3. .African or Gambia Kino.—This is derived frorn Pterocarpus erinaceus, a native of Tropical W. Africa, from Senegambia t,o Angola. The juice exudes naturally from fiasures in the bark, but more abundantly from incisions, and soon coagulates to a blood-red and very brittle mass, known to the Portuguese of Angola as sangue del drago (" dragon's-blood "). It is practically undis tinguishable from the officinal kind first described, but is not a regular article of commerce.
4. Austrcdian, Botany Bay, or Eucalyptus Eino.—Several species of Eucalyptus afford astringent extracts, those from the " red," " white," or " flooded " guin (E. rostrata), the " blood-wood " (E. corymbosa), and E. citriodora, being quite suitable for replacing the officinal kind. It is chiefly obtained by woodcutters, being found in a viscid state in flattened cavities in the wood, and soon beconAng inspissated, hard, and brittle. Minor quantities are procured in a liquid state by incising the bark of living trees, forming a treacly fluid yielding 35 per cent. of solid kino on evapo ration. It is imported from Australia, but there are no statistics to show in what quantity.
Sos.—This name is applied in Ceylon to a yellow, viscid, milky juice obtained from the jack tree (Artocarpus integrifolia). While some accounts describe it as furnishing bird-lime, and there fore somewhat resernbling guttapercha, others compare it with the babul variety of gum arabio (see p. 1632).
Wiesner describes a resin, which he calls " clammar selo," as a produot of this species in Singapore. lt occurs in fragments and masses, often containing woody refuse. Freshly fractured pieces are sulphur-yellow. The sp. gr. is 1.099; the melting-point, 132° (269i° F.).
Lac, Gum Lac, Shellac, Stick Lac (FR., Lague ; GER., Lack).—Lae is a resinous incrus tation formed on the hark of the twigs and branches of various trees (all, it is believed, yieldinp-, more or less of a gummy, resinous, or saponaceous fluid) by the " lac-insect" (Coccus Lacca). The incrustation is cellular, deep-red or orang,e-coloured, semitransparent, bard, and breaking with a crystalline fracture. The substance is mainly formed by the female insects, which generally far outnumber the males. Each female inhabits a cell, and the incrustation seems intended to serve as a protection for her progeny. As soon as she is completely covered by the secretion, the female
lays her eggs, and dies. The young, when hatched, work their way out through the body of the mother, eating the red substance with which her body is filled, and thus assuming the hue which gives them their value iu dyeing. Having pierced the resinous incrustation, the young swarm on to the bark, and at once commence secreting lac. The insect never wanders from the branch to wbich it first attaches itself, and this, after affording nourishment to 'millions of the insect, decays ; but the extinction of the species, which thus seems inevitable, is remedied by the frequency and distance to which the insect is transported by other insects and by birds. Artificial propaga tion is also now well understood, and described further on (see p. 1669).
The Indian trees frequented by lac, or on which it will attach itself, are very numerous. The following list is probably far from being exhaustive :—Acacia arabica and A. catechu, Aleurites [Croton] lacciferum, .Anona sguamosa, Butea frondosa and B. superba, Carissa spinarum, Celtis Box burghii, Ceratonia siligua, Croton Draco and C. sanguiferunz, Dalbergia paniculata and D. latifolia, Eriolcena Hookeriana, Erythrina indica and E. monosperma, Feronia elephantum, Ficus cordifolia, F. elastica, F. glomerata, F. indica, F. infectoria, F. rcligiosa, F. venosa, and F. villosa, Garruga pinnata, Gordonia floribunda, Aga Kydia calycina, Lagerstrcenzia parviflora, Mangifera indica, Mimosa cinerea, Nephelium Litchi, Ougeiniadalbergioides, Prosopis spicigera, Pterocarpus Marsupium, Schleichera trijuga, Shorea lacmyera and S. robusta, Spathodea Rheedii, Tectona grandis, Tcrminalla tomentosa, Vatica laccifera, Vismia laccifera and V. micrantha, Zizyphus jujuba and Z Xylopyrus. The quantity and quality of the resinous secretion vary considerably according to the tree on which it is found. The best is confined to three trees, the pales or dhak (Butea frondosa), the peepul (Ficus religiosa), ancl the hoosum (Schleichera tryuga). The last-mentioned tree is said t,o produce two crops annually (April-June, and October-December) in the Central Provinces of India, and its lao is reported to keep good for 10 ye,ars, while that of the others lasts 2 years only.