5^4 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 



[FEERrARY I, 1884. 



Separating that alkaloid from bruciue, were able to show 

 that not only did the proportion of total alkaloid vary, but 

 that there was also a variaMlity in the relative proportions 

 of the strychnine and brucine present. In the results 

 obtained, however, there were signs of another cause 

 of variability in tinctures of nux-vomica, besides the 

 quality of the seeds, which induced the authors to 

 experiment as to the effect of using alcohol of different 

 stren){ths, and they came to the conclusion, laid before an 

 Evening Sleeting last mouth, that the best results were 

 obtainable iu using a mixture of 100 volumes of rectified 

 spirit with 25 ot water as a menstruum. Practically the 

 same results were arrived at by Mr. Conroy, who having 

 called attention to the probability after the reading of the 

 first paper, had been working independently on the sub- 

 ject. The use of sodium chloride to assist in the prepar- 

 ation of tincture of nux-vomica seeds had been recom- 

 mruiled by Mr. Bother on chemical grounds ; but Mes.srs. 

 Dunstan and Short came to the conclusion that though 

 the exhaustion of the seeds is facilitated by it, which they 

 attribute to a physical and solvent action, the ultimate 

 practical gain is doubtful. In a report upon twelve speci- 

 mens of extract of nux-vomica the same authors showed 

 that, as was to be expected, the range of variability in 

 total alkaloid and in the relative proportion of strychnine 

 and brucine was quite as great in that preparation, a fact 

 that effectually disposes of the suggestion that the extract 

 might be used as a basis for preparing a uniform tincture. 

 The bark of HijmenoilicU/on excehitm, which is used iu India 

 as a tonic bitter, has been investigated by Mr. Naylor, with 

 the result of disprcftnng the presence of jesculin, which had 

 been alleged, and the isolation of an alkaloid free from ox- 

 ygeu, to which the bitterness appears to be mainly due, which 

 he hasrejjreseuted by the formula Go 4 H40N., and named "hy- 

 meuodictyimine," and a peculiar neutral principle. Cusparia 

 bark has yielded to Messrs. Kijrner and Eiihringer three 

 hitherto unknown alkaloids, two of which they have named 

 "cusparine" and '• galeipine." Mr. Gerard has sucrceded 

 in obtaining " gelsemine," the characteristic alkaloid of 

 the roo* of Gchcmimn sempervirens, in a crystalline form, 

 and a,s the rtsult of analysis has attributed to it the form- 

 ula C!|„HuNO,,. Dr. Hay has reported the isolation from 

 Canahh inilica of a new alkaloid, which from its physio- 

 logical properties he has called "tetanocannabin.'' Theobrom- 

 ine has beeu found to accompany caffeine in the kola 

 nut by M. Shiagdenhauffen, the compliment being re- 

 turned, according to Herr Schmidt, by caffeine accom- 

 panying (liGobiomine in the cacao nib', where, Dr. Galippo 

 says, it always has copper for a neighbour. 



COLONEL MONEY ON CEYLON TEA. 

 Colonel Money in his recently published pamphlet on 

 "Indian Yi'rsiifi Chinese Teai*" w rites as follows : — 



Uuder the term " Indian," I include Ceylou teas. The 

 plantations in that island are distant, as the crow flies 

 about ii.'jO miles from the tea gardens on the Neilgherry 

 or Blue Mountains in Southeru India. These latter are 

 separated from the tea cultivation in Bengal by l.oOO 

 miles, and from that in the North-AVest of India by about 

 the same distance. Thus, as the tea grown in these last 

 three localities, though so far separated, are all, and truly, 

 named Indian teas, we may well admit Ceylon (which is 

 so close to the Neilgherry gardens) into the list. It is well 

 also to do this because the tea plant in Ceylon was intro- 

 duced from India, and thus the characteristics of the 

 Indian shrub, as also the made teas, are more or less alike. 

 The object of this little pamphlet being confined to the 

 question " Indian •(( J■,s?^s Chinese Teas," I cannot here dilate 

 separately on ('eylon teas.* What I say as regards Indian 

 teas applies generally to them ; but this much I may add, 

 that if the quality of Ceylon teas keeps up to the high 

 staiulard they have, niaiutained last year and this (thecultiv- 

 atiou is quite iu its infancy), India will have cause to be 

 proud if Ceylon teas art classed together with the teas of 

 Madras, Bengal, Central India, and of the North-West Pro- 

 vinces, under the general term Indian teas. In fact, the 

 term Indian teas is a very wide one. It includes, as we 

 have seen, the products of localities more than 1,000 miles 



* Ceylou. as a tea-producing country, is discussed in the 

 fourth edition of " Tea Cultivation and Manufactui-e," pages 

 Hi and 290. 



/ 



apart ; localities, too. which dift"er greatly in their climatic 

 conditions. There is, however, another and a still more 

 important difference between some Indian teas than any 

 caused by figures of latitude, I .shall allude to elevation. 

 Some teas are grown in the plains, some in the bills; that 

 is to say, some at three or four hundred feet only above sea 

 level, some at eight thousand feet or oue-and-a-half miles, 

 and at all intermediate heights. These teas dift'er greatly ; 

 the lower teas are the stronger, the elevated the more delic 

 ate ilavoured.* Besides the point mentioned, soil and ain- 

 faU are also differing causes, and I might add others, rbu 

 enough to prove what I have said — viz., that the term 

 " Indian teas " is a very wide one.f Though differing so 

 much, there is still a family likeness in all Indian teas, and 

 in that similitude they are opposed to Chinese, There is 

 more body, or strength, in the Indian tea of any grade 

 than in a similar one from China ; in other words, the 

 former will go further. This is due to two causes — fir.stly, 

 that the Indian tea plant is not the same as its (Jhina 

 brother; secondly, thtt the Indian cHmate is the hotter and 

 more forcing of the two. 



In a note, Colonel Money states that in the Assam 

 forests he saw indigenous tea trees twenty feet high. 

 In the remains of a nursery put down on Abbotsford 

 estate, Ceylou, in December 1874, with first-class" 

 hybrid seed from the Assam Company, a tree was 

 measured more than a year ago, which hail attained 

 a height of 27 feet. 



The .Sugar Indu.stp.y in Penang. — New machinery 

 of the latest invention has just arrived per S. S. 

 OleneUj for Ihe Batu Kawan and Prye Estates. This 

 is the result of the visit of Hon'ble J, M. Vermont 

 to the West Indies. We may now expect that our 

 bugai manufacture will be on an equal footing with 

 the best refineries in Europe. Mr. Edmund Brown 

 has just returned from Java where he visited the 

 large su^ar fabrics to better qualify himself for the 

 manufacture of sugar. He speaks highly of the recep- 

 tion he met there from the planters.— Pc>in«;/ Tina-". 



Tea is Fiji. — Some time ago, special attentmu w.as 

 directed to the capabiliiies of Fiji, and particularly of 

 the island of Taviuui, for the cultivation of the tea 

 plant. On this subject a correspondent now writes : — 

 " With this I send a memo, received three days ago. It 

 speaks for itself, and I need only add that the 

 samples referred to were grown and cured on Selia 

 Liiilai, Taviuni. The gentleman to whom If oiwardcd 

 them writes : 'I have just received through Mr. 

 Secular, a merchant iu Dunedin, the opinion of one 

 of the best Loudon tea tasters, a Mr. Nelson, who 

 has been iu the business for some thirty yi ars, and 

 which I have mucii pleasure in forwarding to you. 

 F>om it you will sec that there is a good future tor 

 Fiji as a tea growing country, if the iudus'ry is 

 persevered iu. " The memo, runs : — *' We have tasted 

 the Fiji teas and consider them good promising teas 

 with oa| itiil liquor, and if well cultivated ought to 

 take well. If they could be brought forward a little 

 more decided in flavour, the broken flowery pekoe 

 W'Ould be good value at 2s to 3s. Id., D.P. ; pekoe, 

 Is. Sd. D.P. ; souchong congou. Is. 3d. D.P." If 

 this favorable report should induce a more txtousivo 

 cultivation of the product, the colony may before 

 long be in a position t) congratulate itself upon the 

 addition of another important item to its list of ex. 

 ports. — Fiji 'J'imis. [But how can cultivation be there 

 extended, when is not sufficient labour for existing 

 cultivation. — Ed.] 



* A choice is thus given. Those who like strong and 

 economical teas, with a marked tiavour (economical because 

 they go so far), will find all lliey want in the teas grown at 

 low eh^vations ; while, if dehcacy of flavour is the chief point 

 sought, the teas of the Himalayan Mountain regions, the 

 Neilgherry or Bhu; Jlountam teas, and those from thi- high 

 lands in Ceylon will be found perfect in that respect. 



f For fidl details of all the tea-producing districts iu India, 

 ees " Tea Cultivation and ilauufactiue," 



