122 



[FEBRUARY, 1909. 



GUMS} RESINS, SAPS AND EXUDATIONS. 



THE MEXICAN AND CENTRAL 

 AMERICAN SPECIES OP SAPIUM. 



By H. Pittieb : 

 Abstracted by J. C. Willis. 



In " Contributions from the U. S. 

 National Herbarium," Vol. XIL, 1908, 

 Mr. Pittier describes the species of 

 Sapium. They appear in many forms 

 and are difficult to classify, but he 

 groups the nine Central American forms 

 (there are fifty-eight species in the 

 genus) as follows : — 



1. S, pleiostachys, Schumann and Pit- 



tier, a new species. 



2. S. anadennm, Pittier, new. 



3. S. mexicanum, Hemsley. 



4. S. theocarpum, Schumann aud Pit 



tier, new. 



5. S. pediullatum, Huber. 



6. S. Pittieri, Huber. 



7. S. pachystachys, Schumann and 



Pittier, new. 



8. S. Oligoneurum, Schumann, new. 

 7. S. sulciferum, Pittier, new. 

 Whether any are rubber-yielding 



species is uncertain. 



INCREASING CAMPHOR PRODUC- 

 TION. 



A considerable amount of interest has 

 of late been shown in camphor cultiva- 

 tion by planters in certain British colo- 

 nies, and the latest issue of the Bulletin 



of the Imperial Institute (Vol. VI., No 



2) contains a short article reviewing the 

 recent advances that have been made iu 

 the production of this article. 



In 1907 the world's consumption of 

 camphor was estimated at about 

 10,600,000 1b. About 70 per cent, of this 

 quantity was utilized in celluloid manu- 

 facture, 15 per cent, in the preparation 

 of disinfectants, etc, 13 per cent, in 

 medicinal preparations, while the re- 

 maining 2 per cent, was utilized in the 

 manufacture of explosives. 



The area under camphor cultivation 

 in Ceylon is extending, and plantations 

 of the camphor laurel have of late years 

 been established in the Federated Malay 

 States. In the United States expei iments 

 in the growth of the tree are in progress 

 in Michigan, Florida, and California. 

 India and German East Africa are other 

 parts of the world in which it is hoped 

 to develo p a camphor industry. 



Increasing supplies of the product, too, 

 may be expected from China and Japan. 

 Formosa has in the past been the chief 

 source of supply, and in 1907 produced 

 5,388,918 lb., as against 4,010,838 lb- in 1906. 

 The progress that is being made in China 

 in this connexion may be judged from 

 the fact that while the exports from 

 Foochow in 1905 amounted to 4,805 cwt., 

 they had increased in 1U06 to 13,585 cwt. 

 — Agricultural News, Vol. VII., No. 167, 

 September 19, 1908. 



