Am.  Jour.  Pharm.") 
October,  1895.  J 
Siam  Gamboge. 
521 
dissolved  5-15  per  cent,  of  substances,  which  were  almost  altogether 
soluble  in  water.  This  included  1-70  per  cent,  of  saponin.  Water 
extracted  38-68  per  cent,  of  organic  solids,  including  4  per  cent,  of 
mucilage  and  albuminoids,  7-65  per  cent,  of  glucose,  and  3  5  per 
cent,  of  saccharose.  A  dilute  solution  of  sodium  hydrate  removed 
4  04  per  cent,  of  mucilaginous  and  albuminous  substances.  Moist- 
ure was  present  in  the  air-dry  root  to  the  extent  of  612  per  cent., 
and  5-79  per  cent,  of  ash  was  left  upon  incinerating  it.  No  evidence 
of  the  presence  of  alkaloids  nor  of  tannin  was  obtained. 
SIAM  GAMBOGE.1 
The  tree  yielding  Siam  gamboge  {Garcinia  Hanburii,  Hook,  f.) 
is  closely  related  to  G.  Morella,  Desrouss.,  01  Ceylon  and  Southern 
India.  The  former  is  a  moderately  large  tree.  The  flowers  are 
dioecious,  the  petals  in  both  male  and  flemale  flowers,  are  fleshy  and 
yellow.  The  fruit  is  the  size  of  a  crab-apple,  yellowish  green  when 
ripe.  The  tree  is  found  on  islands  on  the  east  coast  of  the  Gulf  of 
Siam,  as  well  as  on  the  mainland  of  Cambodia  and  Cochin  China. 
It  is  from  these  localities  that  practically  the  whole  of  the  gamboge 
of  commerce  is  obtained. 
Gamboge  is  a  gum  resin  yielded  by  the  bark  of  the  two  species 
above  mentioned.  It  is  a  powerful  cathartic  medicine,  but  its  prin- 
cipal use  is  as  a  pigment  in  water-color  painting.  It  is  also  used  to 
give  color  to  lacquer  varnish  for  brasswork,  etc.  The  most  recent 
account  of  Siam  gamboge  is  contained  in  a  report  on  the  trade  of 
Siam  for  the  year  1893,  published  by  the  Foreign  Office  (Annual 
Reports,  1895,  No.  1,520).  Mr.  de  Bunsen,  Her  Majesty's  Charge- 
d'Affaires  at  Bangkok,  was  good  enough  to  communicate  to  Kew 
specimens  of  the  leaves  of  the  gamboge  trees,  collected  on  the  spot 
by  Mr.  Beckett,  and,  although  the  material  is  not  quite  complete, 
there  is  little  doubt  they  belong  to  Garcinia  Hanburii,  Hook.  f. 
The  extract  from  the  report  is  as  follows : 
"  Gamboge  is,  next  to  gum  benjamin,  perhaps,  the  most  interest- 
ing of  Siamese  products.  Whilst  gum  benjamin  is  peculiar  to  a 
small  belt  of  land  in  the  north,  gamboge  is  a  resinous  product, 
indigenous  only  in  the  islands  and  the  seacoast  of  the  Gulf  of  Siam 
lying  between  the  tenth  and  twelfth  degrees  of  north  latitude.2 
1  Kew  Bulletin,  June  and  July,  1895. 
2  The  heavy  rainfall  of  this  coast  seems  necessary  to  the  existence  of  the 
tree. 
