August  i,  1892.] 
THF  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
**3 
GUM  BARKS. 
By  David  Hooper. 
Gum  bark,  or  Pishin-puttai  of  the  Tamils,  does 
not  refer  to  the  bark  of  a tree  which  exudes  a 
gum  by  bruising  or  incision,  but  denotes  a bark  which 
has  such  mucilaginous  properties  that  it  could  be 
used  for  special  purposes  in  medicine  and  the  arts, 
where  the  white  of  egg  would  be  used  elsewhere. 
Barks  of  this  description  occur  in  the  natural  orders 
Malvaceae,  and  Laurimeas,  and  students  of  materia 
medica  know  that  drugs  of  these  orders,  marshmallow 
root  and  the  barks  of  arboreous  cinnamons,  for  instance, 
contain  a peculiar  mucilage,  which  is  not  precipitated 
by  alcohol.  A typical  gum  bark  of  the  Bast  is  that 
of  Kydia  calycina,  a malvaceous  tree,  growing  ex- 
tensively on  the  slopes  of  the  Nilgiris,  and  largely 
employed  in  sugar  refining  under  the  Tamil  name 
of  Kadularangy-puttai.  On  soaking  a portion  of  this 
dried  bark  in  water  it  rapidly  swells,  and  the  inside 
becomes  coated  with  a slimy  mucilage.  The  inner 
layers  of  the  fiber  may  then  be  removed  like  pieces 
of  lace,  and  the  gum  is  seen  to  be  occupying  the 
spaces  between  the  longitudinally  disposed  fibers, 
apparently  formed  from  the  cellulose  of  the  broken 
cell  walls.  The  bark  of  Kydia  is  sold  in  the  bazars, 
and  the  decoction  is  taken  as  an  astringent  and 
tonic,  and  the  Vythians  or  native  doctors  consider 
it  to  be  a specific  for  diabetes. 
Dr.  Mohideen  Sheriff,  in  the  “ Supplement  to  the 
Pharmacopoeia  of  India,'  gives  Tetranthera  Rox- 
burghii  as  the  botanical  origin  of  Pishin-puttai,  but 
offers  no  description  of  the  drug  under  that  heading. 
Mr.  Hollingsworth,  of  the  Madras  Medical  College, 
some  time  ago  supplied  me  with  an  authentic  speci- 
men of  the  bark  of  Tetranthera  laurifolia,  or  as  it 
is  now  called  in  the  “ Flora  of  British  India,”  Litssea 
sebifera.  The  bark  was  of  a reddish  brown  color 
and  slightly  balsamic  order,  very  different  to  that  of 
cassia  or  cinnamon.  The  thickness  was  a quarter 
of  an  inch,  and  when  soaked  in  water  it  became 
very  mucilaginous.  It  offered,  on  analysis,  distinct 
reactions  for  an  alkaloid,  which  had  the  characters 
of  laurotetanine,  a poisonous  base  lately  discovered 
by  Dr.  Greshoff  in  the  barks  of  several  species  of 
Javanese  lauraceous  plants. 
About  two  years  ago  a collection  cf  drugs  for 
identification  was  sent  to  me  by  Dr.  P.  S.  Mootoo- 
swamy,  of  Tanjore,  and  among  them  was  a speci- 
men of  Pishir-puttai  which,  he  said,  was  collected 
from  trees  growing  in  the  jungles  near  Point  Calimere. 
This  bark  had  a most  agreeable  odor,  resembling, 
but  not  identical  with,  Indian  cassia,  and  the  taste 
was  decidedly  sweet.  It  made  a Limy  mucilage 
when  mixed  with  water  and  contained  some  tannic 
acid,  but  no  alkaloid  resembling  laurotetanine  could 
be  separated  from  it.  The  bark  is  sold  in  the  ba- 
zars and  it  is  known  as  Mydalakady  among  Moham- 
medans. It  is  used  in  medicine  for  its  mucilaginous, 
demulcent  and  refrigerant  properties.  By  powdering 
the  bark  with  some  benzoin,  mixing  it  into  a paste 
with  a little  water,  and  smearing  this  on  reeds, 
and  drying  them  in  the  sun,  flavoring  sticks  called 
Sambooranyvathe  are  made,  and  are  burnt  as  an 
incense  or  perfume.  I have  not  been  able  to  obtain 
the  botanical  source  of  this  particular  variety  of 
gum-bark,  but  I am  inclined  to  believe  from  its 
odor  that  it  is  an  arboreous  cinnamon. 
From  Travancore  I have  received  on  different 
occasions  three  specimens  of  gum-bark,  all  varying 
the  one  from  the  other.  The  first  was  a thick,  red- 
colored  bark,  a commercial  article  on  the  western 
coast,  supplied  to  sugar  refiners.  The  botanical 
origin  could  not  be  ascertained  ; it  differed  in  phy- 
sical characters  from  the  barks  previously  mentioned, 
and  yielded  an  alkaloid  having  the  reactions  of 
laurotetanine.  Probably  it  was  a litssea.  The  second 
description  of  gum-bark  was  that  of  Kydia  clay-cino. 
The  third  specimen  was  sent  by  the  Conservator  of 
Forests  for  Travancore  ; it  was  named  in  Malyalum 
Ava-tholi,  and  derived,  it  was  supposed  from  a species 
of  Cordia.  1 
I have  recently  examined  some  samples  of  gum 
barks  from  the  Madura  district  of  Southern  India, 
and  stated  to  be  used  by  the  hill  villagers  in  increas- 
ing the  alcoholic  strength  of  sago  toddy.  The  p'ants 
yielding  these  barks  were  up  to  this  time  only  known 
by  their  vernacular  names,  but  as  leaves,  flowers, 
and  fruits  were  also  sent  these  enabled  them  to  be 
identified.  The  request  was  also  made  that  they 
should  be  analysed  to  ascertain  the  nature  and  effect 
of  their  use  in  native  spirit  manufacture. 
The  seven  specimens  of  bark  were  as  follows  : — 
1.  Kadaly-marum*— Olea  glandulifera 
2.  Koppa-marum — Litssea  Zeylanica. 
3.  Karukathan-gundu* — Hiptage  Madablota. 
4.  Mullu-gundu — Jasminum  flexile. 
5.  Pungala-marum — Ligustrum  Roxburghii. 
6.  Sudala-marum  —Litssea  wightiana. 
7.  Kumala-marum — Gemelina  arborea. 
The  olea  glandulifera  is  a stout,  tall  tree  with 
white  flowers  and  small  black  fruit.  The  bark 
is  of  a greyish  color  with  whitish  specks,  about  1 — 6 
of  an  inch  thickness,  breaking  with  a close  granu- 
lated fracture,  inner  surface  brown. 
The  Litssea  Zeylanica  is  a moderate  sized  tree 
with  yellowish- white  flowers  and  black  fruit;  the 
leaves  are  ribbed  and  whitish  on  the  under  surface. 
The  bark  is  grey  and  covered  with  lichens,  smooth, 
one  sixth  of  an  inch  thick,  fracture  close,  showing, 
white,  glistening  fibres  running  through  the  red  sub- 
stance of  the  middle  and  inner  layers,  brown  and 
smooth  internally.  The  bark  gives  off  a fragrant 
odor  when  burning. 
The  Hiptage  Madablota  is  a woody  climber,  reach- 
ing to  the  tops  of  trees  over  100  feet  high.  The 
stems  are  from  half  to  three-quarters  of  an  inch  in 
thickness,  and  covered  with  a thin,  smooth,  reddish- 
brown  bark  enclosing  a yellowish  wood. 
The  Jasminum  flexile  is  also  a climber.  The  stems 
are  about  one  inch  in  diameter,  very  woody  and 
knotted,  covered  with  a light  yellowish-brown  papery 
bark,  exfoliating  on  the  surface. 
The  Ligustrum  Roxburghii  is  a stout  tree  about 
fifty  feet  in  height.  The  bark  is  colored  russet- 
brown  and  is  a quarter  of  an  inch  or  more  in  thick- 
ness ; fracture  close,  showing  thick  white  fibres 
running  through  the  brown  middle  and  inner  layers. 
The  Litssea  Wightiana  is  similar  to  L.  Zeylanica 
in  many*  respects.  The  bark  has  a greyish-green  epi- 
dermis beneath  which  is  a chocolate-colored  surface  ; 
the  fracture  is  short  and  light  colored,  becoming  red 
or  brown  by  exposure  to  the  air. 
The  Gemlina  arborea  is  a common  tree  in  the 
plains.  The  bark  is  about  half  an  inch  thick  with 
a rugged,  black  and  yellowish  brown  surface,  middle 
layer  hard  and  brown,  fracture  granular,  ochreous 
within. 
Some  documents  accompanying  these  specimens 
stated  that  the  barks  of  these  trees  were  used  “ to 
increase  the  intoxicating  effects  of  sago  toddy.”  The 
bark  is  simply  placed  in  the  toddy  and  left  there 
for  two  or  three  days.  The  bark  No.  3,  it  is  said, 
is  not  so  frequently  used,  as  the  resulting  liquor 
causes  headache  when  drunk.  With  reference  to  No. 
7,  it  was  said  that  a tenth  part  of  it  would  answer 
the  purpose  in  the  absence  of  other  barks. 
It  will  only  be  necessary  to  give  the  results  of 
the  chemical  examination  of  these  barks,  in  so  far 
as  they  are  likely  to  explain  their  action  in  the 
fermentation  of  sugar.  Three  of  the  plants  curiously 
enough  belong  to  the  natural  order  Oleace® ; these 
are  Olea  glandulifera,  jasminum  and  ligustrum,  and 
like  other  plants  of  this  order  contain  a peculiar 
bitter  principle,  soluble  in  water  and  alcohol,  and 
a yellow  coloring  matter  called  quercetin.  Two  other 
barks  of  the  series  belonging  to  the  same  natural 
family  of  the  laurels,  and  have  a similar  com- 
position ; these  are  the  Lits®as.  The  hiptage  bark 
contains  tannin  and  is  simply  an  astringent ; and 
the  Gmelina  belongs  to  a class  of  plants  distin- 
guished for  their  bitterness. 
The  amount  of  extract  dissolved  out  of  the  bark 
by  water  and  alcohol  respectively  were  determined 
in  order  to  ascertain  their  relative  proportion,  as  it 
would  seem  that  in  the  absence  of  much  resin,  the 
# Marum-tree,  gundu= climber  (Tamil)’ 
