38 
Gum  Tragacanth. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
January,  1920. 
GUM  TRAGACANTH.  1 
In  the  course  of  a  report  furnished  by  the  Revenue  Commis- 
sioner in  Mesopotamia  it  is  stated  that  the  most  valuable  of  the 
gums  collected  is  tragacanth,  which  is  produced  by  tapping  small 
shrubs  which  grow  all  over  the  mountains  of  Southern  Persia,  and 
from  there  through  the  entire  mountainous  region  which  runs  north- 
west along  the  frontiers  of  Mesopotamia,  comprising  such  areas  as 
northern  Arabistan,  the  Luristan-Pust-i-Kut  country,  and  Kurdi- 
stan. The  most  important  collecting  center  for  Bagdad  is  Sulei- 
manaya,  the  capital  of  the  Suleimanaya  district  of  Kurdistan,  ^ 
situated  about  i8o  miles  to  the  northeast  of  Bagdad.  In  this  area 
there  is  a  regular  trade  in  this  gum  for  the  Bagdad  market.  The 
gum  is  called  "Al-kitirah"  in  Arabic.  The  method  of  tapping  the 
bushes  is  as  follows:  The  Kurds  first  burn  all  the  leaves  off  the 
bushes,  then  expose  the  roots,  cut  incisions  in  the  roots,  and  leave 
for  a  week  or  so ;  they  then  return  and  collect  the  gum  which  exudes 
from  the  roots.  The  first  tapping  produces  white  gum  of  the  best 
quality,  second  and  subsequent  tappings  gums  of  yellow  colors  and 
inferior  quality.  Excessive  tappings  weaken,  and  may  sometimes 
kill  the  bushes.  The  Kurds  bring  in  the  gum  to  Suleimanaya 
where  it  is  bought  by  local  merchants  who  export  it  to  Bagdad 
on  pack  transport  in  caravans,  and  sell  to  Bagdad  merchants.  These 
merchants  export  to  England  and  foreign  countries.  The  local 
customs  authorities  levy  a  12V2  per  cent,  tax  on  the  market  value 
in  Suleimanaya. 
The  northern  mountainous  Kurdish  country  in  the  Mosul  Vilayet 
is  a  mass  of  mountains  and  valleys.  The  mountains  are  covered 
with  scrub  evergreen  oak  forest,  and  the  higher  hills  and  plateaux 
are  full  of  these  gum  bushes.  No  organized  trade,  however,  ap- 
pears to  exist,  although  Persian  merchants  are  said  to  have  come 
down  off  and  on  in  the  past  to  exploit  these  gums.  The  distance 
from  the  Mosul  town  to  this  gum-bearing  country  is  from  50  to 
100  miles.  All  transport  at  present  is  on  pack  animals,  but  three 
unmettaled  roads  up  to  the  hill  country  have  been  constructed. 
The  country  is  meanwhile  wild  and  unsettled,  but  with  the  intro- 
duction of  law  and  order,  the  opening  up  of  the  country  by  means 
of  roads  and  the  construction  of  a  railway  to  Mosul,  which  means. 
*  From  The  Chemist  and  Druggist,  November  i,  1919. 
