214 
Australian  SandaracJi. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharrn. 
April,  1895. 
I  hope  that  this  paper  will  be  of  some  use  to  my  colleagues,  so 
that  we  may  act  harmoniously  in  the  spirit  of  our  law-book,  which 
is  purity  of  medicines,  instead  of  being  obliged  to  shield  inferior 
products  with  its  shortcomings. 
AUSTRALIAN  SANDARACH.  ...... 
By  J.  H.  Maiden. 
(Issued  by  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  New  South  Wales,  aud  communi- 
cated by  the  author.) 
Introductory. — It  is  a  matter  of  common  observation  that  a  num- 
ber of  raw  vegetable  products  of  more  or  less  importance  are  going 
to  waste  in  Australia,  simply  because  our  people  are  ignorant  of 
their  properties  and  value.  I  can  hardly  cite  a  better  instance  than 
that  of  Australian  Sandarach.  Here  we  have  a  product  absolutely 
and  entirely  identical  in  chemical  and  physical  properties  with  a 
well-known  article  in  regular  demand.  The  price  of  this  article  at 
London  auction  sales  is  shown  by  the  figures  I  give  below  (Ap- 
pendix A),  while  its  cost  in  Sydney  is  very  much  enhanced;  and 
yet  we  actually  import  from  Algeria,  via  London,  at  this  high  price, 
what  is  common  enough  in  parts  of  New  South  Wales,  and  to  be 
had  for  the  gathering.  The  trees  from  which  this  resin  (for  San- 
darach is  a  resin)  exudes  are  the  well-known  Cypress  Pines  of  this 
Colony,  some  species  of  which  are  found  in  the  coast  districts  and 
table-lands,  but  they  are  far  more  largely  developed  in  the  drier 
parts  of  the  Colony. 
The  collection  of  Australian  Sandarach  is  one  of  those  minor 
industries  which  could  be  readily  undertaken  by  a  family  of  chil- 
dren. As  the  resin  flowed  from  the  Cypress  Pines,  it  could  be  ac- 
cumulated in  clean  dust-proof -tins,  until  a  sufficient  quantity  was 
obtained  to  be  sold  to  the  local  store -keeper,  who  would  again  sell 
to  the  wholesale  chemist,  or  wholesale  oil  and  color-man  of  Sydney. 
Sandarach  is  usually  graded.  There  would  be  no  difficulty  in  grad- 
ing locally  our  local  product,  while  any  surplus  available  for  export 
could  be  shipped  without  grading  if  found  expedient. 
I  have  no  means  of  getting  at  the  consumption  of  Sandarach  in 
this  Colony,  but  we  ought  to  be  able  to  supply  the  local  demand 
and  have  a  good  surplus  for  export. 
