Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VII.djvu/619

 GAMBIR GAMBOGE 607 of the Defence, of 74 guns, under Earl Howe, and in the engagement with the French fleet under Villaret de Joyeuse (June 1, 1794) his ship was the first to break through the enemy's line. Advanced to the rank of rear admiral in 1795, and of vice admiral in 1799, he be- came third in command of the channel fleet in 1801, and in the following year was intrust- ed with the government and defence of New- foundland. In 1807 he commanded the fleet in the expedition against Copenhagen, bom- barded the city (Sept. 2-5) and captured the Danish fleet, and was rewarded with the dig- nity of baron, and with the offer of a pension, which he declined. In 1808 he was appoint- ed to the command of the channel fleet, drew up a code of signals and the general disci- plinary instructions for the navy, and in April, 1809, attacked the French squadron in the Aix roads and burned five of the ships. Lord Cochrane had command of the British fire ships (catamarans), and in consequence of a disagreement between him and Lord Gam- bier, the latter requested a court martial, by which he was honorably acquitted. In 1814 he was appointed at the head of the commis- sioners to conclude a peace with the United States, and the treaty was signed at Ghent on Dec. 24. He afterward lived in retirement, and was made admiral of the fleet on the ac- cession of William IV. GAMBIR, or Gambler, one of several astrin- gent vegetable extracts, much used in tanning, dyeing, &c. Like the allied catechu and cutch, it consists largely of a modification of tannic acid, and is similar to them in properties and uses; indeed, the three names are often ap- plied to the same article, and when used dis- tinctively are not always given to the same product by different dealers and writers. When first introduced its origin was unknown, and being supposed to be a kind of earth it was called terra Japonica, or Japan earth, a name which it in a measure retains in the arts. Gambir is the product of a tree formerly called uncaria gambir, but which is now placed in the genus nauclea, of the family rubiacece, to which the Peruvian bark trees belong ; it is a native of the East Indian archipelago, and is largely cultivated, especially in the island of Bintang ; in its wild state it is a strong climber, but in cultivation it is pruned to form a bushy shrub seven or eight feet high ; its leaves are ovate-lanceolate and smooth on both sides, and its green and pink flowers are borne in globular heads in the axils of the upper leaves; the flower stalks at the lower leaves are abortive, bearing no flowers, but are converted into hooked spines. Gambir is obtained by boiling the bruised leaves and young shoots of the tree in water and evaporating the decoction to a thick extract, which is poured into oblong moulds ; the musses thus formed are cut into squares, and the drying is completed in the sun. During evaporation starchy matters, and probably other adulterants, are sometimes in- 346 VOL. vii. 39 troduced. It is imported in cane baskets lined with palm leaves. The best qualities are so light as to float upon water, and when broken present a dull porous surface of a light yellow- ish brown color. GAMBOGE, or Camboge, a gum resin of Siam and Cochin China, and produced also in Cey- lon. The tree from which it is obtained is the hebradendron cambogioides of Dr. Graham of Edinburgh. The gum was first carried to Eu- rope by the Dutch in 1603. It is imported into the United States only from Canton and Calcutta. The manner of collecting it in Siam is to catch in leaves or cocoanut shells the yel- low milky juice which exudes from the frac- tured shoots and leaves of the tree, and, trans- ferring this to earthen vessels, leave it to thicken. It is poured when semi-fluid into the hollow joints of the bamboo, and thus receives the cylindrical form and the shape of pipes or hollow cylinders by contraction in solidifying. It is also made into lumps or cakes of several Gamboge Tree (Hebradendron cambogioides). pounds weight ; these are commonly more or less mixed with bits of wood and other im- purities. Farinaceous matters are also em- ployed to adulterate it, their presence being detected by the green color communicated to the decoction by adding iodine. The inferior kinds are known in commerce as coarse gam- boge. Those of finer quality are brittle, with conchoidal fracture, of reddish orange color in the mass, but bright yellow in powder, or when rubbed with water. It is without odor, and its taste, very slight at first, is soon followed by an acrid sensation in the throat. Its emulsion with much water affords films, which are good microscopic objects for the observation of active molecules. It is wholly taken up by alkaline solutions and by strong acids. Its resinous portion is dissolved by sulphuric ether; the whole by the successive action of ether and water. Dr. Christison gives the following analyses of the different qualities of gamboge :