d rheumatic pains; its particles, from their
extreme subtlety, readily entering the pores. It undergoes no
preparation, and is used in the state in which, upon incision, it has
distilled from the tree. The kayu putih (Melaleuca leucadendron) oil,
which is somewhat better known in England, is obtained in the same
manner; but to procure the meniak kayu or common wood-oil, used for
preserving timber or boards exposed to the weather, from decay, and for
boiling with dammar to pay the bottoms of ships and boats, the following
method is practised. They make a transverse incision into the tree to the
depth of some inches, and then cut sloping down from the notch, till they
leave a flat superficies. This they hollow out to a capacity to receive
about a quart. They then put into the hollow a bit of lighted reed, and
let it remain for about ten minutes, which, acting as a stimulus, draws
the fluid to that part. In the space of a night the liquor fills the
receptacle prepared for it, and the tree continues to yield a lesser
quantity for three successive nights, when the fire must be again
applied: but on a few repetitions it is exhausted.

BENZOIN.

Benzoin or Benjamin (Styrax benzoin*) called by the Malays kami-nian, is,
like the camphor, found almost exclusively in the Batta country, to the
northward of the equator, but not in the Achinese dominions immediately
beyond that district. It is also met with, though rarely, south of the
line, but there, either from natural inferiority or want of skill in
collecting it, the small quantity produced is black and of little value.
The tree does not grow to any considerable size, and is of no value as
timber. The seeds or nuts, which are round, of a brown colour, and about
the size of a moderate bolus, are sown in the padi-fields and afterwards
require no other cultivation than to clear away the shrubs from about the
young plants. In some places, especially near the sea-coast, large
plantations of it are formed, and it is said that the natives, sensible
of the great advantage accruing to them from the trade, in a national
point of view, oblige the proprietors, by legal regulation, to keep up
the succession.

(*Footnote. See a Botanical Description of this tree by my friend Mr.
Jonas Dryander, with a plate, in Volume 77 page 307 of the Philosophical
Transactions for the year 1787.)

MODE OF PROCURING IT.

When the trees have attained the age of about seven years, and are six or
eight i