Copal* are known as soft Indian copal and orients copal, also East Indian copal, Bombay anime, East Indian anime, and gum anime. These are names of the resin of the Trachylobium Mozam bicense, Peters, which grows in Madag,ascar, on the E. coast of Africa, and in Zanzibar, and is known also as Hymenma Mozambicensis, Kleine. It is a large tree, its average length is 30 feet, with 5 to 6 feet of girth, but canoes 60 feet long have been hollowed out of a single stem. The value of the copal exported from Zanzibar in 1863-64 amounted to 163,353 dollars, about nix pounds being sold for one Austrian dollar. Nearly all of it was sent to British India, Great Britain, and Hamburg. The Arabs and Africans recognise two kinds, viz. the raw copal (copal vert of the French market), and called Sandarusiza miti, 'tree copal,' or chikaji, corrupted by Zanzibar merchants to `jackass ' copal. This chikaji is either picked from the tree or is found shallowly embedded in the loose soil This is the only kind in Zanzibar island. And `true or ripe copal,' called Sandarusi, the product of vast extinct forests, and found at depths beyond atmospheric influences, and has, like amber and similar gum-resins, been bituminized in all its purity.
Dantmer.—The most important of all the eolid resins produced in the East Indies are those which are included under the general Malay name of Demmer. The damtners aro obtained from trees of the genera Vateria, Canarium, Shorea, and Vatica. Vateria and Canarium yield by far the largest part (if not the whole) of the dimmers produced on the western comet of the Peninsula, whilst the Shorea and Vatica trees yield the greater part of that collected in the northern and eastern districts, and those of Further India and the Archipelago are chiefly from species of Canarium.
White Damtner of the western coast of India, called also Piney resin, is from the Vateria Indica. It is the Doopada resin of Mysore, and the l'ayanee or Piney of the Malabar people. Dupa rnaram, CAN. ; Safed darner, Vellai kundrikum, TAIL ; Payanee, MALABAR ; Piney maram, Tax. ; Chada cula, Tam. This is a very large and stately tree, a native of Malabar and Mysore. The young shoots, and all tender parts except the leaves, are covered with fine stellate pubescence. The Piney resin occure of all ahadel of colour between pale green mul deep yellow ; the finest pieceg are called kahruba or amber, and are sold EIS amber in the bazars of Bengal. Candles are made of this resin in Malabar, which diffuse, in burning, an agreeable fragrance, give a fine clear light, with little smoke, and consume the wick without snuffing.
One variety of it is the Compact Piney Resin, or first sort white dammer of the western coast, and occurs in large lumps of all shapes, and varying in colour on the outside from a bright orange to a dull yellow, bearing evident marks of having adhered to the bark of the tree. It has a shining vitreous fracture, is very hard, and bears a great resemblance to amber. Its colour (internally) is of all shades, from a light green to a light yellow, the green tint predominating in the generality of specimens. It is more soluble in alcohol than black dammer, and burns with less smoke and a more agreeable odour. It is easily distinguishable from all other Indian resins by its superior hardness, its colour, and amber-like appearance.
A second variety, the Cellular Piney Resin, or second sort white dammer of the western coast, occurs either in small lumps or in large masses, generally of a shining appearance and balsamic smell, and has a very cellular structure, which is attributable partly to the mode of collection, and partly to the age of the tree. Notches being cut in the trunk of the tree sloping inwards and downwards, the resin collects in the cavity, and is either permitted to dry on the spot, or is collected and dried by the application of heat. It is of all shades, from light green to light yellow or white, and is usually trans lucent. Specimens are sometimes seen in which,from the desiccation having been irregularly conducted, the resin is more opaque, of a dull green colour, and full of air-bubblea, presenting the appearance of having undergone a partial fermentation. This ldnd of resin may be recognised by its cellular appearance and balsamic smell; this latter, how ever, which is of course due to the volatile oil it contains, is gradually lost by long keeping or con stant exposure to the air. On splitting open old and decayed trees, portions of a. dark-coloured resin are often found, having the solid consistence of the first variety, but the inferior quality of the second. The inspissated juice of the Vateria Indica tree is used for mixing with beeswax in making candles. In Malabar, the fresh resin is called piney varnish. It is of a light grey colour, with a strong balsamic odour. The resin which first exudes is called Chengilium (this is white); that which flows subsequently is termed Coon gilium (darker than the above), and when dried it is called dammer (black). The Vateria lancemfolia of the Khassya mountains and Assam yields a similar resin, which is used as incense. V. acumi nata yields the piney resin of Ceylon.