The drug called _Dragon's Blood_[4] is obtained from this fruit, in Japan, and several other countries of the East. The Japanese expose the fruit of the Rotang tree to the steam of boiling water, by which the external shell is softened, and a resinous fluid is forced out, that is afterwards enclosed in leaves and suspended in the air to dry. In Sumatra the external surface of the fruit is observed to be covered with the resin: this is rubbed off, melted in the sun, and formed into grains or globules, which are folded in leaves, and are considered the purest kind of dragon's blood. In some countries the fruit is boiled in water, and the resin, which floats upon the surface, is skimmed off and subsequently purified, and formed into the requisite shape for sale. An inferior kind of dragon's blood is made up into large masses, which contain the membranous parts of the fruit and other impurities. When this substance is tolerably pure, it breaks smooth, and appears internally of a dark red colour; melts readily, and easily catches fire. Its principal use is in medicine. The _stem_ of the rotang furnishes the inhabitants of the countries where it grows with shafts for pikes or spears; and the inner part of the young shoots is boiled or roasted for food. 111. _The COMMON WALKING CANES_ (Calamus scipionum) _have a smooth and glossy stem, usually marked with dark spots: and the knots or joints are sometimes three or four feet asunder._ These canes grow, very abundantly, in Sumatra and other Eastern islands, as well as on the continent of India, whence they appear to have been originally exported to Europe by the Dutch. There is a considerable trade in them to China. The long spaces between the knots, their shining surface, and lightness, have rendered them preferable to most other articles for walking canes. 112. _The RATTAN or TRUE CANE_ (Calamus verus), _is remarkable for growing to the great length of a hundred feet, and upwards, and, at the same time, not being thicker than a man's finger._ A trade in rattans to considerable extent is carried on from several of the islands of the east to China, which is the principal market for them. These canes are extremely tough and flexible, of yellowish brown colour, and, when cut into thongs, are sometimes used to make cables and other ropes. Our cane-bottomed chairs are made of split rattans, the outer or smooth surface of which is always kept uppermost. For this work the canes are chosen by their great length, pale yellow colour, and bright gloss. They are purchased in bundles, each of which contains a hundred canes, neatly tied in the middle, and the ends bent together. When perfectly dry, they are so hard as to yield sparks of fire when struck against each other. The word rattan, in the Malay language, signifies a staff or walking stick.