NOTES  ON  MATERIA  MEDICA. 
187 
Next  came  a  small  gall  from  India,  called  by  its  Indian  name 
Mahee ;  this  is  yielded  by  two  species  of  Tamarisk,  ( Tamarix 
indica  and  T,  fur  as  ;)  they  are  very  rich  in  gallic  acid,  but  are 
not  procurable  in  very  large  quantities.  The  shrub,  however, 
grows  in  Algiers,  and  there  it  appears  to  yield  the  galls  more 
abundantly,  as  very  considerable  quantities  are  exported  to 
France  under  their  Moorish  name  Takaout.  There  is  a  curious 
gall,  shaped  somewhat  like  an  ox  horn,  and  about  two  inches  or 
two  and  a  half  inches  in  length,  which  has  a  commercial  value 
in  India  but  has  not  yet  found  its  way  into  our  markets,  it  is 
called  Kakarasinghee  or  Kakrasingee,  and  is  produced  on  Rhus 
Kahrasinghee,  (Royle ;)  they  are,  to  a  small  extent,  used  by  the 
Indian  tanners,  and  have  also  a  place  in  the  Materia  Medica  of 
India ;  possibly,  ere  long,  they  may  become  articles  of  import 
into  this  country. 
The  gall  most  extensively  used  in  Southern  Germany  is  the 
curious  Knoppern,  produced  by  the  puncture  of  a  species  of 
Oynips  on  an  oak-tree, — Quercus  Cerris.  These  have  been  im- 
ported occasionally,  but  are  very  inferior  in  quality  to  the  com- 
mon Turkish  galls.  In  Italy,  France,  Turkey,  and  India  the 
galls  formed  on  several  species  of  Pistachio,  as  Pistacia  vera, 
P.  lentiscus,  etc.,  are  used,  and  those  from  P.  lentiscus  are 
largely  used  for  tanning  in  Turkey  and  Italy.  Their  value  is 
not  known  in  this  country. 
The  latest  novelty  is  a  very  curious  gall  which  I  have  just  re- 
ceived as  an  import  from  Shanghae ;  it  bears  strong  resemblances 
to  the  Chinese  and  Japanese  galls,  but  has  not  their  peculiar 
branched  appearance ;  on  the  contrary,  it  has  mostly  the  form 
of  a  radish-pod,  and,  although  some  are  slightly  tomentose,  as 
in  the  case  of  the  other  two,  yet  most  of  them  are  smooth ;  here 
and  there  we  find  amongst  them  some  which  have  a  tendency  to 
the  branched  form ;  indeed,  these  galls  seem  to  be  intermediate 
in  their  general  characteristics  between  the  Kakarasinghee  and 
the  Woo-pei-tsze.  They  were  lately  imported  into  Liverpool, 
and  doubtless  will  soon  become  common. 
2.  Note  on  a  New  Article  of  Commerce,  called  Cape  Saffron. 
This  remarkable  product,  which  strikingly  resembles  saffron, 
