592 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[March  r,  1893. 
describes  the  cultivation  in  Penang,  by  Chinese  and 
Malays.  It  was  still  only  used  for  shewing  and 
for  medicine,  but  the  cultivation  seems  to  have  re- 
vived a little  by  this  time.  Siak  in  Sumatra  pro- 
duced a large  quantity  for  export,  as  it  did  in 
Couperus’  time  and  still  does.  Good  gambir  now 
fetched  8f  dollars  a pilcul.  About  1820  it  began  to 
be  exported  to  China  and  Java  as  a tanning  and 
dyeing  material  (Crawfurd,  Diet.,  E.  Indian  Islands, 
Yol.  iii,  p.  415).  It  then  fetched  no  more  than  3 to 
4 dollars  a pikul  in  the  Peninsula,  and  double  that 
price  in  Java. 
In  1819  the  cultivation  was  introduced  into  Singa- 
pore, but  so  much  was  shipped  from  the  adjoining 
islands,  and  the  necessary  supply  of  fuel  diminished 
so  rapidly  from  the  destruction  of  the  forests,  that 
the  cultivation  began  to  decline  rapidly.  The  first 
shipments  to  Europe  from  Singapore  took  place  in 
1830,  when  3,234  cwts.  were  exported.  In  1834  the 
export  had  fallen  to  2,322  cwts. 
Since  that  time  the  demand  and  exports  have 
enormously  increased,  and  in  1890,  769,704  pikuls, 
equalling  4,567  tons,  were  exported  from  Singapore 
alone.  The  greater  part  of  this  comes  from  the 
Dutch  islands,  especially  Rhio,  Lingga,  Bintang, 
Carimons,  and  a little  from  Sarawak.  Bangka  gam- 
bir  is  apparently  not  imported  into  the  Singapore 
market,  or  if  it  comes  in,  it  does  so  via  Rhio,  as 
Rhio  gambir. 
In  the  Malay  Peninsula  the  cultivation  is  by  no 
means  as  extensive  as  might  have  been  exnected. 
In  Singapore  there  are  still  a number  of  plantations, 
all  small,  but  the  great  extent  of  country  now 
covered  with  lalang-grass  shows  how  extensive  the 
former  cultivation  was  and  how  it  has  fallen  off. 
Johor  and  Muar  produce  a large  quantity,  the  best 
of  which  is  obtained  at  Batu  Pahat  on'  the  West 
Coast. 
In  Negri  Sembilan  are  a few  small  plantations, 
where  chewing  gambir  only  is  made.  In  Malacca 
there  are  two  or  three  large  plantations  carefully 
cultivated  by  the  Chinese,  where  export  gambir  is 
made,  and  some  smaller  Malay  ones  where  a good 
deal  of  chewing  gambir  is  produced.  Perak,  Penang, 
Province  Wellesley  and  the  East  Coast  States  produce 
little  or  none.  In  Pahang  some  way  up  the  river 
Tembeling  is  a small  amount  of  cultivation  for 
local  consumption,  which  appears  to  have  been  going 
on  for  many  years. 
Uses  or  the  Drug. 
Gambir  is,  as  stated  above,  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant tanning  materials.  Mr.  Evans  informs  me 
that  it  gives  a peculiar  gloss  to  the  leather  not 
produced  by  the  other  tanning  substances.  It  holds 
the  second  place  in  importance,  oak  bark  being  na- 
turally the  most  important.  Sumach  ( Rhus  coriaria), 
an  European  shrub,  is  almost  of  equal  importance 
with  gambir,  and  is  produced  iu  large  quantities  in 
Southern  Europe. 
It  is  a1  so  used  as  a brown  dye  and  for  strengthening 
canvas  and  making  it  waterproof,  and  a very  large 
quantity  is  used  in  the  silk  works. 
For  these  purposes,  the  greater  part  of  the  gambir 
exported  from  Singapore  in  sent  to  Europe  and  the 
United  States.  The  amount  exported  has  not  fluctu- 
ated much  of  late  years.  Since  1886,  the  smallest 
yearly  export  was  672,183  pikuls  in  1888,  and  the 
highest  769,784  in  r890. 
Of  this,  the  largest  quantity  goes  to  the  British 
Islands,  which  took  2,789,975  dollars’  worth  in  1890 — 
a distinct  increase  on  former  years.  Germany  and 
France  since  1886  have  both  doubled  their  import, 
the  former  from  366,852  dollars’  worth  in  1886  to 
677,554  in  1890,  the  latler  from  397,752  to  797,443. 
Italy,  which  takes  a comparatively  small  amount, 
has  fluctuated  very  much.  The  highest  value  it 
received  during  that  period  was  93,411  dollars’  worth. 
The  United  States  have  increased  their  demand 
since  1886  from  783,404  to  1,197,403. 
British  India’s  demand  has  increased  from  79,627 
.in  1886  to  132,655  in  1890. 
The  Dutch  Indies  take  also  an  increasing  quan- 
tity, viz.,  from  530,000  to  778,170. 
In  Australia,  however,  the  import  has  fallen  very 
considerably,  viz.,  from  59,152  to  1,050  dollars'  worth. 
This  is  probably  due  to  the  larger  use  of  Sumach, 
which  is  abundant  in  this  country. 
The  price  of  gambir  has  fallen  very  considerably 
of  late.  The  reason  for  this  is  not  over  production, 
for  it  appears  that  the  amount  produced  is  not  much 
in  excess  of  former  jrears,  but  is  due  to  decreased 
consumption,  from  depression  in  Ihe  silk  trade. 
The  following  table  gives  the  exports  of  gambir 
from  Singapore  from  1886  to  1890.  from  the  Straits 
Settlements  Qa  ette  of  May  29th,  1891: — 
1886  673,718  pikuls. 
1887  732,962 
1888, 672,1  S3 
1889 720,931 
1890, 769,704 
This  shows  that  there  is,  on  the  whole,  a little 
increase  in  its  cultivation. 
Besides  its  use  as  a tanning  material  and  a dye, 
gambir  is  used,  to  a small  extent,  in  medicine  under 
the  name  of  Pale  catechu  as  an  astingent.  It  is 
efficacious  in  chronic  diarrhoea  and  dysentry,  and  is 
thus  used  by  the  Malays,  and  also  for  uterine  haemor- 
rhage and  general  mucous  discharges,  for  bleeding 
of  the  nose,  in  the  form  of  an  ointment  for  ulcers, 
and  in  other  cases  where  an  astringent  is  required, 
and  it  is  especially  valuable  for  relaxed  uvula  and 
hoarseness.  It  is  more  powerful  in  its  action  than 
the  catechu  of  Acacia  catechu.  Dr.  Trimen  in  Medical 
Botany  states  that  it  is  more  commonly  used  iu 
medicine  in  India  and  England  than  in  America- 
As  a masticatory  in  place  of  areca-nut,  it  is 
very  extensively  used  throughout  the  East,  and  is 
sold  in  all  the  small  shops  in  the  country.  The 
chewing  gambir  is  made  chiefly  by  the  Malays,  but 
a large  quantity  is  imported  from  Siak  in  Sumatra. 
The’Siak  manufacturers  mix  cloves  and  other  ingre- 
dients with  it,  to  improve  the  flavour,  but  the 
Malacca  Malays  make  it  quite  pure. 
Another  use  for  gambir  has  been  suggested  by 
Mr.  T.  C.  Drysdale  iu  Logan's  Journal,  1850,  Vol.  v, 
162,  namely,  as  a preservative  of  timber  in  sea  water. 
He  states  that  in  1848  the  vessel  Ocean  Queen,  while 
on  a voyage  from  Singapore  to  London,  was 
wrecked  on  the  North-East  coast  of  Linggin,  and 
sank  in  nine  fathoms  of  water.  Four  months  after 
it  was  found  that  the  whole  upper  decks  were  "riddled 
with  barnacles  ” (probably  Teredo  is  intended).  There 
was  a quantity  of  gambir  in  the  hold,  and  when 
it  was  broken  into  the  water  all  round  the  ship 
was  saturated  with  gambir,  whereupon  all  the  "bar- 
nacles’’ died,  and  had  not  reappeared  eight  months 
afterwards.  Acting  upon  this,  a Mr.  Clunis  tested 
the  effects  of  gambir  by  painting  the  bottom  of  a 
boat  with  a composition  of  dammar  oil,  gambir  and 
chunam,  and  observed  that  the  mixture  appeared 
to  preserve  the  boat  from  barnacles  and  algae  for  a 
considerable  period.  Attemps  have  also  been  made 
to  use  it  as  a preservative  of  timber  against  termites, 
and  it  seems  to  have  some  effect  at  first,  but  being 
soluble  in  water  it  appears  to  lose  its  efficacy  soon, 
and  furthermore  as  in  all  other  liquid  wood  preser- 
vatives, it  is  useless  to  merely  paint  the  outside  of 
the  timber  as  the  termites  attack  the  interior,  and 
no  method  has  yet  been  found  by  which  the  wood 
itself  can  be  impregnated  thoroughly  with  it. 
(Zb  he  continued.) 
— «*. 
Insectivorous  Birds.— On  page  599  will  be 
found  a reference  to  an  order  of  the  Madras 
Government  and  a list  of  57  insectivorous  birds 
which  it  is  proposed  to  protect.  This,  as  pointed 
out,  is  going  a little  too  far,  because  the  list 
includes  a number  of  game  birds  in  demand  for 
food ; but  there  oan  be  no  doubt  that  the  policy 
indicated  is  a wise  -one  in  the  interests  of  planting 
and  of  agrioulture  generally.  One  great  advantage 
of  tree  culture  on  upcountry  tea  plantations  in 
Ceylon  is  that  they  will  afford  shelter  for  birds 
whioh  will  return  in  great  numbers  to  such  districts 
as  Dimbula,  for  instance,  where  the  clearing  of 
forest  in  oolfee  days  nearly  drove  them  all  away, 
