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THE ALMUG, OR ALGUM TREE OF THE ANCIENTS. 
Berry containing a stone, round, smooth ; when ripe, black and succulent, of the size 
of a cherry, and crowned with the persistent calyx, one-celled. Nut solitary, spherical ; 
three small equidistant elevations from the apex run a little way down the sides. 
Seed of the same form as the nut. 
It belongs to the Natural Order Santalacem, grows in various parts of the 
Continent of India, and is very common on the Malabar coast, in the Great Western 
Ghauts, between Seringapatam and the sea-ports of Telichery and Calicut. It is 
recorded in our catalogues as having been introduced to this country in 1804 ; if so, 
it was possibly lost again, as, except in the form of dried specimens, it was unknown 
in our botanical collections until within the last twenty years ; subsequently to 
which time, although the plant is of slow growth, it has found its way into most of 
the large plant establishments of Great Britain. 
The timber possesses a peculiar fragrance, and is highly esteemed ; it is pre- 
scribed occasionally by the native doctors, being considered cooling and sedative ; it 
is also used as a perfume. For making idols, musical instruments, boxes, cabinets, 
fans, necklaces, and other fancy articles, it is in general request, not only on account 
of the fragrance, but because it is not liable to the attacks of beetles, and other 
timber-eating insects. An oil is obtained by distilling the chips, which is greatly 
used by the Brahmins, both in their religious ceremonies and at their funerals. 
So great is the demand for this wood, that the trees are seldom permitted to 
stand longer than twenty years ; their stems at this age, even under favourable 
circumstances, rarely exceed eighteen inches in diameter, and if grown in rocky 
situations, where the timber is always the best, their size is still less. When cut 
down, more than half the thickness consists of white sap-wood, almost destitute of 
fragrance ; but the close-grained heart-wood, especially that nearest to the root, is 
yellow, and possesses a rich aroma. 
A clever writer in the " Gardeners' Chronicle," for 1843, pages 132 and 333, 
says, " The wood is divided into three different kinds, according to size and quality. 
The largest pieces are sent to China, and the middling sized reserved for India. 
The chips and fragments answer for the Arabian market, as from them the essential 
oil is distilled. 
" A less valuable, but larger sized Sandal wood, is obtained from the more 
nothern districts of Onore, produced in the low tract which lies between the Ghauts 
and the sea-shore ; though this, like all other Sandal- wood in similar situations, is 
less fragrant, it becomes a larger tree, and is interesting as being easily accessible ; 
and from Onore having been one of the early ports, might have been known to 
and obtained by foreign merchants resorting to this coast. 
" The Chinese, besides being supplied from India, obtain a still larger quantity of 
Sandal- wood from Timor, the Feejee and Marquesas Islands. This was long supposed to 
be yielded by the common Indian species ; but M. Gaudichaud considers it a distinct 
kind, having figured the plant as Santalum Freycinetianum. In addition to manu- 
facturing various articles from this wood, they also make use of the fragments by 
