October i, 1883.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



291 



tea, depends not merely upon the caffeine but also upou 

 the tannin and aromatic principles. He considered the 

 tfonin to be identical iu every respect with that found 

 in tea. 



The aromatic principle has not been isolated, but by 

 dry distillation a volatile oil is obtained, which belongs to 

 the phenol group and is soluble in alcohol. 



In 1877 the mate-tannic acid was examined by Dr. 

 Pedro N. Ai'ata, who found that the tannin of mate, 

 while analogous to that of coffee, was not identical. The 

 chief differences noticed by him are as follows : — Lime 

 water gives with the coffee-tannic acid a small precipit- 

 ate soluble iu excess, but an abundant insoluble preci- 

 pitate with the tanniii of mate. Thi>i, however, does not 

 hold good ^vith all samples of mate, the precipitate being 

 sometimes soluble iu an excess of the tannin. Coffee- 

 tannic acid gives by dfy distillation pyrocatechin, while 

 the tannin of mate yields in addition to pyrocatechin 

 the isomeric body resorcin. 



Coffee-tannic acid is soluble iu 52'84 vol. of alcoholi 

 while mate-tannic acid requires 73'66 vol. 



Dr. Arata considers that coffee-tannic acid may be 

 regarded as dioxyparacinnamylic acid, whilst mate-tannic 

 acid must be classed in the gTOup of oxyphenylpropionic 

 acid. 



Soubeiran and Delondre state that mate contains the 

 same essential constituents as the coffee leaf, and in 

 greater amount than the coffee seeds, which I can con- 

 firm after numerous exxjeriments with large and small 

 quantities. 



In the years 1860 to 1S65 I analysed mate and Con- 

 gonha leaves. My analyses were made with fresh leaves 

 of thf" Ilex jmrai/icariemis from the Orgel Mountains in 

 Neufreiburg, and roasted and unroastcd leaves from the 

 province of Parana. 



In the air-di'ied leaves from the Orgel Mountains I 

 found the following substances in 1000 grams : — 



Grams. 



Stearoptene 0'021 



Volatile oil, extracted by ether . . . 0-099 

 Fat aud wax ..... Ifl-SOO 



Green colouring matter . . . 10'900 



Chlorophyll and soft resin ' . . . 20'96G 

 Brown acid resin ..-.,. 4S'500 



Caffeiu 6-398 



Bitter extractive matter . ■■ . . . 2-033 



Sugar 39-266 



Extractive matter and organic acids . . 8-815 

 Mate-tannic acid, pure .... 27-472 

 Mate-viridic acid, ci-ystallized . . . 0-024 

 Albumen, organic acid, inorganic salts, 



dextrin, etc 47-G60 



Moisture 166-660 



Cellulose and lose 601-386 



In 1,000 grams of air-di-ied little twigs of the Ilex 

 parai/uaiieiuis from Neufreiburg I foimd : — 



Green soft resin and cldoroijhyll 



Brown acid resin 



Oaffein 



Mate-tannic acid and extractive matter 



Extract, cellulose aud water 

 In 1,000 grams of air-dried leaves from Par.ana, from 

 which the roasted mate is prepared, I found the following 

 substances : — 



Grams. 



9-400 



19-700 



2-.579 



30-000 



938-321 



Stearoptene .... 



Volatile oil, obtained by ether 

 Fat and waxy substance 

 Green colouring matter 

 Chlorophyll and soft resin . 

 Brown acid resin .... 



Caffein 



Aromatic substance 

 Mate-tannic acid, pure ^ . 

 Mate-viridic acid, crystallized 

 Extractive matter 

 Saccharine extractive matter, sugar 

 Albumen, salts, dextrin, etc. 



Moisture 



Cellular matter .... 



Grams. 



0019 



0179 

 18-800 

 10-800 

 51-L'OO 

 84.500 

 16-750 



2-500 

 44-975 



0-025 

 65-130 



6-720 

 36-102 

 104-600 



557-700 



Iu 1,000 grams of commercial mate from Parana I 

 found ;— Grams. 



Volatile oil, obtained by ether . . . 0-026 



Caffein 5-550 



Chlorophyll and soft resin . . . 6-100 



Brown acid resin 25-502 



Mate-tannic acid pm-e .... 16-785 



Pyromate-tannic acid .... 1-465 



Mate-viridic acid, crystallized . . . 0024 

 Extractive matter ..... 16-610 

 Caramel-hke extractive matter . . . • 1370 



Salts, dextrin, etc 18-189 



Cellular matter and moisture . . . 908-379 

 The ash of mate analysed by Dr. Busse and Herr 

 Biemanu was found to contain potassium, sodium, mag- 

 nesium, oxide of manganese, calcium, aluminum, iron, 

 phosphoric acid, snlphurio acid, carbonic acid, cldorine 

 siUcic acid; but the analyses vary so much in different 

 samples as to lose some of their value. 



I found in leaves of mate gathered iu Neufreiburg 



Per cent. 



Oxide of manganese 8958 



Sodium 10062 



Potassium 14-Glo 



Whereas these were not fomid at all by the above-men- 

 tioned analysis in leaves obtained from Kio. — Phannuceutical 

 Journal. 



NATAL CURATOR'S BOTANIC GARDENS' REPORT. 



January 1st, 1883. 

 To the President IVatal Botanic Gardens. 



SiE, — In handing you my Report on the work of these 

 Gardeus for the past year, I would remind you that I 

 assumed the Oiu-atorship on the 1st March last, and, there- 

 fore, this report refers only to the time between that and 

 the close of the year. 



» * » # 



The work of naming the plants is being gradually pro- 

 ceeded with, the late Curator gave me the names of upwards 

 of 400, and a small portion of these were labelled, the remain- 

 der I have got by degrees,until now upwards of 600 are named 

 and all of these have attached, to one specimen at least a num- 

 ber which corresponds with the number iu a book kept in my 

 office. I have also laid out the ground iu blocks, lettered 

 from A to K, and the register also contains a list of the 

 plants in each block, so that there can be little ditiiculty in 

 future in finding any plant which may be wanted. In addition 

 to this I have arranged an alphabetical list, and to each name 

 is appended its number and the letters correspondin" to 

 the blocks in which the plant is to be found. This part of 

 the work is now completed so far as the plants are known 

 to me ; but there still remain a number of trees which can- 

 not be certainly nained until they flower ; a period which 

 iu some cases, may never arrive; and also some, of which 

 I have no description in any book in the Library, and in 

 respect of which I have been compelled to ask for assistance 

 from the Du-ector of Kew Gardens, which assistance. 

 I am pleased to say, has been very readily promised. I 

 have receiverl an importation of Smith's imperishable labels 

 which are uow in their places, and I hope to be able to pro- 

 cure more from time to time, until all the plants are legibly 

 named. The catalogue of plants in the Gardens is in pro- 

 gress, and I hope the present year will witness its completion. 



I received iu March last from Dr. King, Director of the 

 Botanic Gardens, Calcutta, a number of pl.antsof Shorea or 

 J'atica roliusta, the "Saul" tree of India, Some of these I 

 distributed to persons likely to value them, and some I have 

 kept in the Gardens, but I have become convuiced that the 

 climate of the coast is not suited to the plant; aud as I 

 find that in India it flourishes best ou hilly slopes up to 

 3,000 feet. I am sending three or four plants to a locahty 

 where I hojie they may have a better chance of success. 



I received from Kew seeds of Aryania sidero.ri/lon a vali> 



able tree — the " Argan " of Morocco, some of which we plan t- 

 ed, and of the remamder I distributed about twenty packets- 

 — our omi all failed by damping oft', but at least two of 

 the persons who had seed have succeeded in rearing them, 

 and one gentleman iuforms me that he has several healthv 

 plants, so that I hope we may be successful iu establishing 

 ^0 valuable » plant. The late Oui-atw iuforms tbiit the 



