122 



collecting for three months quite comfortably. Should the samples 

 prove of high commercial value, it will be an easy matter to collect 

 many thousand of seeds and seedlings of this species from Hini- 

 doon alone.''' This is so far very satisfactory ; and should the 

 gutta turn out to be equal in value to that produced by the Malayan 

 species, it will be an interesting fact to record that a product so 

 valuable should have remained unknown or at least tin worked for 

 so long in an Island like Ceylon. The Report of the Chemists 

 will be of very great interest. 



A New Cure for Dysentery. 



Numerous applications from various parts of the world have 

 been received for seeds of a plant known as Brucea sumatrana the 

 seeds of which are said to be a specific for the cure of dysentery. 

 It is a shrub with large leaves, with numerous leaflets ; and is dis- 

 tributed over Borneo, Sumatra, Java, Philippines, S. China and Aus- 

 tralia — We have specimens recorded from Perak and Pahang only. 

 The plant is being propagated from seeds and it is hoped that in a 

 few months seedlings will be ready for distribution. 



The New Chief Forest Officer. 



Mr. A. M. Burn-Murdock of the Indian Forest Department, who 

 has been appointed by the Secretary of State for the Colonies as 

 Chief Forest Officer for the Colony and the Federated Malay 

 States reported his arrival on the 1st. inst. He began his tour of 

 the variousReserves by inspecting the gutta percha plantations in 

 the Bukit Timah Reserve, Singapore, and expressed his pleasure at 

 what he saw. 



Mr. Murdock has just come from Burmah in the lower part of 

 which the Forests are what are known as (Evergreen trojjfcal) like 

 our Malayan Woods — and approach them somewhat in the nature 

 of their contents. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



The following correspondence has been courteously supplied by 

 the Secretary to the Chamber of Commerce, Singapore. — 



H. M. Consulate— Para. 



September nth, ipoi. 



Sir, — I have to acknowledge! the receipt of your letter of the 25th 

 of July last requesting information on the subject of Para Rubber. 



Twenty-seven thousand seven hundred tons of Rubber were 

 exported from the Amazon Valley during the year ended June 30th, 

 1901, of which 8,700 tons came from the ^tate of Para. During 

 the vear ended 31st December, 1900, this port shipped * 15,000 

 tons, the rest was shipped from Manaos and Iquitos. 



Islands Rubber comes from distances] varying from 50 to 300 

 miles. Other Rubber comes from places 500 miles away. 



