PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS — SECTION B. 
45 
Gum-resin from Taberncemontana macrophylla was shown by New 
Caledonia at the Paris Exhibition of 1867. Has a similar substance 
been found on our Taberncemontana , and, if so, has it been examined? 
Some time ago twigs (with neither flowers nor fruits) were sent 
to me from Tasmania under the name of " Leather-tree.” The twigs 
exuded a small quantity of resin, which was stated to possess “ great 
healing qualities in cases of sore hands.” Can anyone say what it 
is, whether it has been examined, or supply material for botanical 
identification ? 
A Euphorbiaceous plant ( Beyeria viscosa , Miq.) exudes resin so 
freely from the leaves that characters may often be traced on it with 
a style. A close ally, Beriya CimningJiamii , Planch., exudes a bitter 
gum-resin (?) similarly. Both substances are of much interest, and 
have apparently never been examined. In Queensland the Candle- 
nut-tree (Aleurites moluccana , Willd.) grows; and confused accounts 
are current in regard to the exudation it yields, which should be 
cleared up. 
Some correspondence recently published* * * § states the present 
position in regard to the Ficus juices of Australia, which have been 
a good deal talked about at one time or another as yielders of 
Caoutchouc (India-rubber). Two grand problems (which, owing to 
the liability of the raw material to ferment, arc far easier dealt with 
in Australia than at a distance) remain to be solved in connection 
with them. They can only be adequately solved by chemists. 
(1.) The chemical composition of the juice (latex) of the various 
species. (2.) The best method of treating the fresh juice so as to 
separate the caoutchouc contained in it. The well-known research of 
De la Rue and Mlillerf is a little out of date, and a fresh investigation 
has been commenced by Renuie and Goyder.J We look forward with 
interest to their further investigations. 
KINOS. 
The astringent exudations of our Eucalypts and Angoplwras are 
both abundant and interesting. Kinos of all sorts are somewhat out 
of fashion in medicine, but it may be that an improved demand will set 
in for them for tanning purposes. Drs. Lauterer and Wilton Love 
are working at them, and will no doubt bring to light new points of 
interest concerning them. 
I am very much interested in our kinos, having worked at them 
for some years. I have divided them into three provisional groups§ — 
(a) the Baby group, consisting of kinos of a ruby colour, which are 
perfectly soluble in water or alcohol ; (b) the Gummy group, which 
are soluble in water, but largely insoluble in alcohol, owing to the 
gum they contain ; (c) the Turbid group, which form a turbid 
solution in water, owing to the catechin they contain. An over- 
whelming majority of kinos fall into these three groups, those of 
Eucalyptus microcorys , F. v. M. (Tallow-wood), and F. maculata y 
Hook. f. (Spotted Gum), being anomalous. Country pharma- 
ceutical chemists can readily undertake the work of collecting 
* Agric. Gaz. N.S.W. v., 759. 
f Phil. Trans., 1860 ; Journ. Chem. Soc., 1862, 62 ; Watts’ Diet., ii., 646. 
X Journ. Chem. Soc., lxi., 916. 
§ Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. [2], iv., 695, 1277 ; vi., 389. 
