AmAp°rif;iP8S6arm"}        Botany  and  Materia  Me  die  a.  213 
which  is  fancifully  called  the  male  rubber  tree.  The  latter  is  a 
Rubiaceous  plant,  not  known  to  yield  any  rubber. 
The  growing  importance  of  this  industry  is  indicated  by  the  fact 
that  for  the  half  year  ending  June  30,  1895,  588,633  pounds  of  rub- 
ber have  been  exported  from  Lagos,  valued  at  ^29,765  iSs.  $d. 
In  tapping  the  tree,  the  bark  is  first  cut  in  a  vertical  direction 
from  the  bottom  to  the  top.  This  main  groove  is  y2  to  5/q  inch 
broad,  and  deep  enough  to  reach  the  inner  bark.  On  each  side  of 
this,  two  series  of  oblique  grooves,  about  2  feet  apart,  are  cut,  each 
running  into  the  main  groove.  The  side  grooves  are  made,  begin- 
ning at  the  top  and  gradually  reaching  the  base  of  the  tree.  All 
the  milk  exuding  from  the  lateral  grooves  will  find  its  way  into  the 
main  groove,  and  so,  ultimately,  to  the  bottom,  where  a  vessel  is 
placed  to  receive  it. 
Should  the  new  Kickxia  rubber  continue  of  commercial  value, 
there  is  no  doubt  that  it  will  eventually  be  possible  to  establish 
regular  plantations,  and  thus  make  the  industry  a  permanent  one. 
Owing  to  the  climbing  habit  of  the  species  of  Landolphia,  which 
have  hitherto  yielded  African  rubber,  it  was  not  practicable  to  cul- 
tivate them  in  regular  plantations,  as  they  required  the  support  of 
other  plants,  and,  when  once  tapped,  many  years  would  have  to 
elapse  before  they  would  be  fit  to  yield  another  crop.  With  the 
Kickxia  these  practical  difficulties  disappear. 
This  is  a  product  obtained  from  Blumea 
balsamifera,2  DeC,  an  evergreen  shrubby  com- 
Ai  Camphoi.      posite, abundant  in  Eastern  India,  and  alsofound 
in  South  China  and  the  islands  of  Hainan  and 
Formosa.  The  Kew  Bulletin,  for  November,  1895,  p.  275,  publishes 
some  interesting  correspondence  regarding  its  production  and  mar- 
2  The  Pharmacographia  describes  this  camphor,  and  states  ' '  that  the  chem- 
ical examination  by  Plowman  has  proved  that  it  has  the  composition  C10H18O, 
like  Borneo  camphor ;  but  the  two  substances  differ  in  optical  behavior,  an 
alcoholic  solution  of  Ngai  camphor  being  levogyre  in  about  the  same  degree 
that  one  of  Borneo  camphor  is  dextrogyre.  As  Ngai  camphor  is  about  ten 
times  the  price  of  Formosa  camphor,  it  never  finds  its  way  to  Europe  as  an 
article  of  commerce.  In  China  it  is  consumed  partly  in  medicine,  and  partly 
in  perfuming  the  fine  kinds  of  Chinese  ink." 
The  Pharmacographia  Indica,  Vol.  II,  page  252,  states  that  "the  camphora- 
ceous  Blumeas  are  called  by  Sanskrit  writers  Kukundara  and  Knkkura-dru, 
'dog-bush,'  because  their  pungent  odor  is  attractive  to  these  animals.  In 
