688 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Marck i, 1892. 
closed benzoin is sold at Java and is the true Palembang 
Perhaps the Palembang benzoin in our Museum is 
old. If fresh it has the same colour as the Penang, 
and not that translucent appearance of the specimens 
you send me. It has quite the same colour and pale 
spots as your Penang. The piece of wood comes from 
Palembang. 
" About the dragon's blood from Borneo I got the 
following information from the Resident of Pontianak. 
"1. The cakes about three inches wide, a quarter of 
an inch thick and three inches long are not known at 
Pontianak. The Resident believes it is made at Singa- 
pore, and that from dragon's blood coming from Pon- 
ianak. 
" 2. The dragon's blood is brought in commerce in 
hree forms: — 
"(aj in fiat cakes from very different dimensions. 
"fbj in small cakes from about three or seven 
inches long and one inch wide. 
"fcj in long pipes. 
" The Resident had the kindness to send me the 
fruits of the trees from which it is obtained, and these 
being of different size, it is evident that there are 
at least three species of calamus which can be said 
to be the mother-plants of the dragon's-blood. 
" The smallest fruits give the most dragon's blood. 
This is said to be beautiful red of colour, but the tree 
is rare and the blood high in price. 
" It only comes in very small quantities in com- 
merce under the name of Djernang Mundai. The 
pipes inclosed in the case are from tlie fruits of 
greatest size. This is called Djernang Koekoe. 
" The third variety in flat cakes from thee by one 
inches is the Djernang Beroewang. 
"The fruits are of moderate size. For obtaining 
the powder the ripe fruits are shaken in a basket (as 
enclosed in the case). Mixed with water the powder 
is pressed in moulds and then melted. 
To give it more weight it is nearly always mixed 
with the milky juice of Gai cinia jjarri/oUa, Miq. 
" The Resident believes that all the cakes and pipes 
are so prepared except the specimen 1 r. which is said 
to be quite pure. I am indebted to Dr. W. Burck, 
Assistant-director and keeper of the Buitenzorg Her- 
barium and Museum, for the information contained in 
this letter. 
"I remain, dear Sir, yours faithfully, Treub. 
" Director of the Government Botanic Gardens." 
CUBEBS. 
The specimens and information sent by Dr. 
Treub indicate that the keboe cubebs presented to 
the Museum some months ago is the fruit of the 
Toihomffi[plie [cxvbeha] moUindma, but that the large 
blackish cuoebd with long stalks and the false 
cubebs generally referred to Fi.per crasdpes are 
probably not exported from Java but from else- 
where. 
Benzoin. 
The specimen of Palembang benzoin sent by Dr. 
Treub is scarcely a typical sample of the product as 
met with under that name in the London market. 
It has lost the opalescent translucency on the outer 
surface, but has tlie same lustrous fracture as 
Palembang benzoin, althougli darker ni colour, as 
if it had been kept and exposed to the light for 
scmie time. It contains two or three white angular 
teai-8 like those of Siamese benzoin, but the latter 
do no-t sliow any evidence of exposure to light. 
The interesting point about Palembang benzoin 
is that wHilst it has the same odour as ordinary 
"Sumatra" benzoin, it is more translucent and 
appears to contain a considerable amount of raois. 
iSVj, freshly broken Kpcc, mens readily becoming 
nK.«Wy when plticed in a closed glass vessel. So 
far as 7 have been able to learn only one species of 
JienzQin t;-ee is commonly known at Pa e.nbang, 
and that, judging from f^pecimcns presented to the 
fioeiety's H.<!^bfr';um by Mr. R. Janno m IHH.-i >s 
mndouLdly -SVi/m,. JU^.oin, Dry., i^s well as from 
the Hpecimens fron> .) a, a sent by Dr. 'i'^^^.f- 
«,„v 'hftve Hiu- globular fruiC; o lavacteristic of th.it 
If tlic I'iil<:iul)ang and ,S)miatra benzoins 
derived fi-om tlie Haul/' tree there 
.-Hjiecies, 
•of coriiniorce arc 
rlH .probably some difference in the niodo of prepa- 
TOtjyu; Ibv i'alcmbaut; vancly may pcrhapa bf^ 
melted into blocks in hot water, and the Sumatra 
by artificial heat, and this might account for the 
moisture present in the former and the larger per- 
centage of benzoic acid that it generally affords, but 
I have not been able to learn any facts tending to 
confirm this suggestion. The specimen of benzoin 
sent by Dr. Treub has the same odour as the 
Palembang and the ordinary Sumatra benzoin. 
The odour of the Penang benzoin is so charac- 
teristic and so strongly resembles storax, that I 
cannot doubt it is produced by a different species. 
It is pointed out in the ' Pharmacographia' that 
Storax siihdeiiticulatum, Miq., occurs in W. Suma- 
tra, and therefore in the province in which Penang is 
situated, and that this tree bears the same native 
name, "kajoe kemingan," as »S'. IScuzoin, as if it 
yielded a bezoin. Tliere is also a fragmentary speci- 
men of another species from Penang in the Society's 
Herbarium, viz., -V. Foi-tcrian mn, but I have no 
evidence to offer that either of tliem yield Penang 
benzoin. The subject needs further investigation, 
and I hope that Mr. H. M. Ridley of the Singapore 
Botanic Gardens, with whom I have also been in 
correspondence on the subject, may be able ultimately 
to clear up the matter. 
Attached to the Java specimen are, some very 
curious galls of a cornucopia shape, developed 
at the expense of the flowers. These galls 
are produced in Java in such numbers that the 
production of fruit is much lessened thereljy and 
consequently the spreading of the tree is considerably 
diminished. The insect producing the galls has 
been quite recently described as a new species of 
aphis by Dr. A. Tschirch {J:ler. cler dev.txcli. hot. Gr.s, 
1890, p. 48), under the name of Asteiiopteriix 
Kti/raco/nla, Tschirch. The interesting account he 
gives of these galls is accompanied by illustrations, 
both of the insect and of the structure of the 
galls (taf. iv.). 
The specimen of the stem in section showing the 
gum resin exuding, does not bear evidence of the 
application of heat, although it has been stated that 
it is formed, under tlie stimulant action of ajiplied 
heat, benzoic acid not existing naturally in the bark. 
Neither in this specimen nor in that of the Siam 
benzoin tree, presented by Mr. Jamie seven years 
ago, is there any evidence of treatment beyond the 
application of an axe or adze to gash the bark. 
1 may here take the opportunity of pointing out 
tliat the Siam benzoin, which has a distinct vanilla 
odour, is also the product of a different species of 
styrax. The leaves, examined in section by Mr. 
Shenstone, of Colchester, some years ago, showed 
sufficient difference from tliose of iS. Benzoin to 
indicate that they probably belong to a different 
species whilst the drawing by Dr. Pierre in the 
Herljarium of this Society of the ovary of a species 
of Sttir<i-.r. from Luang Prabang in the Laos States, 
where the Siam benzoin is produced, shows an 
oval or elliptical outline, that of kS. Biiizoin being 
spherical. 
Dhagon's Blood. 
Respecting the dragon's blood the information 
sent by Dr. Treub is both new and interesting. The 
dragon's blood of the best kind is evidently the pro- 
duce of a species of calamus, different from that 
alfording the inferior qualities. It may be hoped that 
the information thus obtained may lead to the culti- 
vation of this rare species, and the production on a 
larger scale of so beautiful a product in a perfectly 
pure state. The species of calamus yielding the resin 
appear to be imperfectly known. The colour of the 
specimens in fiat cakes, three inches long, one inch 
wide, and aliout a quarter of an inch thick, is 
brighter than in any of ihe other commercial forms 
of the article. — Pharmaceutical Journal. 
POTASH FERTILIZERS. 
The potash salts, which are used for agricultural 
purposes, are either directly or indirectly the pro- 
ducts of the mines around Strassfurt, Germany. 
These salts are imported now in considerable quan 
titles (last year's importation alone reaching a 
aggregate ol 100,UOU tons, an amounli that will b 
