JvUE I, 1883.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



961 



THE BITTER PRINCIPLE OF HYMENODIOTYON 

 EXCELSUM* 



BY W. A. H. NAYLOE. 



The interest attaching to the two species of Hymeno- 

 dictyon, viz., H. cxcelsum aud U. obovatum, is derived from 

 the circumstance that they.both yield a bitter bark which 

 is in common use among the natives of India as a tonic. 

 Surgeon-Major Dymoclf has remarked that the bark of 

 //. cxcelsum is the more bitter of the two, aud is there- 

 fore probably the more valuable, although he is not aware 

 that either of the barks has been properly tested in 

 European practice. As a remedy of repute it was invested 

 with additional importance when it received a place 

 among the non-official diugs of the Pharmacopcsia of India 

 for 1S68. Referring to the species //. e.vcelsiim it is there 

 stated that the " inner coat of the bark, according to Rox- 

 burgh, possesses the bitterness aud astringeney of cinchona. 

 . . . The outer light spongy layer of the bark is com- 

 paratively tasteless. Considering the natural order to which 

 the tree belongs and the sensible properties of its bark, 

 it is not improbable that it may prove a valuable remedy. 

 In all futm-e inquiries into the subji-ct of Indian auti- 

 periodics this bark should lie one of the first to which 

 attention should be directed." The success which attended 

 its use as a native febrifuge probably gave rise to the 

 supposition that its. medicinal properties were due to the 

 presence of quinine. Consequently, in 1870, Jlr Broughtou 

 who was at that time the Government Quinologist at the 

 Ootocamund plantations, submitted to an examination the 

 fresh bark of the tree. He found that the bitter taste 

 was due to the existence of (eseulin, and that the bark 

 when (h-y was almost tasteless owing to its transformation 

 into tfscidetin, the decomposition having been induced by 

 contact with decaying organic msXifii.— Pharmaceutical 

 Journal. 



JAPANESE SUGAR. 

 The sugar of Japan, says Consul-General Van Buren, 

 is made from that species of the sorghum plant known 

 as the Chinese sorghum. It grows luxuriantly in all the 

 southern portions of the empu'e south of the 36th degree 

 of north latitude. The whole product of the empire in 

 1S78 was 64,297,580 pounds. Importation in 1878 was 

 67,434,805 pounds. For three or four hundred years the 

 processes of granulating and refining sugars have been 

 known and practiced. Sorghum is not gro^yu, as with us, 

 from the seed, but from cuttings. In September selected 

 stalks are cut and buried iu trenches*, foot deep. Through 

 the winter, from each joint of the stalks sprouts grow. 

 In the sprmg these points are cut off and set out iu rows 

 15 to 18 inches apart, and about the same distance from 

 each other in the rows. The ground has previously been 

 thoroughly dug up, and pulverized by a long-bladed mat- 

 tock. The fertilizers used are ashes, fish, decomposed 

 hay. straw and sea-weed, or night soil. The plants are 

 thoroughly hoed, hilled, and irrigated. In October and 

 November the leaves are stripped off and the stalks are 

 then cut and the hard outer covering is removed, and the 

 remaining portion is then gro\md -between rollers of stone 

 or hard wood. The cane juice is then boiled in iron ket- 

 tles till the granulation takes place, when it is placed 

 in bags and pressed dry. The expressed sirup is used as 

 molasses. Dry upland soils are requu-ed for the success- 

 ful growth of the cane, and the expenditure of labor and 

 fertilizers is as great if not greater than inv any other 

 crop. Great exertions are being made to promote the in- 

 creased production of sugar, which will probably be in 

 some degree successful. In fact, I am informed that 

 large orders for the apparatus for sugar-making have been 

 recciveil from districts wliich heretofore have not grown 

 sugar-cane.^/iirfM Merciny. 



A SUBSTITUTE FOR QUmiNE. 



The Colonist (a Demerara journal) stati's that it has 

 received fnnn Mr. Courtenay a .sample of Siil/)has of fie- 

 h,ri<i. which is an alkaloid obtained from the bark of the 

 Xertauilrut Ilodiaci., or (free it -heart. This tree gi-ows as 

 much in Surinam as in Demerara, and as it can be u.sed 



as timber, it may bo well to call attention to it. We 

 therefore give the communication from the Colonist. "Mr. 

 Courtenay has obtamed iu London 30s. 8d. per English 

 poimd, for this medicine, prepared by himself. He is 

 convinced that by preijaring it m large quantities it would 

 be very advantageous aud prove a remunerative, iuriustry, 

 because the cost of the manufacture is small aud the 

 original material is now of no value. Iu a Loudon circular 

 the price of this substitute for quinine is uuteil at 4N.i;d. 

 per oz. It is an excellent febrifuge and largely used in' 

 the English army ; but until recently it was cheaper to 

 use qunuue, simply because the preparation of Beberia 

 was not .so general as that of quinine. 'We believe that 

 the bark of ijreen-licurt has occasionally been imported 

 mto England, iu small quantities, for the preparation of 

 Beberia ; but up to the present time no efforts have been 

 made, by larger maportation, to obtain the benefits of an 

 article which 15 yearly thrown away in large quantities. 

 Apropos of the above, the Nietms van den Day gives the 

 following : — The Nectandria Rodiaci growing hi Demerara 

 IS not the i/reen-heart tree so well kuowu by us, but is 

 a ycUoK-heurt found xileutifully in the English colonies 

 and there called e/reen-heart and iu French Guyana 

 cedre jaune. The yellow-heart is not often found in .Su- 

 rinam. It produces good timber for fm-niture and has 

 a strong scent. The greeii-heart (Hiynonia Imcoxylon)— 

 not to be mistaken for the English yreen-heart — gi-ows 

 abundantly, m all dimensions, in Sminam, particularly iu 

 Upper Para, and in the high giouud of the Sm-inam 

 River, aud is much requiied for timber. The bark iwovides 

 no drug like the yellow-heart. .After the broira-hea.-t, the 

 yreen-heart is certainly the most dm-able of any Smuiaui 

 wood. It is heavy, of a brown eolom- and dithcult to be 

 worked. The sawdust when fresh is of a bright green 

 colom-, but when mLxed with lyo it produces a red colour- 

 mg substance. — India Mercury. 



* Read at an Evening Meeting of the Pharmaceutical 

 Society, April 4, 1883. 

 121 



LIGHT AND DARKNESS FOR VEGETATION. 



Cultivators, rule of thumb aud scientific alike, have been 

 so fnUy alive to the importance of hght to Vegetation 

 and produce, that they have too generally overlookeil the 

 place and power of darkness. Under eertam circumstances. 

 Nature herself teaches the importance of darkness as in the 

 germinatiou of seeds by covering tbem as a rule with the 

 stimulatiug and protecting covering of rotten leaves. A 

 good many seeds wiU germinate in the light, but they do 

 so sooner and to better effect in d;u-kness; still,' even this 

 fact is not taken full advantage of in ] uactice, as whole 1 anges 

 of seed-pots and pans placed in the light abundantly show. 

 These not only occupy valuable siiace, that might as a rule be 

 filled with growing plants, but labour in watering, shading, 

 &c., as well as time, are lost by so^^^ng .seeds in the hght. 



There is abso another source of lo.ss by this general 

 practice; the seeds are covered too deeply for their s.afety, 

 in. order to exclude the light. Numt>er of them are thus 

 ruined and rotted. All these risk.s woiUd be avoided by 

 simply sowing seeds in a dark shed or closet. Many seeds 

 will hardly need covering; all would need less if placed 

 in total darkness. Of course they would reqiiu-e pretty 

 close watching, and prompt remo\al to light so soon as 

 fau-ly vegetated. The transition from total darkness to 

 absolute light also needs to be very grailual ; but this 

 period is of very short duration, for it isa.stouishinghow soon 

 healthy and vigorous embryo plantli tsget used to the light. 



But what may be called dark cultvu-e has a far wiiler field 

 than the mere raising of seeds. Its importance has long 

 been recognised in the rooting of Dutch and other bulbs. 

 With the compound object of fully developuig roots, and 

 holding the stems in check till tliese are formed, bulbs 

 are plunger] in totiil darkness. In this also we are but 

 following the example of Nature: whence the success that 

 has attended the practice of keeping bulbs in the dark 

 through their preliminary stages. 



The next great step in dark culture consists ui the 

 treating of buds and root-stocks in the same way as .seeds 

 and bulbs. Corresponding as they ilo to the latter to a 

 great extent in structure and fuuctious, they may be treated 

 in a similar manner, and with equally successful results. 

 Growth iu darkness is no longer a matter of theory, but 

 is very widely practisc-d, and has proved a striking" com- 

 mercial success. Up to the present time perhaiis it lias 

 been most widely appUed to Lilacs Spuasas, aud Lilies- 



