Two specimens of gum from Panax elegans may now be described 
separately:— 
1. Pound at Lismore. Diarn., 1 foot. Height, 50-60 feet. Gum gathered 
April, 1S91, and analysed the following February. 
Both gums are rather dark in colour, and resemble wattle gum. They arc in 
irregular lumps of about half an inch in thickness. Both are plastic after months 
of keeping. Both are mainly soluble in water, the insoluble portion largely 
swelling up in that liquid. The odour of the aqueous solution of No. 1 sample of 
P. elegans resembles that of carrots in a remarkable degree. This is noteworthy, 
and reminds one of the close affinity of the Araliaceae and Umbelliferse. 
2. Panax elegans. Sample from Ballinn, N.S.W. This specimen has been 
partly described under No. 1. In aqueous solution it has an aroma which reminds 
one of hops. 
The following analysis gives a good idea of the composition of both gums of 
P. elegans :— 
Arabin 
Metarabin 
Ash 
Water 
70-2 
9‘8 (by difference). 
83 
167 
100-0 
Conclusions.—Panax gums closely resemble Acacia gums in composition. 
They both contain gums wholly soluble in cold water, and consisting entirely of 
arabin, and gums partially soluble in water, though containing varying proportions 
of metarabin, which substance causes them to swell in cold water. The gum of 
P. Murrayi would form a valuable substitute for gum arabic, and it would be a 
valuable minor industry for this country if it were procurable in large quantities. 
All the gums possess some odour, obtained from the barks, and isolation of 
the odoriferous bodies could best be carried out by analysis of the bark. This 
odoriferous principle in the Araliaccae, and reminding one of the Umbelliferae, has 
long been known. “ Most of the species have a very strong smell of aniseed and 
celery, hence the name “ Celery tree” is given to Panax ( Notliopanax ) elegans by 
the Queensland colonists.” (Seemann, Flora vitiensis, 111). 
The ash of Panax gums principally consists (in my samples) of lime, 
magnesium, and potassium, with a trace of iron, and although the bases were 
present principally as carbonates, both sulphuric and phosphoric acids were found. 
Quantitative determinations of the different constituents of the ash were not made, 
with the exception of phosphoric pentoxide; the percentage of P 2 0 5 in the ash of 
P. elegans being ’961). 
