Chicle, Mexican Gum, or Sapota.—Much uncertainty surrounds this product. It has been known in Arneriert for some time, and extensively used as a masticatory, in the same Me n ner as balata (see p.1635), which it closely resembles, if, indeed, it be net identical in origin. All bntanists s.re agreed in referring it to a Sapotaceous plant, some to Mim,iqops Balata itself. The country of ita production is Mexico. The differences which it exhibits in comparison with balata may easily prove to be exclusively due to the mode of preparation for market. Analysea by Prechazka and Endemarin (see Bibliography, p. 1695) gave :-75 per cent. resin, 10 arabine, 9 oxalate of lime, 5 sugar, 0.5 soluble inorganic salts ; this indicates it to be a produot simply of direct evaporation of the milk of the plant.
Chironji.—The common Indian true Buchanania lat,fi.lia, whose fruits afford RE oil (see Oils, p. 1383), yielda a considerable quantity of an arabic-like gum, 5 lb. being obtainable from gnod specimens. It is but little availed of, though the reports of experta place it in the same category with inferior Acacia-gums, and consider it capable of replacing these in the dressing of textiles. It tnostly soluble in water, forming a colourless mucilage equal in strength to ordinary commercial gum tuabie ; but it also contains same insoluble bassorine.
The cut bark of the tree is likewise said to afford a natural varnish.
Coco-nut (FR., (Ielaine de Coco; G ER., eqe0Sge net/ O.—FM[11 ti le bark of the coco-nut-pahn, so well known for its fruit (see Nuts, pp. 1353-7) and for its oil (see Oils, pp. 1383-4), is obtained a gnm termed haari tapan by the natives of Tahiti. It forms stalactitie masses, of red-brewn to hyacinth-red colour, translucent to transparent, sp. gr. 1.45-1.57, of arabic-like hardness, and tragacanth-like teitaeity, and containing 70-90 per cent. of bassorine.
Colophony.—Sea Rosin, p. 1680.
Copaiba, Copaiva, or Capivi (FR., Baume ou Oleoresine de Copahu; GER., Copaivabalsam).— This balsam or oleo-rusin is afforded by several forest trees belonging to the genus Copailera growing in the warm portions of S. America, in Central America, and in the W. Indiea. No information exists as to the relative degrees in which the various species contribute to the commercial supplies of the balsani, but the fullowiug are accredited with its production :—(1) C. officinahs [Jacquing, in the hot coast region of New Granada (Colombia) as far north as Panama, ih Venezuela, and in Trinidad Island ; (2) C. guianensis [bijuga], in French and Dutch Guiana, and on the Rio Negro between Manaes and Burcellos; (3) C. coriacea [cordifolia], in the dry woods (caatingas) of the Brazilian provinces of Bahia and Piauhy ; (4) C. Langsdorffii [nitida, Sellowii, Jussieui, glabra, taxa], growing as a tree on dry campos, ca4ingas, and other places iu the Brazilian provinces of S. Paulo,
Minas thaws, Goyaz, Mato Grosso, Bahia, and Ceara, and jielding an abundance of balsam ; (5) C. nnatijtujo, specially producing the Para balsatn. In ull these trees, resiniferous ducts, some times above 1 in. diam., tt averse the whole stem, and occasionally become so distended with the balsam as to burst the tree asunder. Karsten attributes the origin of the balsam to a transforma tion of the cell-walls in the parenchyma surrounding the ducts.
The process of collecting the copaiba blanea or " white copaiba " of Para is described at length by Robert Cross. Formerly the tree might be seen growing in readily-accessible pls.cea, but it has now become comparatively rare, so that the collectors require to make journeys of several weeks in canoca up the Amazon tributaries, and suffer great hardship in the undertaking. The trees occur iu the dense, lofty forest, ou an extremely fertile soil, composed of soft white sand and vegetable mould, undulating, and watered by stream, but some 50 ft. above the level ef the gapos er tidal floods. A successful copaiba-tree tapper must be a skilful axeruan. A cavity is cut in the trunk, not much broader than the axe, but large enough to enable the workman to vary the course to the heart nf the tree in such a way as not to miss the " vein" or channel, usually met with near the centre, film which the balsam flows. The floor of the cavity is neatly cut with a gentle upward slope, and should also &cline to one side, so that the issuing balsam may run in a body till it reaches the outer edge. Below the cavity, a pointed piece of bark is cut and raised, which, enveloped uith a leaf, serves as a spout for conveying the balsam from the tree to a tin vessel, as shown in Fig. 1170. The cavity is cut at about 2 ft. from the ground. The first 4-5 in. of the weed is white, after whicle it changes to a purplish-red throughout the whole interior. When abundant, the balsam flows out in a stream, full of hundreds of little, white, pearly bubbles. At times, the flow stops during several minutes, when a sing-ular gurgling noise is made, and a fresh rush of balsam takes place. At the height of the exudation, the rate cannot be less than 1 pint a minute. The chips and the surfaces of the cavity are bedewed with drops of balsam, showing its existence throughout the wood ; the bark is quite devoid of it. Though balsam escapes from the trunk even for a month after the tapping, the usual plan is n t to let the receptacle remain for more than 2-3 hours. Occasionally large trees afford no balsam, the cause of which has not been ascertained. Trees in good condition will sometimes give 4 potos (10/ gal.) of balsam, and a collector with plenty of tin receptacles where trees are abundant may collect 5/. worth daily. The receptacles employed are of almost all descriptions, empty petroleum-cans being preferred.