126 ON THE GAMBOGE OF THE TENASSERIM PROVINCES. 
ART XXXIIT.-ON THE GAMBOGE OF THE TENASSERIM 
PROVINCES. 
By the Rev. F. Mason, A. M. 
In conversation with a distinguished medical officer, and 
member of the Asiatic Society, I found that he was not at 
all aware that the Tenasserim provinces produce Gamboge. 
It has, therefore, occurred to me that a brief notice of the 
gamboge of these provinces might not be unacceptable to 
the readers of the Journal, and would contribute its influ- 
ence to draw attention to the most interesting portion of 
the British provinces in the east, one that is exceeded by 
few in the richness and variety of its natural productions. 
Three works in my possession describe gamboge each as 
the product of a different tree ; a fourth represents all to be 
wrong, and a fifth suggests a different plant still. One re- 
fers it to Cambonia gutta, a plant which, as described by 
Linnaeus, has probably no existence. He described a 
Ceylon plant, and it is now quite evident, says Dr. Wight, 
" that the character of the flower and ovary is taken from 
one specimen, and that of the fruit from a different 
one, owing to the imperfection of his specimens, and his 
not being aware that the lobes of the stigma, afford a sure 
indication of the number of cells of the fruit.'' 
Another refers it to Garcinia Catnbogia — but Dr. Wight 
says, that the exudation of this tree is wholly incapable 
of forming an emulsion with the wet finger," a statement 
which the writer knows to be correct. The tree is very 
common in the Tenasserim provinces, but the bright yellow 
exudation it produces is certainly not gamboge. 
A third refers it to Stalagmitis cctnibogioides ; but Dr. 
Wight remarks, "the juice of this tree differs so very 
widely in its qualities from good gamboge, that it can 
never be expected to prove valuable as a pigment," 
