375 
culinary purposes on fast days when ordinary food is not taken. It is 
also given as a i onic to weak person when, boiled in milk ”. 
The Zedoary Curcuma Zedoaria is known here as Tema La- 
wang and is one of those half-wild scitaminese which occur in 
villages and waste ground. It has broad bright green leaves with 
a purple brown splash in the centre, and when it flowers produces 
a large and beautiful cone of bracts green in the lower part and 
violet purple above. The rhizomes, are used here chiefly in curries 
and native medicines, having an aromatic scent and taste. It can be 
cultivated like ginger by breaking up the rhizomes, and grows 
readily almost anywhere. 
H. N. R. 
an al tes o various rubbers. 
In t^ lC Annual Report ot the Indian Museum 1905-1906, are 
some analyses of various rubbers by Mr. D. HOOPER among them 
is a n?6ber from Manmo, Rurmah (kind not stated possibly Para.) 
whiS.k gave Caoutchouc 96*7, resin 2-3, ash ri. Ceara 11Ui “ 
Pobna gave Caoutchouc 94*6, resin 21, ash 3'3. Pprameria glan~ 
dulifera , from the Andamans, 'aoutchouc 92-5, resit 1 6*4, ash I o. 
This latter apocynaceous climber is not usually considered or i e .^ 
the first class rubber vines, but it is perhaps one of the best ot the 
F'aramerias and this analysis gives as a better cl ajS °* ru bbei than 
that of Ficus elastic a. 
Analyses of the rubbers of 7 Indian Ficus are given, beginning 
with a rather poor F. elastica, Caoutchouc 87*5, resin 107, ash 
1 -8. The others vary in analysis from 30*8 Caoutchouc and 58’9 
resin ( Ficus Benjamina , the waringin) to 127 Caoutchouc and 84 8 
{Ficus veligiosa, the Peepul tree) 12*5 Caoutchouc and 84 7 tesin. 
Some Artocarpi gums were also examined. They were very 
poor in Caoutchouc, A, hirsuta r gave the highest amount, Caout- 
chouc 28 0, resin 7PO. 
Jack (A. integrifolia ) gave only 77 with 907 resin. It is hardly 
likely that any of these latices will come into use as rubber pro- 
ducers. A number of laticiferous plants of other orders, Eupnorbias 
Calotropis, Thevetia, Pedilaiithus , were investigated also and sub- 
stances more or less allied to Caoutchouc obtained, but of practically 
no commercial value. 
H. N. R. 
RUBBER NOTES. 
Ecuador — From the Consular report oC Ecuador for 1905, we 
read that the Government passed a law that a premium of ten cents 
is to be paid by Government on all plantations of rubber trees as 
soon as they reach the age of five years. The premium alone would 
be a very small inducement to plant, but the high prices of rubber 
induce the making of extensive plantations. 
IO& 
