Flora Vitiensis; A Description of the Plants of the Viti or Fiji Islands, with an Account of Their History, Uses, and Properties (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1865 Excerpt: ...proportions (eight or twelve of which generally weighing one picul = 133 lbs.) is regarded as the most acceptable offering a person can make to the idols of the temples. Large pieces are presented by the rich to burn on particular occasions. On certain festivals, for instance the beginning of the New Year, small pieces are abundantly sold in the streets to the lower classes. This is the case especially in the northern provinces of the empire; in Canton and other coast districts the population is less superstitious, and consequently less inclined to invest in sandal-wood. I visited a good many temples in Southern China, and never noticed whole pieces of the wood, but thousands of so-called "Joss-sticks " (pastile-like preparations, made of the sawdust of sandal-wood and the dung of swine, stuck in pots of sand) burning slowly before the grave faces of the idols. The perfume of the wood is owing to an essential oil, chiefly situated in the heart of the tree and near the root, the outer parts of old trunks and young trees being almost entirely without scent; hence the sandal cutters carefully remove the outer and generally lighter portion of the wood, which they term the "sap." The oil is easily extracted, a pound of wood yielding about two drachms, and it is wonderfully strong and penetrating. Mixed with pure alcohol it forms the perfumer's " Extrait de bois de Santal," and in order to sweeten it for handerchief use a slight addition of is required. It mixes well with soap. With charcoal and a little nitre it forms sandal pastiles for perfuming apartments; but these are indifferent in odour. Finally, from mixing favourably with otto of rose, it is often employed for adulterating that article. The seed...