22 
Sterculia  Gum. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Jan.,  1890. 
Coehlospermum  Gossypium,  D.  C,  Kuteera  or  False  Tragacanth. 
Sample  I. — Received  from  Kew.  A  translucent,  horny-looking,  shriv- 
elled gum,  in  irregular  pieces  as  large  as  walnuts.  It  is  of  a  dull 
dirty  whitish,  yellowish  or  brownish  color,  and  attached  to  it  are 
fragments  of  bark,  some  of  it  lace-bark  (?  sterculiaceous).  To  say 
that  it  is  tragacanthoid  describes  its  lustre.  It  is  without  taste.  It 
might  be  used  (if  that  be  a  use)  as  an  adulterant,  but  not  as  a  substi- 
tute for  low-grade  tragacanth,  for  it  has  not  the  adhesiveness  of  the 
latter  gum.  Mr.  Baden-Powell  (quoted  by  Cooke)  states  that  it  is 
used  in  shoe-making  in  India.  If  it  has  any  adhesiveness  at  all  in 
India  it  would  be  worth  while  to  inquire  whether  it  is  employed  as  a 
substitute  for  tragacanth  in  cementing  the  " wrappers"  of  Indian 
cigars.  Waring  ("  Pharm  of  India ")  speaks  of  it  as  an  article  of 
very  minor  importance.  From  India  (N.  W.  P.).  Sample  II — A 
beautiful  selected  translucent  sample,  resembling  chalcedony.  On 
tasting  it,  it  was  found  to  be  quite  acid,  and  on  smelling,  the  bottle 
was  found  to  be  strongly  charged  with  acetic  acid.1  As  far  as  the 
samples  in  the  Museum  go,  it  appears  to  hold  good  that  the  paler  the 
specimen,  the  more  acidulous  it  is.  From  Calcutta.  S.  urens,  Roxb. 
— Received  from  the  Government  of  India.  I  cannot  at  present 
detect  any  difference  between  this  gum  and  that  of  Coehlospermum 
Gossypium.  I  have  even  transposed  the  labels,  and  then  have  failed 
to  separate  the  gums,  except  by  guess-work.  Some  of  the  pieces  taste 
slightly  sour,  as  mentioned  under  coehlospermum.  Digested  in  water 
it  swells  up  and  dissolves  but  slightly.  It  appears,  however,  to  make 
a  bulkier  jelly  than  coehlospermum,  but  this  difference  may  be  only 
apparent,  owing  to  the  specimens  not  having  been  judiciously  chosen. 
Guibourt  discusses  the  subject  (Cooke,  "  Gums  and  Resins  of  India," 
p.  30  ;  Pharm.  Journ.,  xv,  p.  58),  and  arrives  at  the  conclusion  that 
the  two  trees  produce  identical  gums.  Its  chemical  deportment  is  the 
same  as  that  of  S.  rupestris,  and  the  experiments  related  under  the 
head  of  that  gum  (as  also  the  description  of  its  behavior  in  water) 
apply  here  exactly. 
Dr.  Thomson  says  the  gum  of  S.  urens  has  been  used  by  calico- 
printers  (sie),  and  in  his  "  System  of  Chemistry,"  makes  this  particu- 
lar gum  a  sub-division  of  the  gums,  as  precipitable  by  a  solution  of 
silica  (Gmelin). 
1  This  was  long  since  pointed  out  by  Guibourt  ("  Hist,  des  Drogues,"  Pharm. 
Journ.,  xv,  p.  58). 
