The bark of the Hino tree, the Elaeocarpus hinau of Cunningham, the Dicera dentata of Forster, is used by the natives for dyeing black.

The black mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) is a tree attaining an altitude of from 30 to 50 feet, and occupying marshy situations in the vicinity of the sea.  Almost every part of the mangrove—­the bark, roots, and the fruit more particularly—­abounds in an astringent principle, which is successfully applied to the purposes of tanning.  As the tree is so abundant within the tropics, it might be worth the while of some practical speculator to make an extract on the spot, and introduce it into the English market, for the use of tanners and dyers.  For tanning, the mangrove is said to be infinitely superior to oak bark, completing in six weeks an operation which with the latter occupies at least six months, and the sole-leather so tanned is said to be more durable than any other.  The bark and leaves, which contain nearly as much tannin as the oak, are made use of in the West Indies, as well as in Scinde and other parts of Asia.

3,713 piculs of mangrove bark, valued at L819, were shipped from Shanghae, one of the Chinese ports, in 1849.

MYROBALANS.—­This is a name applied to the almond-like kernels of a nut or dried fruit of the plum kind, of which there are several sorts known in the East.  They are the produce of various species of Terminalia, as T.  Bellerica, chebula, citrina, and angustifolia.  They vary from the size of olives to that of gall nuts, and have a rough, bitter, and unpleasant taste.  Many of the trees of this tribe, which are all natives of the tropical regions of Asia, Africa, and America, are used for tanning, and some for dyeing.  They are highly valued by dyers, creating, when mixed with alum, a durable dark brown yellow.  Myrobalans fetch in the Bombay market 8s. to 26s. the Surat candy of 821 lbs.  The bark and leaves of T.  Catappa yield a black pigment, with which Indian ink is made; the seeds are eaten like almonds.  A milky juice is said to flow from T. angustifolia, which, when dried, is fragrant, and, resembling Benzoin, is used as a kind of incense in the Catholic churches in the Mauritius.  The fruit of T.  Bellerica, and of T.  Chebula, both useful timber trees, indigenous to the East Indies, are used medicinally as a tonic and astringent. 117 cwts. of myrobalans were shipped from Ceylon in 1845.

The annual imports of myrobalans into Hull, amount to about 1,600 cwts.  The quantity which arrived at Liverpool was 185 tons in 1849, 851 tons in 1850; 27,212 bags in 1851, and 19,946 bags in 1852; they come from Calcutta and Bombay, and are also used for dyeing yellow and black.  The price in January, 1853, was 6s. to 12s. per cwt.  The average annual imports into the United Kingdom may be taken at 1,200 tons.