NZ_Botanic_&_Materia_Medica2

So great was the demand for the timber and the gum products of Agathis australis that one author reported that between 1871 and 1882 some 47,407 imperial tons of recent and fossilised gum was removed from the soil, and further stated, that it had been estimated that it would take the forest growth of 10,000 years to replace it. The great Kauri forests of old were decimated almost to the point of extinction. They are now protected.

The following has been condensed from the US Dispensatory, 1926.
Kauri Gum is an amber like substance, varying from a soft cream-white to an amber color, dug in large quantities from the soil of Australia and New Zealand. It is a resinous exudation from the Kauri Spruce, Agathis australis Salisb. (Dammaris australis Lamb.), of the Fam. Coniferae, but, as it first exudes, and is found on the surface of the ground, it is not esteemed.

The useful resin is a fossil deposit, found especially in New Zealand swamps, at depths of from 2 to14 feet. The production of kauri is largely carried on under governmental supervision. The resin appears in pieces ranging in size from that of a hen’s egg to a man’s head, of a pale greenish- yellow color and with a balsamic odor. 

Baume Caledonien.
Consists of a solution of Kauri gum in an equal weight of 90 % alcohol. It. has been used with alleged great success in the treatment of wounds and ulcers, of eczema and other skin affections, and as a substitute for collodion and the soluble sodium silicate. When applied to a well cleansed and dried wound it, leaves a slight deposit of resin as a varnish, which is not affected by friction or contact with water.

This preparation is invaluable .. 90% v/v alcohol is rectified spirit .. real spirit .. rectified Brandy .. a 1:1 extract. Take a 1 or 2 litre bottling jar that has a rubber seal and take care that no alcohol or the extract touches the seal. The alcohol must be weighed as must the gum ..  in this way the correct ratio of the preparation is maintained. Crush the Kauri Gum with a hammer and add it by the tablespoon to the alcohol .. swirling as you go. Seal, then store the product in a cool dark place for a minimum of 7 days .. swirl it daily .. at the end of 7 days examine the extract and if you have done it correctly, at the bottom of the jar will be seen a rubbery mass and possibly bits of debris ..  the coagulated mass is the gum which has been separated from the resin .. the resin is dispersed through the clear liquid .. carefully decant the extract into its final storage bottle .. discard the debris.

The commercial product known as Manila copal, according to Tschirch and Koch, is derived from Agathis Dammara. (Dammora orientalis Lamb.), a conifer. It consists chiefly of free amorphous resin acids, namely, alpha. and beta. mancophalolic acid, C_l0H_l2O₂ about 80 %. and contains besides that about 12 % of a resin, C₂₀H₃₂O₂, and about five per cent of essential oil. The latter, when fresh, forms a liquid as clear as water, very mobile, having a pleasant odor, and with an SG of 0.840; it boils at from 165 to 1700E C, and mixes in all proportions with alcohol, ether, chloroform and fatty oils.

It is still possible to find small bags of fossilized resin some of which is sold in curio shops and brings a price commensurate with its scarcity. The more recent resins may be collected as congealed tears at the base of kauri trees and if correctly cleaned by making them liquid,  then straining them to remove bits of bark and earth and even the odd insect then one may make a perfectly useful preparation that does the task.

To the memory of the old Pakeha bushmen, loggers, gum diggers and gold fossickers. Not for them the genteel ways of position and privilege. For it was upon the sweat of their brow and the strength of their backs that much of the wealth of New Zealand was built.

Rough and oft times unlettered, hard drinking, loud cussing men. Yet amongst them, those versed in language, music and philosophy. One in particular, Bill Lord of Waiheke Island. His stories of the old days in the hinterlands of the Bay of Plenty held my children in thrall. He could look at a Constellation and say ‘ ah yes in the Autumn it will rise there … and in the Spring over there’. Dear old Bill, what an education you were.

Other New Zealand monographs which may be ofinterest .. The Lichens of NZ .. NewZealand Tea Tree.

A little more on Bill Lord is to be foundhere .. The Tale of TwoWilliams.