52 
THE RICE-PAPER OF FORMOSA. 
upon a[filter, dried at 212° Falir., and its weight ascertained, whilst the amount 
of pure quinidine can be ascertained by calculation from the known weight of 
the hydriodate ; 100 parts of hydriodate are equivalent to 71‘68 parts of 
quinidine, according to the formula C 40 H 24 N 2 O 4 ,H I. The liquid separated 
by a filter from the hydriodate is precipitated by caustic soda, and the pre¬ 
cipitate noted as cinchonine, or as a mixture of cinchonine and cinchonidine, 
which depends upon special observations. If the solution of iodide of po¬ 
tassium produces no precipitate, the solution is precipitated by caustic soda, 
and the precipitate may be regarded as cinchonine, or as a mixture of cincho¬ 
nine and cinchonidine. The presence of cinchonidine or quinidine among 
the alkaloids of a bark can be easily conjectured at the time of their treatment 
with ether; for if one of these alkaloids is present, it is partially deposited in 
a crystalline state after some time. Whilst the quinidine can easily be ascer¬ 
tained by iodide of potassium, even in small quantities, the presence of small 
quantities of cinchonidine can onfy be ascertained with certainty by the polar¬ 
izing apparatus, by which instrument I have, for instance, found the cinchoni¬ 
dine of Pasteur in the bark of C.jpahudiana, of Java. 
The Hague , April 21, 1864. 
THE EICE-PAPEE OE FOEMOSA. 
BY ROBERT SWINHOE, II.M. CONSUL AT FORMOSA. 
The plant that produces the so-called rice-paper is the Ar alia papyrxfera 
of botanists, a low shrub with large leaves, in form not unlike those of the 
castor-oil plant (Ricinus communis'). This plant has as yet only been procured 
from the northern end of Formosa, where it grows wild in great abundance on 
the hills. It is of very quick growth, and the trunk and branches, which are 
lopped for use, are not unlike those of an old elder in appearance. The cellular 
tissue or pith attains its full size the first year. The trunks and branches are 
mostly procured from the aborigines of the inner mountains, in barter for 
Chinese produce. They are rarely straight throughout their length, and are 
usually cut into pieces of about nine inches long, and with a straight stick in¬ 
serted at one end and hammered on the ground, the pith is forced out with 
a jump at the other end. The pith is then inserted into straight hollow bam¬ 
boos, where it swells and dries straight. If too short to form the required 
breadth of paper, several bits are inserted into a hollow bamboo, and, by rods 
inserted at both open ends of the bamboo, pressed together until dry. By this 
process the short bits are forced to adhere together and form one long straight 
piece of the required length. Thus paper of almost any size can be procured. 
The knife used in paring the pith into paper is in shape not unlike a butcher’s 
chopper. It is w r ell sharpened on a stone, and when not used, kept with the 
edge in a wooden groove held firm to it by two strings round the wood and the 
knife. Before using it, the edge receives a fresh touch up on a small block of 
wood, usually a piece of the timber of Macliilus ramosa , shaped like a large 
hone. The block on which the pith is cut consists of a smooth brick or burnt 
clay tile, with a narrow piece of brass on a rim of paper pasted at each edge, on 
which the knife is laid, and is consequently a little raised above the bare tile 
itself. The block is laid flat on a table, and the dried pith rolled on it with the 
fingers of the left hand, and then the knife laid on the brass rims with its edge 
towards the pith, its handle being held by the right hand. As the knife is ad¬ 
vanced leftwards by the right hand, the pith is rolled in the same direction, but 
more slowly, by the fingers of the left. The paring thus goes on continuously, 
until the inner pith, about a quarter of an inch in diameter, is left, resembling 
somewhat the vertebral column of a very small shark, and breaking into similar 
