638 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[March i, 188^. 



ish yellow colour. In this coaditioa dehiscence of the 

 capsule commences along the ventral suture, exposing red 

 and white seeds in the same shell. It is at this period 

 that they are gathered. It has been stated that there exist 

 two varieties of kola, one yielding exclusively red seeds and 

 the other white; but the authors have been repeatedly 

 assm-ed that this is not the case, and that one and the 

 same capsule may contain fifteen seeds varying considerably 

 in size, white and red together, without the white being 

 considered less ripe than the red. The carpels are from 

 6 to 9 centimetres long and 3 to 5 thick and the spongy 

 Ijericarp is about 2 or 3 millimetres thick. As many as 

 five or six ripe carpels may result from a single flower, 

 and these may each contain from five to fifteen seeds; but 

 sometimes carpels are mot with containing only a single 

 seed. The seeds removed from their envelope weigh, accord- 

 ing to their development, from 5 to 25 or 28 grams. The 

 epiderm is the principal site of the coloiu'ing matter, and 

 beneath it the cotyledonary tissue consists of a mass of 

 cells gorged with large starch granules comparable to potato 

 starch. It is in these that the alkaloids caffeine and 

 theobromine are found in the free state. 



The collection is conducted with great care and is made 

 by women. The seeds are removed from the husk and 

 freed from the episperm. In order to maintain their value 

 among the negroes, it is necessary to keep them in a fit 

 state and in good condition. They are, therefore, care- 

 fully picked over, all damaged and worm-eaten seeds being 

 removed, and the sound seeds are then placed in large 

 baskets, made of bark and lined with " bal " leaves (Sterc- 

 tdia acuminata, Car., or i'. heteropkj/lla, Beauv.?) ; the seeds 

 are heaped up and then covered over with more " bal " 

 leaves which, by their thickness, resistance and dimen- 

 sions, contribute not a little to the preservation of the 

 seeds by keeping them from contact with dry air. Packed 

 in tins manner the seeds can be transported considerable 

 distances, remaining free from mould for about a month, 

 during which time it is not necessary to submit theiii to 

 any treatment in order to preserve them fresh beyond 

 keeping the "bal" leaves moist. But if it be desired to 

 keep them beyond that time the operations of picking and 

 re-packing have to Ije repeated about every thhty days; 

 the seeds being washed in fresh water and fresh " bal " 

 leaves placed in the baskets. The baskets usually con- 

 tain about 3 cwt. of seeds. It is in this r ondition that 

 " kola " is sent into Gambia and Goree, where the prin- 

 cipal dealings in the seeds are carried on. In Gambia 

 they are sold in the fresh state to merchants travelUug 

 with caravans into the interior, who dry them in the sun 

 and reduce them to a fine jjowder, which is used, mixed 

 with milk and honey, by the tribes of the interior to 

 make a very agreeable, stimulating and nourishing bever- 

 age. It most frequently arrives at ^^okota and Kouka in 

 the Soudan and Timbuctoo, where large sales of the see{ls 

 are made, in the fresh condition ; from the Soudan mark- 

 ets it is carried by caravans to Tripoli, and from Tim- 

 buctoo into Morocco. As might be expected the value of 

 the l:ola increases as it makes its \s-ay into the interior 

 of Africa, antl the authors state that some of the tribes 

 fm-thest removed from the sea ijay for the dry powder 

 with an equal weight of gold dust. Kola plays an ijnport- 

 ant part in the social life of many of the African tribes, 

 and the authors mention some of the occasions upon which 

 it is used in terms almost identical with those in a paper 

 read at an evening meeting of the Pharmaceutical .Society 

 eighteen years ago (Fliarni. Journ., [2J, vi, 450). An 

 interchange of white kola between two chiefs is indicative 

 of friendship and peace, whilst the sending of red kola 

 is an act of defiance. An offer of marriage is accompanied 

 by a jiresent of white kola for the mother of the lady ; 

 the return of white kola is equivalent to acceptance of 

 the suit, whilst red means rejection. The absence of a 

 supply of kola from among the marriage presents would 

 endanger the whole arrangement. All the oaths are ad- 

 ministered in the presence of kola seeds ; the negro stretches 

 out • his hand over them whilst he swears and eats them 

 afterwards. 



Fresh kola is used as a masticatory, as is also the dried 

 powder, by the tribes in the interior. When fresh the 

 taste of the seeds is first sweet, then astringent and finally 

 bitter. When the seeds become dry the bitterness tUmiu- 

 jfihi'S, giving place to a tweeter flavour; but upon steeping 



them in water for a couple of days the original bitte:- 

 ness is nearly restored. Preference is given for mastifit- 

 ation to seeds containing only two cotyledonary segments, 

 it being asserted that they are less rough than those with 

 fom- to sLx segments : but the authors did not find anj - 

 thing in then- chemical examination to explain this prefer- 

 ence. The practice of kola mastication, wliich is always 

 accompanied by the swallowing of the sahva, docs not 

 injm-iously affect the teeth, as is the case with the betel 

 nut, but tends to render the gums firm and exercises a 

 tonic influence on the digesti^■e organs. The seeds aie 

 reputed to clarify and render healthy the most foul waters, 

 and to render tainted meat edible, and when chewed, 

 either fresh or as a dry powder, and the saliva swallowed, 

 to be a sur-e preventive against dysentery. They are also 

 said, like Krythroxyion Coca, to possess the physiological 

 projjerty of enabling persons eating them to und^irgo pro- 

 longed exertion without fatigue, which is probably to be 

 attributed to the caffeine they contain. Fiurther it is said 

 that kola exercises a favourable influence upon the liver, 

 and that white people, hving iu those regions, who chew 

 a small quantity before meals escape constitutional changes 

 due to attections of that organ. They are also believed 

 by the negros to have aphrodisiac properties. With re- 

 spect to the assertion that the pulp or powder of the seeds 

 thrown into foul water has the property of cleaning it, an 

 experiment made by the authors would appear to show 

 that any action iu this dh-ection would be due to the 

 formation of a kind of mucilage, which would act mechanic- 

 ally Uke the whit« of egg. 



It has been pointed out that the name " kola " is ap- 

 plied in Africa indifferently to several Sterculaceous seeds 

 other than those of the two varieties of Coca acuminata, 

 although these are the most valued in the native markets. 

 It is probable that the African plants capable of yielding 

 seeds resembling the true kola are Cola Duparquetiaim, 

 Baill., C.Jicifolia, Mast., C. hetei-ophi/Ua, Mast., C. cordifolia, 

 Cax., and perhaps Stercidia tomtntOMi, Hend. But the 

 authors think it doubtful whether these seeds contain 

 caffeine, otherwise they would be as much sought after 

 as the true kola. 



In order to determine chemically the composition of kola 

 seeds, the authors made a large number of experiments; 

 the details fill many pages in the original paper. The 

 dry seeds were first operated upon, and the process which 

 appeared to give the best results was to exhaust the dried 

 powder successively with chloroforni and alcohol. The 

 chloroform percolate was a yellowish liquid ; this was evap- 

 orated to dryness, and the residue treated with water, 

 which separated a fatty substance with an odour recalling 

 that of cacao butter aud entirely saponiiiable by caustic 

 potash. The yellow liquid upon concenti-ation after filtra- 

 tion, deposited silky needles of caffeine, but when the 

 solution was rapidly evaporated and the residue treated 

 with water, ether or chloroform it no longer completely 

 dissolved without using a considerable quautity and boil- 

 ing, and upon such a solution cooling a small quantity 

 of a compomul crystallized out in microscopic prisms .and 

 octahedra which proved to be theobromine. The substances 

 separated by chloroform from the dry nuts, were — caffeine, 

 2-34S per cent ; theobromine, 0023 per cent ; tannin, 0-027 

 per cent; fat, 0'5S3 per cent. 



The kola powder was then dried and exhausted with 

 alcohol. A mahogany colom-ed extract was obtained, which 

 when treated with boiling water dissolved entirely, but 

 the solution on cooling deposited a large quantity of 

 colouring matter. The aqueous solution was precipitated 

 with triplumbic acetate, the precipitate decomposed with 

 sulphuretted hydrogen, and a ^liquid obtained, free from 

 bitterness, containing a considerable quantity of a tamiin 

 giving an intense green colour with per.salts of iron, and a 

 soluble colouring matter that formed lakes in contact with 

 metalhc solutions ; the residue of the aqueous solution, 

 after removal of excess of lead, was found to contain only 

 glucose and a small ijuantity of fixed salts. The colour- 

 ing matter deposited upon the cooUng of the boiling water 

 used in dissolving the alcoholic extract differed in its 

 nature from the soluble colom-ing matter. It appeared to 

 be an oxidation product from the tannin aud presented 

 considerable analogy to cinchoiui red; in order to distin- 

 guish it, therefore, the authors have named it " kola red." 



'J'he composition of Iho alcoholic extract from the dr 



