€66 
IMPORTANT TO COMMERCE, 
only (lurins; coM weather that this substance 
becomes firm (Roxb.). Ihe most useful 
product of the family, however, and that 
which has lately become so important an 
article of conunerce and of great utility in a 
variety of arts, is Caoutchouc, so well known 
as India-ruhf er, and exported principally 
s'lomPara. This is chiefly yielded hy Sipho- 
niu. elusticd (Hevea guianensis. Aubi.), a 
tree of Guiana and Brazil, which would no 
doubt thrive in Bengal. Caoutchouc is also 
impofted iioiu Penang, the produce of Urce- 
•ah elastica (As. Res. v p. l57 and 167), 
but 1 hope it will be also from the continent 
of India, 
The expressed oil of the seeds i f 
Curcas, boiled with oxide of iron, is said to 
form tire varnish used by the Chinese for 
covering boxes (Lir.'dley). The juice of this 
plant is of a very tenacious nature, and when 
Irlown into, forms very large bubbles, pro- 
bably ow'ing to the piesenceof Ctoutchouc; 
this is also afforded by an African tree of this 
order. 
“ The dye. called Turnsol, is yielded by 
Crozophora (Croton) tinctoria, as it is a color- 
ing nratter by C. pUcata(v. Roxb. FI. Ind. 
iii. p. 68) ; also by Rottleru tinctoi ia, of which 
the stiigose pubescence, like that of Mucuna 
pvuriens, is adrninisteredfor expelling intestinal 
worms. Several of this family yield hard and 
valuable timber in India, as EniLlica offici- 
nalis, Rottlera tetriicocca.Adelia custanicurpa, 
species of Briedelia, Cluytia, &c. African 
oak or teak is supposed by some to belong 
to this family. 
" Though belonging to so dangerous a 
family, the leaves of Plukenetia corniculata 
are said to be eaten as a vegetable ; and the 
domesticated Arindy si 1 kworm (P/ir/Zrena^ ’.«/«♦ 
thin,,) is fed upon the leaves of Ricinus commu- 
nis. (Roxb.)” page 327 to 329. 
“ The tribe of Peppers is well characterized 
by the warm, pungent, and aronratic pro- 
perties for whicli some of the species have 
ueen celebrated from the eailiest to the pre- 
sent times, eitlitr as condiments, or for their 
uses as stimulant and stomachic medicines. 
Of these, Piper nigrum, affording the black 
and white pepper (Peis, pilpil) of commerce, 
is, no doubt, the most celebrated. That of 
Malabar has long been considered the best ; 
but that of Sirmatra, and many of the islands, 
is reckoned nearly as good. INIr. Ciawforri 
states, ‘ the pepper countiies extend from 
above the longitude of 96* to that of ll5“ E,, 
beyond which no pepper is to be found, and 
they reacii from 5^^ S. lat. to l2* N., where 
it again ceases. Within these limits, we 
have Sumatra, Borneo, the Malayan Penin- 
sula, and certain countries lying on tire east 
coast of the Guiph of Siam.’ It is cultivated 
all along the Malabar coast, and also near 
Courtallum. Dr. Roxburgh describes it as 
being found wild in the hills of the Rajah- 
uiundry district. But this may be the specie.s 
which he describes under the name P. 
cum, of which 1 liave seen no specimens ; 
but the pepper Dr. R, states to be ‘ exceed- 
ingly pungent, and by merchani^ at Madras 
reckoned equal, if not superior to the best 
pepper of the Malabar coast or Ceylon.’ 
^ “ The betle-Ieaf, P. Betie. p-m of the 
datives, Sans. Tumboolee, Peis, tumhol, so 
well known for its moderately pungent and 
aromatic properties, is culiivaied iliroiiehout 
tropical Asia, and over a great paitof India. 
I have seen it as^ high as Bundlecund and the 
southern parts of the Doab, though it requires 
a rich moist soil, and shady situation. These 
are obtained in Northern India by irrigation, 
and covering the plants around and above 
willr a light thatch of grass or reeds. P,. 
longum, pippnl oi the natives, and the root 
pippula moo'la and peeplamoor is cultivated in 
Bengal and the Circars, both for its pep- 
per and its roots : the former in use as a con- 
diment, and tire latter extensively so as a sti- 
mulant medicine. P, c/uiba (As. Res. ix. 
39l) is called mugpeepul, and similarly used. 
'l ire root of P. i>.ethpsticum is that employed 
in the Society and Friendly Islands, under 
the name of Avaor Kara, to produce by fer- 
mentation a pungent and stimulant leverage, 
P,inehrians is sursiitnted for it. P. nnisa- 
tum, as its name implies, smells of Anise ; 
other species possess the general pungent and 
stimulaiitpropeities of the family. P. Cubeba, 
grown in Java and Penang, affords the well 
known Cuhebs, which are the kubaheh of the 
Atabs, hubah-cheenee of the Hindoos; for 
these kurjiyoon is assigned as the Greek name, 
intended probably for Corpesium, as tlris has 
been supposed by some authors to be cuirebs. 
1 he seeds of tezhul, Xanthoxylum hostile, p, 
157, are said to he one kind of cubebs. They 
have much the same warm, pungent, and 
stimulant pioperties.” Page 332 to 333. 
“The Ht.MP (Cannabis sutiva), so well 
known in Asia, from affording an intoxicating 
drug, and in Euiope the strongestfihre for rope- 
making, is cultivated for the foimer product 
in small quantities every wliere in the plains 
of India, near villages: but in the Himalayas 
it is extremely abundant, at elevations ofG OOO 
and 7,000 feet, and of vei y luxuriant growth, 
rising sometimes to a height of ten and twelve 
feet. Here, though it likewise affords an intoxi- 
cating drug, it is also known for the tenacity of 
its fibre, which is employed by the moun- 
taineers in Gurhwal and Siimore for making 
a coarse sackcloth, and strong lopes for cros- 
sing their rivers. Considering tliat this fact 
was early made known by Col. Kiikpatrick 
inliis account of Ne['a!, ascertained by Gen. 
Hardwickein iiis journey to Srinuagur, and 
repeated by Dr. Roxburgh in his account of 
experiments on substitutes for hemp ; it 
is remarkable that no one should yet have 
attempted to obtain it for commercialpurposes, 
particularly, as during the late vvar so many 
attempts weie made to find an efficient sub» 
stitute for this impoi tant plant; and so many 
others are cultivated in India for the product 
which this yields of so superior a quality. It 
may be mentioned, that 1 have seen it abund- 
ant in theDeyra Doon and plains of North- 
ern India, especially in the upper part of 
the Doab Canal ; of these only a small portion 
is employed for making bhang ; but this might , 
