October, 1909. 



295 



Saps and Exudations. 



second photograph, where, still twined 

 round the dead original stem, is seen part 

 of some climbing weed, This climber 

 grew up the stem of the young plant, 

 and arrived at the bud just as the latter 

 started into growth ; and in twining 

 further round the dead part of the stem 

 it carried the young shoot round with 

 it. When the two reached the top of 

 the dead stem, the Hevea shoot grew 

 straight upwards, and the climber then 

 twisted itself round the green shoot ; 



this is shown by the spiral groove on 

 the upper part of the stem, which is 

 caused by the pressure of the coils of 

 the climber on the young stem as the 

 latter expanded. It is most probable 

 that the coils of the Hevea stem were 

 at first wide apart, but that they have 

 come into contact owing to its subse- 

 quent thickening. If the tree had been 

 allowed to grow, the coils would no 

 doubt have become fused into a solid 

 mass. 



OILS AND FATS. 



SOY BEAN. 



Memorandum by Reporter on 

 Economic Products. 



(Prom the Indian Irade Journal, Vol* 

 XIV., No. 174, July 29, 1909.) 



The soy bean is called by botanists 

 either Glycine hispida or Glycine Soja. 

 Those who avoid the second name do so 

 because Sieboldand Zuccarini originally 

 denoted the wild Glycine of Manchuria 

 by it. But we may quite conveniently 

 call this wild Glycine by another name 

 which it possesses, viz., G. ussuriensis ; 

 and, as it has practically no literature, 

 all that is written under the name of 

 G. Soja belongs to the cultivated soy. 



The origin of the cultivated plant is 

 certainly the extreme east of Asia. It 

 is far from being improbable that it was 

 evolved from the wild G. ussuriensis ; 

 and, at any rate, when G. Soja degen- 

 erates, it may become very like that 

 species (vide Prain in the Journal of the 

 Asiatic Society of Bengal, LX VI, p. 403). 

 If it was developed out of G. ussuriensis, 

 then Northern China is its home It has 

 been long cultivated all over the east 

 between Japan and Java. Its introduc- 

 tion into India is comparatively recent; 

 and, except among those tribes or 



Eeoples who are mostly Mongolian, it 

 as obtained little hold. I will state in 

 what parts of Iudia it may be found. 



The Burmese grow it under the names 

 of Peugapi and Pe-kyat-pyin, sowing it, 

 never in great quantity, along with 

 other beans on the mud banks as the 

 falling rivers leave them bare in October, 

 or more sparingly still away from the 

 rivers. The Kachins and other hill- 

 tribes grow a little of it on their hill- 

 clearings, the Kachins calling it Lasi. 

 The Khasis, the Nagas and other tribes 

 between the Brahmaputra and Upper 

 Assam cultivate it similarly. The Khasi 

 name seems to be U-rymbaiktung and 



the Naga name An-ing-kiyo or Tzadza ; 

 but these three names should be sub- 

 jected to scrutiny as they may be wrong. 

 In the Brahmaputra valley it is grown, 

 so far as is known, only towards Barpeta. 

 Whether grown or not in the hills north 

 of the Brahmaputra I cannot prove, but 

 the probability is strong that it is. It is 

 grown by the Lepchas in Sikkim, and is 

 called by them Salyang or Selliangdun, 

 or by the Bhutias Botumash Bhatwas or 

 Bhatmars. It is apparently grown in 

 the Kingdom of Nepal, for it is found 

 just under the mountains in the north of 

 Oudh and again in the valleys of the 

 north-western Himalayas right to the 

 extreme end, and sparingly up to an 

 altitude of 6,000 feet. In western Bengal 

 and through the submontane districts of 

 the United Provinces it is rare, passing 

 chiefly under the name of Ram Kurthi, 

 or in Bengal also as Gari Kalai. Right 

 upon the Nepal boundary it is known by 

 the hill names, e.g., Bhatnasor Bhatwas, 

 as well as Kajuwa. The Santals grow it 

 and call it Disom Horec. I saw it in 

 1902 sparingly grown towards Belgaum. 



There are several races in India differ- 

 ing in small points ; the seeds may be 

 black or whitish, the leaves may be 

 larger or smaller, etc. The black seeded 

 races occur in the hills, the other colours 

 of seed both in the hills and the plains. 

 The Khasi hills contain both larger- 

 leaved and smaller-leaved plants. Until 

 comparative cultivation of' these beans 

 has been undertaken, no good classifica- 

 tion of the races is possible. Harz has 

 made a tentative one upon the shape 

 and colour of the seed, but we may here 

 pass it by. 



In northern China, where great areas 

 of soy bean are grown, there are known 

 many races. Sir Alexander Hosie (vide 

 his Manchuria, 1904, p. 181) grouped them 

 thus :— 



Yellow bean or Huang-ton, 



white eyebrow (hilum) or— Pai-mei — 

 gives good bean curd, 



