THE HONGKONG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, 19TH NOVEMBER, 1887. 1271
GOVERNMENT NOTIFICATION.—No. 489.
The following Circular Despatch and its enclosures, are published for general information.
By Command,
· Colonial Secretary's Office, Hongkong, 19th November, 1887.
FREDERICK STEWART, Colonial Secretary.
CIRCULAR.
DOWNING STREET,
30th September, 1887.
SIR,-I have the honour to inform you that, during the continuance of the Indian and Colonial Exhibition, steps were taken to obtain reports by competent experts upon the raw materials and certain other articles exhibited by the Colonies.
These Reports were prepared under the superintendence of the Society of Arts, and they have now been published by the Royal Commission in an interesting volume, of which I believe a copy has been supplied to you.
In order to render more accessible those parts of the Reports specially relating to the Colony under your Government, or upon the products in which that Colony is particularly interested, I have had them separated from the rest of the volume, and they are enclosed herewith.
You will no doubt agree with me in thinking it desirable that the fullest possible publicity should be given to these suggestive reports, and I request that you will dispose of them in the way best adapted to secure this end.
I have the honour to be,
Sir,
Your most obedient humble Servant,
H. T. HOLLAND.
The Officer Administering the Government of
HONGKONG.
L
HONGKONG.
Vegetable tallow (Meinyah Tunkawang).-This name is applied generally to a number of fats which, as before remarked, spasmodically pervade the English markets. The tribe of fat-yielding trees is very large and widely dispersed, and no doubt, could one certain species be fixed, and its product well indentified and put to thorough practical tests, it would tend greatly to clear up the existing haziness as to these tallows.
*
Lant Carpenter, who has treated this subject pretty exhaustively, as one having considerable practical experience in the matter of soap-materials, states that the two distinct vegetable tallows coming from Asia are: (1) Chinese tallow, from the Stillingia schifera, a white, brittle fat, chiefly produced in the Chusan Archipelago; and (2) Vegetable tallow, from a species of Hopea, also Tetranthea laurifolia (growing in the Malay Archipelago). The latter appears to be identical with the samples exhibited in bamboo cases as collected by the natives. It is greenish-gray when crude, but after boiling with dilute acid a few times, becomes nearly white. No experiments were undertaken with the actual exhibit, the samples being too small-but previous experience of the writer and others show that this fat is a glycerine of a high solidifying point (85° to 90° Fahr.), yielding hard and white fatty acids, and a good soap. In a dearth of palm oil, or even as a white substitute, vegetable tallow should have a ready sale. The supply is said to be all-sufficing, but the natives are too lazy to collect and treat the nuts or berries.
Regret may be here expressed that the Hongkong Court did not exhibit either Chinese wax or tallow. Considerable hopes had been entertained that this would prove an opportunity of negotiating a commercial quantity of this beautiful material, the annual production of which is valued at £600,000. Hardly a hundredweight finds its way to England now: perhaps because, in the golden days of spermaceti, Pela was coldly received. Its highly crystalline structure and intense hardness (180°
Soap and. Candles," E. & F. N. Spon, London, 1885.