252  Gum-Hogg.  { ""M™:,?8r""- 
Wood,  and  to  the  Bassora  gum  of  other  writers,  and  they  are  all  prob- 
ably identical  and  the  same. 
While  the  solubility  of  bassorin  in  alkaline  solutions  has  been  but 
•brieHy  alluded  to  in  various  works,  it  seems  to  indicate  certain  proper- 
ties whicli  might  almost  entitle  it  to  be  considered  as  an  acid  similar  in 
ats  oature  to  the  arable  or  gummic  acid  of  gum  acacia. 
Its  commercial  history  is  quite  interesting.  It  was  brought  into  this 
coyotry  about  thirty  years  ago  at  Salem,  Mass.  At  that  time  Salem 
was  the  headquarters  of  the  East  India  trade,  and  this  gum  came  with 
a  lot  of  tragacanth  imported  to  that  place  from  Calcutta.  It  was  sup- 
iposed  that  it  might  be  used  in  place  of  tragacanth  as  a  cheaper  article 
by  the  shoe  manufacturers  of  Lynn  and  others.  It  came,  however, 
(into  the  hands  of  a  noted  drug  garbler  of  the  place  by  the  name  of 
Whipple,  and  was  rejected  by  him  immediately  as  an  unsuitable  and 
iioferior  gum.  It  was  next  shipped  to  Boston  for  sale,  and  after  a 
-number  of  ineffectual  attempts  to  foist  it  on  the  market  (for  its  worth- 
iessness  scMDn  became  known),  was  finally  put  up  at  public  auction  and 
■sold  for  two  or  three  cents  a  pound  to  Geo.  Loring,  at  that  time  one  of 
its  principal  booksellers.  Mr.  Loring  made  a  number  of  ineffectual 
attempts  to  utilize  it  for  different  purposes,  and  finally,  rather  disgusted, 
placed  it  in  the  hands  of  a  Prof.  Jackson,  a  chemist  of  Jamaica  Plain 
{one  of  the  suburbs  of  Boston).  Prof.  Jackson  experimented  with  it 
ior  some  time,  and  discovered  its  property  of  forming  a  good  non- 
adhesive  mucilage  when  boiled  with  an  alkali,  and  being  quite  intimate 
with  Mr.  Loring,  they  soon  utilized  it  for  the  manufacture  of  marbled 
,paper,  which  was  just  then  commencing  to  be  known  in  the  country. 
•Gradually  the  secret  became  known,  and  as  there  was  a  slight  demand 
for  the  article,  at  different  times  small  lots  were  brought  into  the  coun- 
try. Up  to  the  time  of  Jackson's  experiments  the  gum  had  received 
no  name,  but  afterwards  it  was  known  through  the  trade  by  the  name 
of  gum-hogg,  and  it  is  believed  he  gave  it  this  name  on  account  of  its 
obstinacy  in  resisting  the  different  efforts  for  its  'solution,  and  thus 
behaving  like  a  well-known  domestic  animal  of  similar  perverse  and 
wilful  habits. 
The  different  gums  varied  very  much  in  price,  being  at  various  times 
from  25  cents  to  $1.25  per  pound,  and  I  have  been  informed  by  those 
who  have  used  the  article  for  a  number  of  years,  that  the  character  and 
similarity  of  the  specimens  varied  as  much  as  its  price.  They  all 
seemed,  however,  to  have  a  certain  resemblance  to  tragacanth.  The 
