404  Source  of  the  Radix  Galangce  Minoris.  {^""hlirCmi^' 
sen  filtered,  washed  and  dried  two  precipitates  of  a  like  quantity  and 
quality,  one  in  the  ordinary  way,  the  other  with  the  water  air-pump ; 
the  former  required  7  hours,  the  latter  13  minutes  ;  in  another  in- 
stance 15  hours  and  32  minutes  respectively  were  required.  These 
figures  speak  for  themselves.  If  it  is  also  remembered,  that  evapo- 
ration and  drying  are  accelerated  in  a  rarified  space,  it  is  obvious  that 
the  apparatus  described  may  be  advantageously  used  for  chemical 
laboratories  for  a  great  many  operations. — Jacohseris  Industrie  BL 
ON  THE  SOURCE  OP  THE  RADIX  GAI.ANG^  MINORIS  OF 
PHARMACOLOGISTS. 
By  Henry  Fletcher  Hance,  Ph.  D.,  &c.* 
Whilst  it  is,  I  believe,  fully  established  that  the  "Greater  Galangal" 
is  produced  by  Alpinia  Galanga^  L.,  the  plant  which  yields  the  lesser 
kind  has  hitherto  remained  altogether  doubtful,  though  some  writers 
have  hazarded  the  opinion  that  it  is  the  rhizome  of  y1.  chinensis,  Rose. 
It  is  now  more  than  twelve  years  since  my  attention  was  first  drawn 
to  the  subject  by  my  esteemed  correspondent,  Mr.  Daniel  Hanbury, 
who  begged  me,  if  possible,  to  set  the  question  at  rest. 
I  have  never  lost  sight  of  Mr.  Hanbury's  wishes ;  but,  although 
the  drug  forms  a  considerable  article  of  export  from  Southern  China, f 
*  Reprint  from  the  Linnaean  Society's  Journal,  xiii,  communicated  to  the 
Amer.  Journ.  Pbarm. 
t  Galangal  is  not  used  in  British  medical  practice  ;  and,  even  on  the  Conti- 
nent, Endlicher  speaks  of  it  as  "  exoleti  fere  usus."  The  following  statement 
of  the  export  of  this  drug  during  the  last  three  years  is  compiled  from  the 
official  returns  published  by  the  Foreign  Inspectorate  of  Maritime  Customs, 
the  quantities  and  value  being,  however,  for  greater  convenience,  reduced  to 
British  weight  and  currency  : 
Years. 
From  Canton. 
From  Shanghae. 
Total. 
Quantity. 
Yalue. 
Quantity. 
Yalue. 
Quantity. 
Yalue. 
1867 
1868 
1869 
lbs. 
32,800 
15,233 
None 
£    s.  d 
123  10  10 
57  10  0 
lbs. 
79,200 
162.308 
370,800 
£    s.  d. 
354    9  9 
1149    3  5 
3046  16  9 
lbs. 
112,000 
177,641 
370,800 
£    s.  d. 
478    0  7 
1206  13  5 
3046  16  9 
From  this  table  it  would  appear  that  the  demand  for  Galangal  is  increasing; 
but  I  cannot  explain  why  the  export  of  a  product  of  the  extreme  south  of 
China  should  be  transferred  from  Canton  (the  nearest  port)  to  Shanghae,  situ- 
ated 8°  further  north. 
