June t, 189o.] Supplement to the " ^tropical Agriculturist." 
847 
deputation to any person to act as President need 
not be special ; a general deputation is sufficient. 
2. The Village Council shall consist of not less 
than three nor more than seven men selected by 
the President from the proprietors of paddy lands 
in the district. The G. A. or his deputy shall be 
President, and shall conduct and keep a record of 
the proceedings ; but he shall not vote on any 
question, but he shall have a casting vote. 
3. The Government Agent or any person 
authorised by him thereto shall inquire into all 
alleged breaches of rules, and shall adjudge and 
award that offenders do pay the penalty prescribed 
by the Ordinance. 
4. The proceedings at such inquiry shall be 
filed of record in the Kachcheri. 
•5. The proceedings shall be summary and free 
from formalities. It shall be the duty of the 
Council, G. A., or inquirer to do substantial 
justice between all parties concerned. No 
advocate, prcctor or agent shall be permitted to 
appear for complainant or defendant. 
H. A. J. 
♦ 
MANGROVE BARK. 
{Continued.) 
A.mcennia officinalis is known as the white 
Mangrove. It belongs to the order Verbenaceae, a 
genus of which, comprising some 3 or 4 species of 
bushes or small trees, frequents the salt marshes 
on the coast and in the tidal forests of rivers. 
Ferguson in his "Ceylon Timber Trees " writes of 
this tree: " Not uncommon on the coast. A pre- 
paration made from the ashes of its wood used by 
dhohies for washing cotton cloths, and by painters 
to mix with their colors to make them adhere : 
the bark is used for tanning Sec." The genus 
is named in honour of Avicenna, an Arab physi- 
cian, philosopher, mathematician, &c, who 
lived between 980 and 1037. The barks of various 
species of Avicennia are said to be used in Rio 
Janeiro for tanning leather. 
Bruguiera gytnnorhiza, belonging to Rhizophora- 
racefv, is a small evergreen tree of shores and 
tidal creeks. Dr. Watt says of it : ''The bark is 
valuable } and with Jihizophora mucronata consti- 
tutes the tun known commercially as Mangrove 
bark. It ia n useful astringent used also in 
dyeing black." 
Cerwps UandolleanOf known as the Black 
Mangrove, also belongs to Rhisophoracea. It is a 
small evergreen tree met with on muddy shores 
and tidal creeks. This as well as 0. Roxburgkiana 
arc economically not. distinguished. The bark is 
used for tanning, and is described by Dr. Watt as 
exceedingly valuable forthatpurpo.se, imparting 
n good red colour to leather, and seeming to 
deserve to be brought prominently to the notice 
of European tanners, lie further states : "They, 
no doubt, to a small extent, reach England under 
the name of Mangrove Bark. This, according to 
Murray, is said to be superior to oak, completing 
in six weeks an operation which, with the latter, 
would occupy at least six months. Sole leather. 
60 tanned is also reported to be more durable than 
any other." It is interesting to note that a 
decoction of the shoots is used as a substitute for 
quinine on the African coast. Watt states that 
the bark, of both species of Cwiopa might be 
supplied to any extent and very cheaply from 
India. The barks also produces a good dye of 
a brown colour, and they are supposed to 
strengthen ropes and boatmen's cloths. 
SOME INDIAN DYE-STtTFFS, 
[By J. J. Hu.mmal AND A. G. Perkin.] 
[The dye plants mentioned in the following 
report all belong to the order Rubiacefe. 
Oldenlandia umbellata or Chay Root is known 
in Ceylon by the native name of Saya-mul. The 
root is collected in the Eastern and Northern 
Provinces, and is iti general use among native 
dyers for colouring cotton cloths. It is also ex- 
ported to a small extent, we believe. The 
other dye plants are not, as far as we know, 
recognised as such in the Island. JRubta silc- 
kimensis is indeed not indigenous to Ceylon, 
but its close ally H. cordifolia (Indian Madder 
or Munjeet) is our native manda-madini-web 
Morinda umbellata (morinda root) is the in- 
digenous kiri-wel or maha-kiri-wel. — Ed. A.M.j 
The following is a brief abstract of the results 
of an examination of a few Indian dye-stuffs, 
made on behalf of the Imperial Institute, and 
carried out in the Clothworkers' Research Labor- 
atory, Dyeing Department, Yorkshire College, 
Leeds. 
Some of the dye-stuffs here reported upon are 
among those specially transmitted to the Im« 
perial Institute by the Government of India, as 
requiring examination. 
Chay-root or Indian Madder.— This dye-stuff 
is the root of Oldenlandia umbellata, and is ex- 
tensively cultivated in Southern India, being 
largely employed on the Coromandel and Malabar 
coasts, for the production of fast reds, purples, 
and blacks. 
Its tinctorial properties were long ago favour- 
ably reported upon by several authorities in 
dyeing, but all attempts to introduce it into 
European commerce were without success. 
The chemical principles of the root have never 
hitherto been properly examined. 
The authors' investigation now shows that it con- 
tains, as its most important constituent, the same 
glucoside as occurs in madder root, namely, rubery- 
thric arid, besides a very small amount of ready 
formed alizarin, and certain yellow crystalline 
substances not possessing dyeing power, vii., two 
dimetln/l ethers <>f anthra-gallol C, , H, , O, (A) 
( melting point 209° C.) (B) (m. p. ■•2Ti°) ; a 
mono-methyl-ether of altzarin, C , s II 40 0 4 (m. p. 
178°-179°); me.ta-hydro.i y anthra-guinone C 14 II. 
0„ (m. p. 301°-302 ) ; a reddish-orange amorphous 
powder and a yellow crystalline substance (m. p. 
141*-142°) not yet fully examined. Other con- 
stituents are : rudiehloric acid, a war (C, n H,, 0) n 
(m. p. 87 v -88~) and cane sugar. 
It is interesting to note that purpurin which 
always accompanies alizarin in the madder root 
is entirely absent in chay-root. 
The tinctorial properties of chay-root are entire- 
ly consistent with the results of the chemical 
examination. Generally speaking, it gives colours 
similar to those obtained from madder, but owing 
to the. absence of purpurin. they are both purer 
in touo and fuoter to coop. Although it appears 
