"INK-PHOTO." SPRAGUE & CO. LONDON.
REVOLVING, WASHING AND PRESSING MACHINES.
Sometimes the acorn cup is attacked by a kind of honey-dew, which deposits on the cup, and makes it very liable to heat when gathered, the cup becoming very dark and deficient in tannin. The Turkish crop of 1875 was much damaged from this cause, many parcels reaching England in an unsaleable condition. The cause of the disease is yet unknown; it seems specially prevalent when the crop is large and the acorn fully developed. A good sample of valonia should be composed of medium-sized cups, with the rim or wall very thick, and the exterior spines small and uniform. The cut or broken cup should show a bright-drab fractured surface. Valonia contains 25-35 per cent. of a tannin somewhat resembling that of oak-bark, but giving a browner colour and heavier bloom. It makes a hard and heavy leather, and is generally used in admixture with oak-bark, myrobalans, or mimosa-bark.
The Greek crop in 1880 was much damaged by the cold spring: It gave 600 tons in Acarnania and Ætolia, 650 in Cape Papa, and 1400 in Mania; total, 2650 tons. Calamata and Messenia produced 115 tons, 1700l. Syra exported in 1879, 1174l. worth to Great Britain, 348l. Austria, 259l. Russia, 250l. Turkey, 178l. Egypt. Hungary exported 942 tons in 1880. Adana shipped 9450l. worth in 1878; and Dedeagatch, in the same year, 1,500,000 lb., 9000l. Musyna [Mersineh] sent 670 tons, 3350l., to Italy, and 450 tons, 2250l. to Austria, in 1879; and 480 tons, 2240l., to Italy, and 128 tons, 640l., to Greece, in 1880. Our imports in 1880 were:—From Turkey, 30,391 tons, 471,637l.; Greece, 2916 tons, 41,312l.; other countries, 466 tons, 7105l.; total, 33,773 tons, 520,054l. The approximate London market values are:—Smyrna, 12s. 6d.-20s. 6d. a cwt.; Camata, 15s.-19s.; Morea, 10s. 6d.-18s.
Miscellaneous.—Besides the foregoing tannins, which already occupy prominent places in European and American commerce, there are many others as yet of minor importance, but possessing qualities which may bring them into note in the near future. They are as follows:—
Abies Larix bark, the larch, contains 6-8 per cent. of a red tannin.
Acacia albicans fruits, the hiusache of Mexico, are used as substitutes for gall-nuts, costing locally about 5d. a lb. A. arabica, the babul of India, yields a tannin which gives a nearly pure-white precipitate with gelatine: the proportions are 12·55 per cent, in trunk-bark, 18·95 in branch-bark, 15·45 in twig-bark. The supply is unlimited. It works well with myrobalans. A. Cebil, the red cebil of the Argentine Republic, contains 10-15 per cent. of tannin in the bark, and 6-7 per cent. in the leaves; another variety, the white cebil, contains 8-12 per cent. in the bark, and 7-8 per cent. in the leaves. A. Cavenia, the espinillo of the Argentine Republic, has 33-34 per cent. of tannin in the fruit-husks. A. penninervis bark, the "hardy" acacia of Australia, contains 18 per cent. of tannic acid and 3-4 of gallic.
Alnus glutinosa bark, the common alder, contains about 16 per cent. of tannin.
Cœsalpinia Cacalaco fruits, the cascalote of Mexico, are very rich in tannic and gallic acids, and are locally used for tanning.