kind 

 offer of Mr. C. T. Johnson, now resident at Penang, an ardent 

 botanist and former student of the Society's school, to try to 

 obtain specimens of the plants that yield the different kinds of 

 dragon's blood and benzine. He kindly sent me some of the 

 fruits from which dragon's blood is prepared, possibly the 

 Djemang Koekoe of Java, but found that it was almost impossible 

 for a European to penetrate much beyond the towns on the coast 

 line of Sumatra without danger to life, owing to the ill-feeling 

 that exists between the natives and Dutch, and that only travel- 

 lers who have by a lengthy residence and medical skill become 

 trusted by the natives, have any chance of exploring the interior. 

 The fruits correspond in size and character with that of D.Draco, 

 figured by Blume in " Rumphia," and are therefore probably 

 those of D. propinquus, Becc For the present, therefore, there is 

 but little chance of adding to our knowledge of the botanical 

 source of Sumatran products or drugs. 



" The finest kinds of dragon's blood are usually wrapped in 

 the leaves of Licuala spinosa, according to the Rumphius. The 

 best sorts are made by rolling the fruits in a sack to loosen the 

 resin in the form of tfiin scales or powder, which is sifted out, 

 warmed, and made into flat strips." 



E. M. HOLMES, 

 The Pharmaceutical Journal of G. Britain, 



December 16th, 1905, p. 833." 



Further investigations seem necessary to distinguish if 

 possible the dragon's blood of D. propinquus and D. micracanthus 

 our native species from the Sumatran and Bornean varieties. 



