Ixii. 



Appendix .'—-Proceedings of 



Memorandum referred to. 



.1. Seeds of the Ceylon Sack tree. 



2. Ceylon Madder Lake.— Specimens dyed with the Ceylon Madder. 



3. Gum Kino, extracted from the Pterocarpus Marsupium, Roxb., 



growing on the hills (Patnas) around Badulla. 



4. Ceylon Gamboge, extracted from the Hebradendum gambogioides, 



at Badulla. 



5. Resin from the Vateria indica, from Bintenne. 



6. Fibre from the Hibiscus Cannabinus, collected at Putlam. 



7. Fibre from the Abelmoschus Moschatus, collected at Badulla. 



With reference to a quantity of Gum Kino forwarded to you on the 

 31st March last, I beg leave to state that the tree which produces it is 

 the Pterocarpus Marsupium, Roxb., figured in his Coromandel Plants, II. 

 t. 116, Fl. Ind. m. p. 234. It is indigenous to Ceylon also, being found 

 on the Patnas around Badulla and the neighbouring country. By mak- 

 ing longitudinal incisions in the bark, I have succeeded in collecting a 

 large quantity of the gum-resin from several trees here. The substance 

 thus obtained, as you will observe, is of a dark ruby colour, brittle, and 

 highly astringent. From the trials of it in the way of clinical application, 

 I consider the Ceylon Kino to be equal to that of the shops in its thera- 

 peutic effects ; but the Singhalese neither extract nor use this valuable 

 substance. The tree grows on the most sterile hills, covered with Lemon 

 grass, and may be propagated by " cuttings" without much difficulty. 



I need not tell you that it is now believed by the most eminent Phar- 

 macologists, that this species produces the genuine Gum Kino of 

 commerce. 



I must not omit to add, that this tree was not known to Moon under 

 its correct name of Pterocarpus Marsupium, Roxb., as he has inserted it in 

 his Catalogue under a wrong species (P. bilobus) without any reference, 

 although this Botanist was possessed of Roxburgh's splendid drawings of 

 the Coromandel Plants. It also appears, from the absence of those marks 

 which serve to indicate the economic properties of plants, that Moon was 

 not aware that the tree was capable of yielding so valuable a product. 



Badulla, 4th April, 1853. 



Sib, 



I remain, &c, 



Dr. Lamprey, 



Hon. Secy., Ceylon Asiatic Society. 



W. C. Ondaatje. 



