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THE  GUMS  AND  RESINS  OF  COMMERCE. 
OrientaliSy  the  pitch  tree  of  Amboyna.  The  trees  yield  the 
dammer  in  amazing  quantity,  and  generally  without  the  necessity 
of  making  incisions.  It  exudes  through  the  bark,  and  is  either 
found  adhering  to  the  trunk  or  branches  in  large  lumps,  or  in 
masses  on  the  ground  under  the  trees.  As  these  often  grow  near 
the  sea-side,  or  on  the  banks  of  rivers,  the  daramer  is  frequently 
floated  away,  and  collected  in  distant  places  as  drift.  It  is  ex- 
ported in  large  quantities  to  Bengal  and  China,  and  is  used  for 
all  the  purposes  to  which  we  apply  pitch,  but  principally  in  pay- 
ing the  bottoms  of  ships.  About  200,000  bundles  of  dammer 
are  annually  exported  from  Siam.  Dammer  fetches  from  26s.  to 
32s.  per  cwt.  in  the  London  market.  100  to  300  cwt.  of  dammer 
and  resin  are  annually  exported  from  Ceylon. 
The  fruit  of  Diospyros  embryopteris,  a  native  of  the  East,  is 
so  glutinous  as  to  be  used  in  Bengal  for  paying  boats.  A  cheap 
and  ready  substitute  for  tar  for  preserving  cordage,  &c,  might 
easily  be  found  in  some  of  the  numerous  resins  and  gum  elastics 
of  India. 
Copal  is  a  valuable  and  singular  kind  of  resin  that,  according 
to  some  authorities,  naturally  exudes  from  different  large  trees 
found  in  the  East  Indies.  Dr.  Buschenberger  (  Voyage  Round 
the  World")  still  asserts  that  it  is  a  gum  found  about  the  roots, 
whence  it  is  dug  up  in  large  quantities,  and  is  often  obtained 
from  places  where  the  tree  had  been  grown  many  years  before. 
The  best  copal  is  of  a  bright  yellow  color,  as  transparent  as  am- 
ber, in  small  rounded  lumps  or  flat  pieces,  hard  and  brittle,  but 
easily  reduced  to  powder.  Its  specific  gravity  is  about  1-100. 
When  dissolved  in  linseed  oil,  it  forms  a  beautiful  varnish,  which, 
when  applied  to  pictures,  snuff-boxes,  tea-trays  &c.  gives  lustre 
to  the  painting  and  brings  out  the  colors.  Copal  is  liable  to  be 
confounded  with  gum  anime,  which  exudes  from  the  roots  of  the 
locust  tree  {Hymenoea  courbaril.) 
According  to  M.  Landerer,  of  Athens,  there  are  three  varie- 
ties of  copal,  differing  from  each  other  in  their  properties,  viz., 
Brazilian,  West  Indian,  and  East  Indian  or  Levantine  copal. 
The  latter  variety  is  sold  in  the  bazaars  of  Jerusalem,  Mecca  and 
other  places,  as  a  species  of  choice  incense,  and  it  plays  a  lead- 
ing part  in  all  the  fumigating  drugs  of  the  East.  The  people 
employed  in  the  collection  of  the  copal  in  Palestine  and  Abys- 
