The exports from Aleppo (including yellow berries, see p. 864) in 1880 were :-60 tons, 3600/., to Great Britain ; 322 tons, 19,320/., France ; 15 tons, 900/., Italy ; 44 tons, 2640/., Austria, 55 tons, 3300/., Turkey ; 30 tons, 1800/., Egypt ; total, 526 tons, 31,560/. In 1878, the figures were 673 tons, 38,400/. Alexandretta exported in 1879 (including yellow berries):-41 tons, 2460/., to England ; 299 tons, 17,940/., France ; 20 tons, 1200/., Italy ; 25 tons, 1500/., Austria; 87 tons, 5220/., Turkey ; 6 tons, 360/., Egypt; total, 478 tons, 28,680/. The shipments from Trebizonde by steamer in 1880 were (from Turkey) :-47 sacks (of 2 cwt.), 188/., to Turkey ; 240 sacks, 960/., Great Britain ; 264 sacks, 1056/., France ; 103 sacks, 412/., Austria and Germany ; 26 sacks, 104/., Greece ; total, 680 sacks, 2720/. ; (from Persia): 25 sacks, 100/., Great Britain ; 31 sacks, 124/., France ; 30 sacks, 120/., Austria and Germany ; total, 86 sacks, 344/. Bushire despatched 5000r. worth to India in 1879. Syra sent 248/. worth to Great Britain in 1879. Venice exported 1745 tons of galls and bark, value 34,906/., in 1879.
The best oak-galls contain 60-70 per cent. of tannic or gallotannic acid, and 3 per cent. of gallic acid. " Rove " is a small crushed gall, containing 24-34 per cent. of gallotannic acid. There are many other varieties of non-commercial oak-gall.
Chinese or Japanese Galls.—These are vesicular protuberances formed on the leaf-stalks and branches of the .Rhus sentialata [Bachi-amela], a tree of 30-40 ft., common in N. India, China, and Japan, ascending the outer Himalaya and the Khasia Hills to 2500-6000 ft., by punctures of the female of Aphis chinensis. The galls a-e collected when their green colour is changing to yellow, and are then scalded. They are light and hollow, 1-2i in. long, and of very vazied and irregular form. The Japanese are the smaller and paler, and usually more esteemed. The galls contain about 70 per cent. of tannic or gallo-tannic acid, and 4 per cent. of another tannin. They are consumed mainly in Germany, for the manufacture of tannic acid.
Hankow exported 30,949 piculs (of 1331 lb.) in 1872; and 21,611 piculs, value 136,214 taels (of about 68.), in 1874. In 1877, the total Chinese export did not exceed 17,515 piculs. Hankow exported 24,742i piculs in 1878, and 28,392 ptculs, 59,614/., in 1879 ; Pakhoi, 62/. worth in 1879; Canton, 3155i picu/s in 1877, 1939 in 1878, 3163i in 1879 ; Ichang, 100i picu/s, 132/., in 1878, 402i piculs, 586/ , in 1879 ; Shanghae, 27,659i piculs in 1879.
In China trade returns, they are always miscalled "nut-galls " or "gall-nuts" : correctly, they are wu-pei-tze. Oak-galls are exported from China resembling-those of W. Asia. Japanese galls, hifushi, are sent in increasing quantities from Hiogo.
Our imports of galls in 1880 were :-24,590 cwt., 68,697/., from China ; 17,311 cwt., 60,648/., from Turkey ; 9182 cwt., 9013/., from other countries: total, 51,083 cwt., 138,3581. Our re-exports in the same year were :-6260 cwt., 18,479/., to Holland ; 6022 cwt., 18,147/., to Germany ; 3214 cwt., 11,002/., to France ; 3045 cwt., 8598/., to Belgium ; 2651 cwt., 11,004/., to the United States ;
1625 cwt., 5205/., to other countries; total, 22,817 cwt., 72,435/. The approximate London market valnes of galls are : —Bussora, blue, 82-102s. a cwt.; do., white and in sorts, 50-90s.; China, 50-70s. ; Japan, 55-56s.
Gambier, Pale Catechu, or Terra Japonica (FR., Gambir, Cachou jaune; GER., Gambir).—These names are conferred upon an extract from the leaves of Uncaria Gambier [Nauclea Gambir] and U. acida, containing 36-40 per cent. of a brown tannin, which rapidly penetrates leather, and tends to swell it, but alone gives a soft porous tannage; it is largely used in conjunction with other materials for tanning both dressing- and sole-leather. The plants are stout climbing shrubs, the first-named being a native of the countries bordering the Straits of Malacca, and especially tbe islands at the E. end, though apparently not indigenous to any of the islands of the volcanic band, growing also in Ceylon, where no use is made of it ; while the second, probably a mere variety, flourishes in the Malay islands.
The shrubs are cultivated in plantations, often formed in jungle clearings ; the soil is very rapidly exhausted, and further injured by excessive growth of the ineradicable /a/ang-grass (Andropogon caricosus). It is found advantageous to combine pepper-culture (see pp. 1812-4) with that of gambier, the boiled leaves of the latter forming excellent manure for the former. The gambier-plants are allowed to grow 8-10 ft. high, and as their foliage is always in season, each plant is stripped 3 or 4 times in the year. The tools and apparatus for the manufacture of the extract are of the most primitive description. A shallow cast-iron pan about 3 ft. across is built into an earthen fire-place. Water is poured into the pan, a fire is kindled, and the leaves and young shoots, freshly plucked, are scattered in, and boiled for about an hour. At the end of this time, they are thrown on to a capacious sloping trough, the lower end of which projects into the pan, and are squeezed with the hand so that the absorbed liquor may run back into the boiler. The decoction is then evaporated to the consistence of a thin syrup, and baled out into buckoets, When sufficiently cool, it is subjected to curious treatment : instead of simply stirring it round, the workman pushes a stick of soft wood in a sloping direction into each bucket ; and, placing two ouch buckets before him, he works a stick up and down in each. The liquid thickens ronnd the stick, and, tho thickened portion being constantly rubbed off, while at the same time the whole is in motion, it gradually sets into a mass, a result which, it is said, would never be produced by simple stirring : it is reasonable to suppose that this manner of treatiog the liquor favours tha crystalliza tion of the catechin in a more concrote form than it might otherwise assume. Tile thickened mass, resembling soft yellowish clay, is now placed in shallow squaro boxes ; when somewhat hardened, it is out into cubes, and dried in the shade. The leaves are boiled a second time, and finally washed in water, which.is saved for another operation.