DAMMAR, or DAMMER (

See also:

• HIND

Hind. damar=

See also:

• RESIN (through O.Fr. resine, modern reline, from Lat. resina, prcbably Latinized from Greek Pirivrt, resin)

resin,

See also:

• PITCH
• PITCH, MUSICAL

pitch)  , a resin, or rather series of resins, obtained from various coniferous trees of the genus Dammara (Agathis) . East Indian dammar or cat's eye resin is the produce of Dammara orientalis, which grows in Java, Sumatra, Borneo and other eastern islands and some-times attains a height of 8o–loo ft . It oozes in large quantities from the tree in a soft viscous state, with a highly aromatic odour, which, however, it loses as it hardens by exposure . The resin is much esteemed in oriental communities for incense-burning . Dammar is imported into England by way of Singapore; and as found in British markets it is a hard, transparent, brittle, straw-coloured resin, destitute of odour . It is readily soluble in ether, benzol and chloroform, and with oil of turpentine it forms a fine transparent varnish which dries clear, smooth and hard . The allied kauri gum, or dammar of New Zealand (Australian dammar), is produced by Dammara australis, or kauri-pine, the wood of which is used for wood paving . Much of the New Zealand resin is found fossil in circumstances analogous to the conditions under which the fossil copal of Zanzibar is obtained . Dammar is besides a generic Indian name for various other resins, which, however, are little known in western commerce . Of these the principal are black dammar (the Hindustani kala-damar), yielded by Canarium strictum, and white dammar, Indian copal, or piney varnish (sufed-damar), the produce of Vateria indica . Sal dammar (damar) is obtained from Shorearobusta; Hopea micrantha is the source of rock dammar (the Malay dammer-batu) ; and other species yield resins which are similarly named and differ little in physical properties .