Pepper Tree or Molle (Schinus Molle), of Buenos Ayres. The leaves only are used, and are said to contain 19 per cent of tannin. The wood contains less than 3 per cent, and the bark 5 to 10 per cent of tannin. S. Aroeira, of Brazil, is said to contain 14 per cent of tannin.
Palm tannins.
Saw palmetto, Dwarf palmetto (Sabal Adansoni, S. serrulata), grows freely in the southern states and is especially abundant on the east coast of Florida. The plant is an evergreen, the stem of which grows flat along the ground and is held in place by numerous small roots. The leaves are fan-shaped and ribbed. The plant is very hardy and the leaves may be cut without damaging the plant. The average yield is stated to be about one-half ton of stems to the acre, but in good seasons and with rich land over a ton per acre has been secured. The air dried stems contain 5 to 20 per cent and average about 13 per cent of tannin, and are used in making an extract which produces a very soft and mellow leather of good color. The extract contains noticeable quantities of common salt and organic salts of soda. The leaf also con tains tannin. There were 3,500 barrels of extract made in 1905.
Coconut palm (Cocos nucifera) contains tannin in the roots.
Gambier extract.
Gambier or "Terra Japonica," also called Pale " Cate chu," is a solid extract made from Uncaria (or Nauclea), Gambier, an East Indian climbing shrub. The plant is crudely cultivated but yields rapid returns. As the plants do not receive proper attention, a plantation is exhausted in ten to fifteen years. Cropping begins three years after planting, and is continued two to four times annually. In preparing the extract, the leaves and twigs are put in a boiler, heated, with water, till the liquid, which is con stantly stirred, becomes sirupy. The leaves are removed, drained, and the liquor returned to the boiler. The liquor is strained into small shallow tubs, where it is allowed to cool, with constant stirring, until the catechin crystallizes. When cool, the pasty mass is turned out of the tub, cut into one-inch cubes and dried. A commoner quality, called "block-gambier," is marketed in large, oblong blocks of about 250 pounds weight, which are wrapped in matting and exported in a pasty condition. These contain 35 to 40 per cent of tannin, while the hest cubes reach 50 to 65 per cent. The tannin is a catechol-phlorglucol derivative and is used with other materials in tanning light and heavy leathers.
The myrobalans.
Myrobalan (Terminalia Chebula), the fruit of a tree forty to fifty feet high, which is found in India, Ceylon, Burmah and elsewhere, is the source of all the ordinary varieties, which differ only in the district from which they are secured and the state of maturity of the fruit. The nuts contain 30 to 40 per cent of tannin. Those known as Bombays are the ripest, while "lean greens" are least ripe. The unripe fruit is the richest in tannin. Neither the stones nor kernels contain tannin, but the latter have an oil which gives a peculiar odor to leather. The tannin exists in the pulp which surrounds the kernel, and is not very easily extracted. The hark is almost as rich as the fruit, and the tree also yields galls. Myra balans are used in combination with other materials. By itself it produces a soft and porous leather. T. Bellerica yields Beleric or "Bedda nuts," which contains about 12 per cent of tannin. It is used as an adulterant of ground myrobalans. The nuts of T. tomentosa contain about 10 per cent of tannin and the bark 10 to 36 per cent of tannin. "Badamier bark" (T. Catappa), of Mauritius, contains 12 per cent of tannin. " Jamrosa bark" (T. Mauritiana) contains about 30 per cent of tannin. "Than leaves" (7'. Oliveri), of Malay Archipelago, yield an extract used as a cutch substitute ; the tannin is a catechol derivative. The bark contains about 31 per cent of tannin, the leaves about 14 per cent.
Mangrove tannins.
Mangrove, or Mangle (Rhizophora Mangle), grows on tropical coasts all round the world. In the United States it is grown on the southern coast of Florida, the Missis sippi delta, Texas coast, on the east and west coasts of Mexico and Central America, and in the West Indies. It is now being used in Florida for making extract. The barks vary much in strength, from 15 per cent up to 40 per cent in different species. The leaves, used in Havana, are said to contain 22 per cent of tannin. Young plants contain the highest proportion of tannin. R. Mangle seems to yield a bark inferior to several other species. The catechol tannin, which is easily extracted, is of deep red color, and allied to that of the mimosas. In admixture with other materials the red color has a much smaller effect, and mangrove bark is now largely used in combi nation with pine, oak and mimosa. Rhizophora mucronata, of India and Burmah, has bark that contains 4 to 50 per cent of tannin.