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THE TROPICAL AGRtCVLTVmST, 



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Ondaatje in the Ceylou Court. It is the product of 

 Doona zeylanica. A very white specimen of copal 

 resin was shown in the West African Court. But 

 there were many other resins in the Straits Settlements, 

 India, and other Courts that may be worthy of atten- 

 tion, a particularly fine specimen being shown in the 

 North Uorneo Court of a yellowish hard copal, soluble 

 in eucalyptus oil. 



A remarkable substance shown in the British Guiana 

 Court, called karamanni is deserving of notice on 

 account of its low melting point and its great tenacity. 

 It appears to be a mixture of the yellowish resin 

 known as hog gum, the product of Moronobea coccinea 

 and beeswax, and may be compared to marine glue 

 for its usefulne.ss. 



Gtrms. 



The India Court was undoubtedly the richest in 

 gums, but many of these are collected so carelessly 

 that their commercial value is much reduced thereby. 

 Only one of them, that of Anogeissus latifolia, at all 

 approaches gum arable in character, but none of 

 those as yet examined appear to be capable of entirely 

 replacing the Soudan gum. For this purpose the 

 gum should be easily soluble in cold water, give a 

 clear mucilage of an adhesive character, should not 

 be darkened by iron salts, and the froth formed in 

 dissolving it should quickly disappear. 



A very good sample of gum was shown from Gam- 

 bia, which bore a strong resemblance to the Soudan 

 gum. From the Cape of Good Hope the gum of 

 Acacia horridUt, was shown. This resembles gum 

 arabic in appearance, but is somewhat yellower and 

 gives a weaker mucilage. A much better gum has, 

 however, recently been sent from the Cape than the 

 Bort generally received from that colony. 



The Gums shown in the Australian Courts were 

 of the usual dark-coloured characteristic appearance. 

 In the "West Indian Court were two gums worthy of 

 notice. One of these, the gum of Anacardium occU 

 dentale, dissolves but slowly, but makes an adhesive 

 mucilage which is used in Jamaica as a substitute 

 for gum arabic. It is obtainable in large quantities. 

 The other was that described under the name of white 

 cedar gum. It does not possess adhesiveness, but a 

 small piece gives a thick mucilage with a large 

 quantity of water, a quality which if the gum proves 

 to be harmless in character might prove very useful for 

 suspending powders in mixtures, or for sizing purposes. 

 Saccharine and JJietetic Substances. 



Of the official substances of the character, honey 

 Vras exhibited by the majority of the colonies, but the 

 finest display was that made by Canada, which exhibited 

 two varieties, called clover and linden honey, which 

 in point of colour and flavour left nothing to be desired. 



Tamarinds were exhibited in several Courts, those 

 from the West Indian Court being particularly fiiie. 



Lime juice was largely represented by the exhibits 

 of the Montserrat Company, and good specimens were 

 also observed in the Dominica and Trinidad Courts. 



In connection with lime juice, a specimen of citrate 

 of calcium shown in the Trinidad Court may be 

 jneiitioued. It is well known that both lime juice and 

 citrate of calcium gradually lose citric acid, probably 

 through decomposition caused by fungoid growths. 

 Wr. McCarthy claims to have succeeded in preparing 

 the citrate so that it will keep, if not exposed to air 

 and moisture, without loss of the acid. 



There were doubtless many food products in the 

 Exhibition, that might be employed either as diets 

 for invalids or in the manufacture of palatable lax- 

 atives. I will only mention a few of them. Cassava 

 root, dried and used like arrowroot, has already been 

 experimented with in the National Training School 

 for Cookery at the request of Mr. G. H. Hawtayue, 

 and the Lady Superintendent has reported very highly 

 of its value as a variety for invalid or infant diet. 

 Certain it is that the natives who feed on cassava 

 rapidly put on fat. The curious preparation known 

 as cassareep in British Guiana and the West Indian 

 Islands also deserves notice as a harmless addition to 

 food, possessing at the same time valuable antiseptic 

 properties. Cassareep is prepared by evaporating the 



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during evaporation the prussic acid it contains as 

 well as a volatile poison described by Dr. Peckolt 

 {Pharm. Journ,, [3], xvii., p. 267) under the name of 

 manihotoxin ; but the antiseptic properties, due t® a 

 substance with Dr. Peckolt has named sepsicolytin, 

 or fermentation hinderer, is retained in the cassareep. 

 Albumen to which a small quantity of sepsicolytin 

 had been added is stated to have been kept without 

 deterioration for six months. The value of a harm- 

 less antiseptic for preserving food can hardly be over- 

 estimated. The advantages of cassareep as an adju- 

 vant to diet is also worthy of investigation. 



In conclusion it only remains for me to express 

 my regret that it has been possible to allude to so 

 few of the many very interesting exhibits related 

 directly or indirectly to pharmacy. 



I gladly take this opportunity also to thank the 

 several Commissioners for the Colonies, who have 

 so kindly lent a number of valuable specimens for 

 this occasion, without which the remarks that I have 

 made would have been almost valueless. 



I desire also to record my most cordial thanks for 

 the courtesy that I have received at the hands of these 

 gentlemen during frequent visits to the Exhibition, 

 in allowing me to examine specimens, and In afford- 

 ing all the information in their power concerning them . 



DiSCDSSION. 



His Excellency 0. A. MotONE7, c. M. G., Gover- 

 nor of Lagos and President of the Gambia Commission, 

 said his only knowledge of pharmacy was that derived 

 from taking cinchona, which, or the quinine derived 

 from it, was a necessity of life in West Africa. 



The economic botany of West Africa was compara- 

 tively unknown, and its agricultural development was 

 in its infancy ; its growth would be mainly depend- 

 ent on the establishment of either agricultural 

 branches of the Government nursery gardens or some 

 allied institutions in Government hands. Private enter- 

 prise had been tried, but it had, it was to be much 

 regretted, signally failed, and the results were compara- 

 tively nil. In reference to allusions in the lecture, 

 he would say that Calabar beans could be supplied 

 in any quantity if required. With regard to kino, 

 he himself sent to the Forestry Exhibition in Scotland 

 two years ago a very fair specimen of the extract, 

 but he heard nothing further of it, and therefore 

 presumed it was not wanted. The Jatropha Ourcas, 

 was grown largely in the Cape Verde I.slands, and 

 it grew wild in West Africa, but no particular 

 attention was paid to it, although in the Cape 

 Verde Islands the export of its seed was about 

 300,000 bushels a year. The melon seeds were use 1 not 

 only for extracting oil from, but also largely as food ; 

 he presumed the lecturer referred to egusi seed. The 

 trade in gum was quite in its infancy. For some 

 years there had been a considerable export of it 

 from Sierra Leone, and to a small extent from the 

 Gold Coast, and he was rather surprised, when he 

 was Governor of the Gambia, to find to the right and 

 left of that enormous river the export of gum from 

 Senegal represented by millions of money annually, 

 and that a little further south, at Sierra Leone, there 

 was also a large export ; but none from that parti- 

 cular district. From the Gold Coast, further south, 

 the export had been very limited, but the field was 

 very extensive and deserved every encouragement. 

 Now, South of Lagos, his present Government, there 

 was an immense field for the export of a fossil 

 gum, known as Ogea. He had diiected attention 

 to this for some time past, but it had had no commercial 

 result as yet. About two-and-a-half years ago he 

 had a few hundredweights sent to Eugland, which was 

 passed through a prominent manufactory, and when 

 he inquired the result, he was told that it was very diffi- 

 cult to introduce a new article, but after some questions 

 he found that it might prove worth from £80 to £120 a 

 ton, and that large quantities could be readily taken. 



The two prenous speakers had referred to the 

 advisability of investigating the native practice of 

 medicine ; as a medical man he had given some 

 attention to that su)»ject, and he fouad that in India 



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