The Wealth of India : A Dictionary of Indian Raw Materials & Industrial Products. Volume - 3 : Ca-Ci
"This volume, the third in the revised series, conforms to only one-half of the corresponding volume (II) of the old series. The main attractions of the volume are an exhaustive article each on the Indian Tea (Camellia), oranges and lemons (Citrus), the red pepper (Capsicum), the pulses arhar and gram (Cajanus, Cicer) among plant entries; Cadmium and Chromite among the minerals; and Camel and Civet among the animals, besides statistical details and several illustrations both line drawings and halftones. Inclusion of a number of lesser known raw materials of great potential importance, and the various indexes particularly the Use Index, add to the utility of the volumes, encompassing all categories of users." (jacket)
From the introduction : "Revision of an encyclopaedia, particularly of the scope and magnitude that "Wealth of India" encompasses, is a highly challenging task. Quite often it is as demanding as that of compilation and editing of the original edition. This is because in the interregnum between the publication of the original and the revised editions considerable amount of new information becomes available and many facts and figures undergo changes. The challenge has been made more acute in the case of "Wealth of India" because of two major factors. First, the interregnum has coincided with the age of information explosion, leading to the availability of a vast amount of information where none or an insignificant amount existed before. Secondly, this has also been the period in which the pace of socio-economic development of the country has resulted in identification of several new resources as also new uses for those already known. Consequently, apart from the fact that it is taking longer to publish the revised edition than originally planned, it is becoming far more voluminous than the original edition. This is reflected in the composition of the present volume. Despite a significant increase in the number of pages being published, it is able to cover only part of the alphabet \'C\', Ca to Ci to be precise.
"The volume includes a total of 153 plant genera, the most important being, Cajanus (Red gram), Capsicum (Chilli), Carthamus (Safflower), and Cicer (Chickpea), and plantation crops, such as Camellia (Tea), Carica (Papaya) and Citrus (Oranges and Limes). Besides these, information on three animals and animal products, Camel, Cantharidin and Civet, and four minerals, Cadmium, Calcite, Chrysoberyl and Chromite is also included.
"In the course of revision, it was observed that while most of the articles had a 3-4 fold increase in their information content vis-a-vis their counterparts in the old series, a handful of entries such as Caryocar, Cereus, etc. had ceased to be of much economic use. Such entries have, therefore, not found a place in this volume. On the other hand, in the present context of increasing depletion of natural resources and continuing search for alternative or new sources of raw materials for food, fibre, energy, medicine, etc., a number of new plant genera have come to engage the attention of researchers and planners alike. Genera such as Caesulia, Calliandra, Ceriscoides, Catenaria, Catunaregam, etc. which have assumed economic importance have, therefore, been included after a thorough scrutiny.
"In continuation of the precepts adopted thus far, emphasis continued to be laid on the authenticity and currency of the information content. This entailed, besides scrutinising published information, corresponding with the various agencies both at the Centre and the States as well as several foreign institutions--an exercise which often did not produce the expected results, or caused undue delay in eliciting a reply..."
