316 
Gamhier  of  Johore. 
Am.  Jour.  Pliaru). 
June,  IbSo. 
average  diameter  is  37  nun,  (about  1\  inch)  and  thickness,  6  mm.  It  also 
differs  from  his  in  the  density;  his  sank  in  water,  but  the  Johore  variety 
is  very  light  and  floats  on  water.  The  average  weight  of  the  discs  is  3*28 
grams  (heaviest,  3*94;  lightest,  2-85).  The  color  approaches  Pereira's 
description,  the  lower  surface  being  darker,  if  anytiiing,  than  the  upper. 
A  peculiarity  of  the  Johore  discs  is  the  ring  markings  on  the  surface. 
Some  have  two,  others  one  ring  only,  about  a  third  of  an  inch  from  the 
edge,  and  the  same  distance  apart  when  there  are  two.  The  one  ring  mark- 
ing gives  the  disc  the  appearance  of  a  cortical  layer,  such  as  we  see  in 
calumba  root  for  instance.  One  piece  is  marked  on  the  top  surface  with 
three  transverse  parallel  grooves,  but  this  appears  to  be  accidental.  This 
gambler  incinerates  easily  and  yields  onhj  1-63  per  cent,  of  ash,  light  in 
weiglit  and  milk  white.  The  "  tannin  "  content  is  20  per  cent.  The  small 
percentage  of  ash  is  remarkable.  Fliickiger  and  Hanbury^  incinerated 
some  fine  gambier  in  regular  cubes  and  obtained  2*6  per  cent,  of  ash,  and 
this  is  given,  I  presume,  as  a  very  low  percentage. 
The.se  specimens  are  quite  different  from  those  mentioned  b\'  Pereira. 
The  disc-shaped  specimen  is  particularly  it?ma  kable,  owing  to  its  small 
percentage  of  ash  and  low  tannin  "  content.  Vet  I  have  ftiiled  to  detect 
any  adulterant  in  it.  It  would  appear  to  have  been  prepared  with  unusual 
care  and  from  clean  leavts,  the  explanation  of  the  low  "tannin  "  content 
being  that  the  decoction  has  not  Iieen  subjected  to  i)rolonged  boiling,  which 
favors  decomposition  of  catechin,  cateehu-tannic  acid  being  one  of  the  pro- 
ducts of  decomposition.  The  cube  j^ambier  is  of  good  quality  ;  all  are 
api)arently  e(iually  soluble  in  l)oiling  water,  so  that  this  test  afforded  little 
indication  of  the  quantity  of  inorganic  matter  present.  It  would  be  well 
if  a  maximuni  of  a^h  were  also  givm  in  the  forthcoming  ])harmacopceia. 
Mr.  Jamie  informs  me  that  a  very  ligbt  clay  or  earth  (which  is  eaten  by 
the  natives)  is  used  for  adulterating  gambier,  and  that  adulteration  with 
starchy  matter  is  rarely  or  never  resorted  to.  The  latter  adulteriition 
would  give  the  makers  too  much  trouble;  hence  they  resort  to  the  more 
handy  clay.  A  sample  of  lozenge  gcmibier  (sui)i)ose(l  to  be  amylaceous) 
which  I  have  examined  contains  no  starch,  but  abundance  of  a  fine  light 
earth,  such  as  tripoli  ;  yet  the  specimen  fioats  on  water. 
The  figures  which  I  give  for  "  tannin  "  are  not  to  l)e  taken  as  an  absolute 
indication  of  the  cateehu-tannic  acid  present.  They  are  comparative  and 
are  given  as  gallotannic  acid,  owing  to  the  uncertainty  attached  to  values 
given  for  the  "tannin  "  of  gambier. 
The  authors  of  "  Pharmacographia "  do  not  state  the  percentage  of 
"tannin"  in  gambier.  Mr.  Thomas  Christy  i "  New  Commercial  Plants 
and  Drugs,"  Part  V.,  pp.  4U-41)  gives  36  to  40  per  cent,  and  44  88  per  cent, 
(on  the  authority  of  Esenbeck).  Mr.  John  Watts  (ibid.,  p.  50)  says: 
"  Gambier  and  cutch  with  your  apparatus  [Pvamspacher's  tannometer] 
give  over  40  per  cent  ,  while  gambier  gives  with  gelatin  20  to  25  per  cent., 
and  cutch  about  30  per  cent."  Conj paring  the  Johore  cube  gamblers  with 
these  figures  they  stand  out  very  favorably,  while  the  two  commercial  sam- 
ples which  I  have  examined  are  very  bad.— P//ar.  Jour,  and  Trans.,  March 
28,  1885,  pp.  793-795. 
1 "  Phai  inacographia,"  first  ed.,  p. 
