Nov.  2,  i8g6.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
315 
time  dilHculties  arose  out  of  the  claims  of  forest 
rights  and  transitdnes  on  the  part  of  the  local  chiefs, 
these  appear  to  have  been  surmounted.  Writing 
in  the  early  ])art  of  this  year  to  Mr.  Tinsel ton- 
Dyer,  of  the  Royal  Lardens,  Kew,  the  Acting 
Governor  of  Lagos  stated  tliat,  according  to  pre- 
vailing opinion  there,  a considerable  falling  olf 
in  the  export  of  india-rubber  from  the  colony 
Avould  be  Avitnessed  in  189G.  He  added,  hoAv- 
ever,  thatno  one  Avas  competent  to  give  a trust- 
Avortl)y  opinion  on  the  subject.  The  production 
of  rubber  from  the  “ Kiekxia  Africana”  in  Lagos 
Avas  preceded  by  its  manufacture  from  a similar 
plant  in  the  Gold  Coast  Colony  a feAv  years  earlier, 
Avhere  attention  Avas  first  drawn  to  it  in  1882  by 
Sir  Alfred  jMaloney,  then  the  Governor.  In  that 
colony  the  export,  though  declining  a little  after 
its  initiation,  is  now  Avell  maintained,  the  amount 
imported  from  t(ie  colony  into  the  United  King- 
dom last  year  having  been  valued  at  £24G,1G0, 
besides  that  sent  to  the  Continent  and  the  United 
States.” 
^ 
INSECT  TESTS. 
To  THE  Editor  OF  “Indian  Planters’  Gazette.’’ 
Dear  Sir, — May  I,  through  the  medium  of  your 
Journal,  remind  planters  and  others  interested  in 
agriculture  that  we  are  still,  at  the  Indian  Museum, 
carrjing  on  our  efforts  to  identify  the  chief  insect- 
pests  of  this  country — as  well  as  the  chief  natural 
enemies  of  these  inseetpests — in  the  hope  of  ultimately 
producing  systematic  registers,  or  rolls,  of  the  ani- 
mals that  affect  each  particular  kind  of  crop  whether 
by  ravaging  the  crop  or  by  preying  upon  the  rava- 
gers;  and  may  I a]3peal  to  planters  to  kindly  con- 
tinue and  extend  their  assistance  to  us  in  this  enter- 
prise by  contributions  of  specimens  and  field  notes. 
Such  specimens  should  be  addressed  to  the  Supe- 
lintendent  of  the  Indian  Museum. 
In  return  for  this  assistance  we  can  only  hold  out 
the  final  hope  of  pio\iding  a more  or  less  complete 
account  of  the  animals  (chiefly  insect)  that  affect — 
whether  adversely  or  beneficially — each  particular 
kind  of  crop  or  industry.  We  cannot  test  the  value 
of  insecticides  or  undertake  the  work  of  an  agricul- 
tural experiment  station,  though  we  shall  of  course 
be  happy  to  communicate,  so  far  as  we  are  able,  the 
published  results  of  exterminant  experiments  under- 
taken in  countries  where  agricultural  stations  exist. 
— Yours  faithfully,  A.  Alcock, 
Superintendent,  Indian  Museum. 
— Indian  Planters'  Gazette,  Sept.  16. 
THE  DYEING  PROPERTIES  OF 
JAKWOOD. 
The  Agriculture  Ledger,  1896,  No.  4,  contains 
the  folloAving  paper 
The  Constituents  of  Artocarpus  Integrifolia.  Part 
I.  Contribution  from  the  Clothworker's  Research  La- 
boratory, Dyeing  Department,  Yorkshire  College,  by 
Arthur  George  Perkin,  f.r.s.e.,  and  Frank  Cope,  Re- 
printed from  the  Transactions  of  the  Chemical 
Society,  1895. 
From  this  Ave  quote  as  folloAvs  : — 
Artocarpus  integrifolia  is  the  well-known  jack-fruit 
tree,  belonging  to  the  Urticaceai,  a large  tree  culti- 
vated throughout  India,  Burma,  and  Ceylon,  except 
in  the  north.  When  freshly  cut,  The  heart-wood  is 
yellow,  but  this,  on  long  exposure  to  air,  gradually 
darkens,  finally  becoming  of  a mahogany  colour.  It 
is  largely  used  for  carpentry,  furniture,  etc.,  being 
considered  one  of  the  most  handsome  furniture  woods 
used  in  the  country,  and  is  stated  to  be  exported  to 
Europe  for  this  purpose.  The  rasped  wood  is  used 
by  tbe  natives  of  India  and  Java  as  a yellow  dye, 
in  conjunction  Avith  alum,  for  colouring  the  robes  of 
the  Burmese  priests,  also  for  dyeing  silk,  and  for 
general  purposes. 
A sample  of  this  Avood  was  brought  to  E ngland  by 
Mr.  .John  Ingleby,  late  Chief  Surveyor”"  of  the 
Northern  and  North  Central  Provinces  of  Ceylon, 
who  introduced  it  to  the  notice  of  Messrs.  Wood  and 
Bedford,  of  Leeds.  This  firm  being  anxious  to  test 
its  utility  as  a dye-stuff,  and,  moreover,  being  struck 
by  its  resemblance  to  old  fustic  (Morus  tinctoria), 
imported  a considerable  quantity  from  Ceylon,  and 
to  them  our  best  thanks  are  due  for  a supply  of 
material  for  the  carrying  out  of  this  investigation. 
A characteristic  property  of  this  dyewood,  by  which 
it  may  be  distinguished  from  either  old  fustic  or  any 
other  natural  yellow  dye-stuff  that  has  come  under 
our  notice,  is  as  follows.  If  an  aqueous  decoction 
be  treated  Avith  dilute  [alkali,  a yellow  solution  is 
obtained,  and  this,  if  gently  Avarmed,  assumes  a beauti- 
ful blue  tint,  which,  or  standing,  rapidly  becomes 
green,  and  finally  broAvn-yellow. 
In  a former  communication  (Perkin  and  Pate,  this 
vol.,  649)  it  was  shown  that  though  morin  yielded 
acid  compounds  very  similar  to  those  produced 
from  quercetin  and  other  allied  colouring  matters, 
it  differ'd  from  these  in  that  during  the  formation 
of  its  sulphuric  acid  compound  1 mol.  of  water  is 
eliminated.  In  order,  therefore,  to  be  quite  certain 
that  the  colouring  matter  of  jackwood  was  really 
morin,  its  solution  in  boiling  acetic  acid  was  treated 
with  sulphuric  acid.  On  cooling,  an  orange-red, 
crystalline  mass  separated,  which  was  collected, 
washed  with  acetic  acid,  and  dried  at  110  deg. 
'The  composition  of  the  sulphuric  acid  compound, 
and  a comparison  of  this  and  the  hydrobromic  acid 
derivative  with  those  of  morin  obtained  from  old 
fustic,  left  no  doubt  as  to  their  identity.  The 
colouring  matter  of  jack-wood  is  therefore  7norin. 
Attempts  to  prepare  acetyl  and  other  derivatives 
have  yielded  at  present  unsatisfactory  results,  and 
this  is  no  doubt  due  to  its  instability  in  the  pre- 
sence of  most  reagents.  It  is  our  intention  to  con- 
tinue the  study  of  this  most  interesting  substance, 
but  this  work  will  of  necessity  be  slow',  for  its  isola- 
tion from  the  dyewood  in  any  quantity  will  entail 
considerable  time  and  labour. 
As  morin  has  been  previously  only  known  to 
exist  in  old  fustic,  and  as  this  dye-stuff  contains 
also  a second  colouring  matter,  maclurin,  it  was 
necessary  to  determine  whether  the  latter  also  ex- 
isted in  jack-Avood.  Various  tests,  however,  showed 
no  indication  of  the  presence  of  this  substance  ; 
but  in  order  to  be  quite  certain,  it  seemed  best  to 
prove  this  indirectly  by  examining  old  fustic  accord- 
ing to  the  methods  employed  with  jack-wood. 
A boiling  aqueous  extract  of  old  fustic  was  there- 
fore treated  with  lead  acetate,  the  precipitate  col- 
lected, and  the  filtrate,  after  removal  of  lead  in  the 
usual  manner,  evaporated  to  a small  bulk.  The 
dark-coloured  liquid  thus  obtained  was  treated  with 
excess  of  salt,  filtered,  the  filtrate  extracted  with 
ethylic  acetate,  and  the  extract  evaporated.  The 
resulting  sticky  product  showed  1 o signs  of  crys- 
tallisation, and  it  was  therefore  dissolved  in  dilute 
acetic  acid  and  allowed  to  stand  some  hours.  A 
light  yellow  precipitate  gradualiy  separated,  which 
Avas  collected  and  purified  by  crystllisation  in  a 
similar  manner,  and  this  was  found  from  its  dyeing 
and  other  properties  to  be  identical  with  maclurin. 
With  lead  acetate  solution,  it  yielded  a precipitate, 
but  was  not  entirely  thrown  down  in  this  way,  and 
its  isolation  from  old  fustic  in  the  above  manner 
is  doe  to  tbe  fact  that  its  lead  compound  at  first 
formed,  is  partially  decomposed  by  the  acetic  acid 
which  is  simultaneously  libei/ated  from  the  lead 
acetate.  On  the  other  hand,  morin  is  entirely  pre- 
cipitated by  this  reagent. 
Jack-wood  thus  treated  as  here  shown  yields  no 
substance  having  the  properties  of  maclurin,  and  its 
non-existence  in  this  dye-stuff  is  thus  conclusively 
proved.  Morin  is  consequently  the  sole  colouring 
matter  of  jack-wood,  and  the  cyanomaclurin  which 
it  contains  occupies  the  place  of  the  maclurin  in 
old  fustic. 
As  the  delate  acetic  acid  filterato  from  the  preci- 
pitated maclurin  (see  above)  appeared  to  contain 
* Indian  Civil  Service,  ^ 
