506 



TATfNmG SUBSTA?fCES. 



Tlie bark of the Hino tree, the McBOcarpus hinaic of Cun- 

 ningham, the Dicera dentafa of Eorster, is used by the natives for 

 djeing black. 



The black mangTove (Wiizopliora mangle) is a tree attaining an 

 altitude of from 30 to 50 feet, and occupying marshy situations 

 in the vicinity of the sea. Almost every part of the mangrove — 

 the bark, roots, and the fruit more particularly — abounds in an 

 astringent principle, which is successfully applied to the purposes 

 of tanning. As the tree is so abundant within the tropics, it 

 might be worth the while of some practical speculator to make an 

 extract on the spot, and introduce it into the English market, for 

 the use of tanners and dyers. Eor tanning, the mangrove is said 

 to be infinitely superior to oak bark, completing in six weeks an 

 operation which with the latter occupies at least six months, and 

 the sole-leather so tanned is said to be more durable than any 

 other. The bark and leaves, which contain nearly as much tannin 

 as the oak, are made use of in the West Indies, as well as in 

 Scinde and other parts of Asia. 



3,713 piculs of mangrove bark, valued at £819, were shipped 

 from Shanghae, one of the Chinese ports, in 1849. 



MvEOBALAisrs. — TMs is a name applied to the almond-like 

 kernels of a nut or dried fruit of the plum kind, of which there 

 are several sorts known in the East. They are the produce of 

 various species of TerminaJia, as T. Bellerica, cliehula, citrina, and 

 angustifolia. They vary from the size of olives to that of gall 

 nuts, and have a rough, bitter, and unpleasant taste. Many of 

 the trees of this tribe, which are all natives of the tropical regions 

 of Asia, Africa, and America, are used for tanning, and some for 

 dyeing. They are highly valued by dyers, creating, when mixed 

 with alum, a durable dark brown yellow. Myrobalans fetch in 

 the Bombay market 8s. to 26s. the Surat candy of 821 lbs. The 

 bark and leaves of T. Gatappa yield a black pigment, with which 

 Indian ink is made ; the seeds are eaten like almonds. A milky 

 juice is said to flow from T. angustifolia, which, when dried, is 

 fragrant, and, resembling Benzoin, is used as a kind of incense in 

 the Catholic churches in the Mauritius. The fruit of T. Bellerica, 

 and of T. Gliebula^ both useful timber trees, indigenous to the 

 East Indies, are used medicinally as a tonic and astringent. 117 

 cwts. of myrobalans were shipped from Ceylon in 1845. 



The annual imports of myrobalans into Hull, amount to about 

 1,600 cwts. The quantity which arrived at Liverpool was 185 

 tons in 1849, 851 tons in 1850 ; 27,212 bags in 1851, and 19,946 bags 

 in 1852 ; they come from Calcutta and Bombay, and are also used . 

 for dyeing yellow and black. The price in January, 1853, was 6s. 

 to 12s. per cwt. The average annual imports into the United 

 Kingdom may be taken at 1,200 tons. 



Kino. — The Kino, of Botany Bay and Yan Diemen's Land, is 

 the produce of the iron bark tree, Eucalyptus resinifera. White 

 ("Journal of a Voyage to New South Wales"), says this tree 

 sometimes yields, on incision, 60 gallons of juice. Kino is imported in 



