2. Senegal.—This variety is produced by the same species of Acacia as the foregoing, and is in many respects identical with it. There are three distinct harvests per annum of this gum in the Freneh colony of Senegal. The first, whose produce is termed gomme du bas du flen,e, takes place in Noveniber, during the windy season following the floods. The concreted exudations of gum are removed from the brunches by means of crooked sticks. It is generally buried in the still damp soil, to remove the exeessive moisture ; it loses much of its weight and worth by drying, and usually accumulates a coating of sand. The second erop, gomate du haute du /Imre, or gomme de Gahan, is completely dry when taken from the trees, and, being carried direct to store, is much cleaner than the first. The third contribution, gomme friable, or Salabreda, comes from Upper Senegal ; it is extremely friable, owing, it is said, to the nnnual conflagrations in the forests, and is low-priced. During the harmattan winds, the gum exudes from the bark of the trees in tear:, and solidifies in the open air, the nmount of exudation depending upon the foree and duration of the wind. Tho principal districts in which Seuegal gum is produced on the one side are the country of the Brakna and Tararza Moors, the Galam country, Bendou, and Pambouk ; and on the other, Outdo, Cayor, and Djolof. The three chief forests producing gum for the trade with Europe are :—That of Altatak (Afatac), situated about 15 leagues frein the river, opposite Podor, and extending to Lake Cayor, occupying a large portion of the Brakita country ; (2) that of Liebar (El Eltiar), 30-40 leagues from the river, in the country of the Darmancour Moors, and eontaining many srnall trees affording red gum (? A. nilotica); (3) that of Sahel, in the territory of the Tarana Moors, the produce of e hich is carried to Gall& This last forest consists exelusively of trees yielding white gum, and it is this product which is earried to Portendiek for sale to English traders. Senegal gum is exported almost entirely to Bordeaux. Here it undergoes minute classifieation, the chief kinds being :—(1) Blanche,a flue, white gum, need in pharmaey, confectionery, distilling, and for dre,sing calico, linen, and lace; (2) petite blanche, similar, but smaller ; (3) blonde, fine gum of pale-brown tint ; (4) petite blonde, similar, but smaller, used for gumming envelopes and dressing ordinary cotton fabrics ; (5) 2mte blonde, darker than and inferior to the last, but used for like purposes ; (6 to 9) gros grabeaax„ moyens grabeaux, menus grabeaux, and grabeaux tries, different qualities of the more friable gum, less clear and more cracked iu the interior than the first five grades ; (10, 11) friable blanche and friable blonde, better qualities of the friable kind ; (12, 13) fabrique and petite fabrigve, i.lpecially selected for dressing textiles ; (14) poussiere, siftings, used for ink, blacking, and paint ; (15) marrow et bois, contains fragments ef wood, averaging 27 per cent. of the whole, and is used for similar purposes; (16) boules naturelks, in orange-sized lumps, largely used in the silk-manu factories of Lyons. Several other minor distinctions are, vecognized. Senegal gum on the whole is 11.411111y yellowish or reddish, and has less of the fissures so common in Picked Turkey, therefore much firmer and less readily bruken. The presence of vermicular pieces is eharacteristic.
3. Suakin, Sara,:in, Taloa, or Talha.—This kind is afforded by the talch, tallia, or hake.1 stenocirp f) and by the ssoffar (A. Seyal). The best quality, hashabi el Tesire, comes from Sennar, on the Blue Nile ; an inferior grade is sent from the barren plateau of Takka, lying between the E. tributaries of the Blue Nile and the Atbara and Mareb, as well as from the highlands of the Bisharrin Arabs, between Khartum and the Red Sea. The transport of the gum is effected by way of Khartum or El Melkheir (Berber), or, much more extensively, by Suakin (Savakin), on the W. coast of the Red Sea, nearly opposite Jedda. It occurs iu commerce in subglobular tears, which are always much disintegrated, by reason of its brittleness, showing a conchoidal, glassy fracture. Large tears appear opaque, on account of numerous fissures. The fragments vary from nearly colourless to brosvnish and reddish-brown tints. Large quantities are imported from Alexandria and Suez, and it is not infrequently sold for medicinal use.
4. Morocco, Mogador, or Brown Barbary.—According to Hooker and Ball, the most recent authori ties on the subject, this sort of Arabic gum is produced by Acacia gummifera (Mimosa gummifera, Acacia coronillafolia, Mimosa coronillafolia, Sassa gummifera), a scarcely-known plant of Morocco, occurring abundantly as a thorny bush in the lower region of S. and W. Morocco, according to the
testimony of the natives, who call the plant alk tlah. The gum does not seem to be collected in the W. portion of its range in S. Morocco, but in Demnet, whence it is carried to Mogador. Possibly it is only in the hotter and drier regions of the interior that the gnm is produced in quantities to be worth gathering. At any rate, the gum is yielded only during the hot, parching months of July and August, and increases according to the hotness of the weather and the sickly appearance of the tree, being least after a wet winter and in a mild summer. Some accounts suppose the Moroccan gnm arabic to be derived from the same Acacia which is found in Senegal; but all the inquiries made by Consul R. Drummond Hay, for Hooker and Ball, agree that this plant, the alk awarwhal of the Arabs, is not found in Sus, no such tree existing either north or south of the Atlas Mountains, its gum being brought from Soudan, and of inferior quality to that of A. gummifera. It is further stated that this latter species grows chiefly in the provinces of Blad Hamar, Rahamma, and Sus. Previous writers, including Hanbury, ascribe the Moroccan and Fezzan gum to A. nilotica [arabica], the ssant or sont, which is said to range widely over Tropical Africa, as far as Senegambia, Mozambique, and Natal, and even to Sind, Gujrat, and Central India. The gum assumes the form of worm-like tears of moderate size, and of light dusky-brown tint.
5. Cape.—In the Cape Colony, the doornboom, wittecloorn, or karrOdoorn tree (A. horrida [Karroo, capensis]), the commonest tree of the S. African deserts, spontaneously yields a very large qua.ntity of an amber-brown gum, somewhat dull and unclean, and incompletely soluble in water.
6. E. Indian—Babul, Siris, Kheir, ¢c.—All, or nearly all, the gum called "E. Indian " in commerce is African produce shipped to Europe via, Aden and Bombay ; but several Indian species of Acacia afford gums of more or less value, which are utilized locally, though unknown beyond the limits of the country where they grow. The babul kind is ascribed to A. arabica, and is produced in Bengal, Coromandel, and the Deccan. The gum is exuded abundantly in March-April, and occurs usually in rather large tears or portions of tears, of a more or less dark-brown colour, rather brittle, with a shining fracture, wholly soluble in water, forming a weak, dark-coloured mucilage ; it is often mixed with impurities. The kheir gum is obtained from A. catechu (see Tannin— Catechu). It is in rounded tears, varying from the size of a pea to that of a small walnut, or in broken fragments ; it is mostly of bright shades of dark-amber or mahogany-brown, rather friable, the tears being cracked, and of a grain resembling coarse brown sugar. The dark tears especially have a sweet flavour. The gum is readily soluble in water, giving a thin but strong mucilage of a deep brown-sherry colour. Selected samples of this gum were sent from Chanda for valuation in 1873 ; the report was " ordinary arabic, value 20-25s. a cwt." It is stated that the Chanda gum could he placed in the Bombay market at 5i rupees (10s. 6d.) a cwt.; and that by exercising some care and attention, quantities could he procured equal to the sample reported on. The siris gum is derived from A. speciosa; it is yielded in considerable quantity, and is valuable for many ordinary purposes. The quality seems to vary, some being described as equal to good babul, while other is considered inferior, being only partially soluble in water, and forming a kind of stiff jelly. The latter kind is in dull irregular tears, flavourless, and of a dark-brown coldur ; it is used for adulterating gum arabie (the imported article), and, under the name of lera, in printing gold- and silver-leaf patterns on calicoes. The gum does not seem to be collecied or sold on an extensive scale. Other Indian Acacia gums are obtained from A. modesta, in the dry tracts between Saharunpore and Delhi : it is in little, curled, yellow pieces, quite soluble ; from A. odoratissima, in Coromandel, the Concans, the Nilgiris, and Assam : shining rounded tears, liable to agglutinate, of dark-brown colour, resembling babul, flavourless, and quite soluble ; from A. ferruginea, in the Circars and Courtallum : dark-brown shining fragments of large tears, moist, readily agglutinated and tenacious, soft, flavourless, and dissolving in water to a coloured mucilage; from A. leucophloa, in Coromandel, S. Mahratta country, Sholapere, and Delhi ; and from A. sundra, in the mountains of Coromandel, and the Sunderbunds.