i$4 



ing for both planter and forester, but the subject is so vast that 

 only a few instances of plants of special local importance will at 

 present be referred to. Birds, animals, wind, water, and in some case s 

 a volition of their own are all agencies by which the same end is 

 attained. Birds and animals are well known to act in two distinct 

 ways as distributing agents, one by eating and subsequently eva- 

 cuating seeds, without destroying their germinating powers, and 

 the other by the accidental attachment to their bodies of certain 

 specially adapted kinds. There is also a third, particularly in the 

 case of bats, due entirely to their pugnacious habits which plays, 

 I believe, no unimportant part. As soon as one individual has 

 secured a choice morsel one or more others make an attempt to 

 rob him, and in order to enjoy it in peace the fruit is often carried 

 to a considerable distance before the pulp is eaten and the seed 

 dropped. Of the latter method gutta percha may be taken as an 

 example. 



Gutta Percha. 



True gutta percha trees belong to the Natural Order Sa- 

 potaceae, and the best kinds to the genus Palaquium (also known as 

 Dichopsis and Isonandra). The most common Malay name for the 

 Palaquiums is gutta taban, but in Penang it is known as Ekor, and 

 in places in Sumatra as Balam. Payena also yields a good gutta 

 which is known as gutta sundek. The seeds of Palaquium, of which 

 there are generally one or two, but occasionally three or four, are 

 enclosed in a sweet edible pulp of which birds and animals are 

 particularly fond, especially bats, which I believe are the principal 

 agents in the distribution of the seeds of this tree, though on this 

 point I cannot be quite sure because precautions had been taken 

 to prevent the access of climbing animals to the only trees I have 

 yet seen in fruit by means of spikes of bamboo and sheets of tin. 

 The bats however attacked them badly and carried them to con- 

 siderable distances. By setting a boy to visit daily their sleeping 

 places, which in this particular kind of bat is the under side of a 

 large palm leaf where they are protected from sun and rain, several 

 hundreds of good seeds were collected. I at first thought that 

 these seeds had been swallowed and evacuated (and am not quite 

 sure about it yet) but on considering the size of the animal as com- 

 pared to that of the seed it scarcely appears possible, and more- 

 over none were found in the intestines of those captured. Some 

 of the resting places in which seeds were found were quite a quar- 

 ter of a mile from the trees that were fruiting. 



Climbing Rubbers. 



Two most important Genera of local rubbers vines (Urceola and 

 Willoughbeia) although belonging to the same natural order (Apo- 

 cynaceae) and known locally under various names such as Getah 

 gharu, Gegrip putih, gegrip merah, Akar sampat, &c. are dissem- 

 inated in quite different ways. The fruit of Urceola is a woody 

 follicle which splits when ripe and contains numerous seeds. Each 

 seed has an attachment of silky hairs which buovs them up and 

 by means of which they are carried great distances. As these 



