JVNE I, 1883.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



975 



CATALOGUE OF SPECIMENS OF CINCHONA BARK 



AVITH ILLUSTKATIVE BOTANICAL SPECIMENS, 



forwarded tlu'ough Her Majesty's Secretary of State for 

 ludia for the Pharmaceutical Society for Great liritaiu. 

 (Furnished through Dr. Bidie.) 



(From the "I'lim-maccutical Journal") 



Kemakks.— a. This ia the C. Uritusinga, type of Pavon. b, C. 

 Uritusinga, Pavon type. c. C. Condaminea, How. variety, ti. do 

 How. type. t'. Tliese botauia\l .specimens and also the bark were 

 taken from coppice shoots. /. The bark belonging to this specimeu 

 is renewevl, after tlie tree had been subjected to the Java shaving 

 process. In this the outer cellular portion is shaved or pared off, 

 the inner vascular layer being left intact, y. Bark covered exter- 

 nally with a thick corky layer, and very peculiar, of officinalis 

 type but undetermined species. A. Tbisis the C. Coudamiuea type 

 ot How. i. Large leafed or C. Uritusinga, Pavon type. /. This is 

 the No. 1 form of C. Angustifolia, How., according to the estate 

 numeuclature. k. This is the No. 2 variety, iu the estate nomen- 

 clature, of the variety C. angustifolia. How. I. This species was 

 discovered by Haaskarl, cultivated oualargescale iu Java and found 

 to be worthless. From Java it w'as introduced into India, but fortu- 

 nately its culture here never went beyond the stage of an experi- 

 ment, m. This plaut was said by Cross, on his recent visit to the 

 Nilgiris, to be the 6'. crispa of which he sent seeds from the Loxa 

 Moinitaius. That it came from Loxa there is no doubt, ;vs the few 

 specimens of it on the estate of Dodabetta are growing amongst tlie 

 *' crown " barks introduced from that region. It differs, however, 

 very much from the C. crispa of Tafalla, which belongs to tlie 

 C. oj/ichtaiis group of Weddell. In general appearance it is more 

 nearly allied to Weddell's section Pahiidiaiue. Its bai'k is also very 

 peculiar, in fact unique, n. This form of the C. Calisaya grows to 

 a considerable size and has bright green shining leaves, some of 

 which measure from 6 to 7 inches iu length by 3-^ to 4 inches in 

 width. Flowers pink, very sweetly scented. 0. This plaut ai> 

 preaches the Bolioiaiw. form of Weddell, but the Calisayas are most 

 variable. 



At a meeting ot the Society, Mr. Holmes called attention 

 to various specimens of Indian bark which had been forward- 

 ed luider the instructions of the Indian Government by Sur- 

 gcuu-Major Bidie, the Superintendent of the Museum at Mad- 

 ras. A descriptive catalogue of the barks, and of the Herbari- 

 um specimens accompanying them, is printed on pp. 8J1, M'2. 

 iMr, Holmes said that the bark were accompanietl bye.\- 

 cellent specimens of the plants themselves, representing 

 the dower, the leaf, and the fruit, the Herbarium speci- 

 mens being labelled with numbers corresponding to the 

 numbers of the barks. The specimens had been prepared 

 with the greatest care, and full details had been given in 

 each case, both of the plant and of the bark. This was 

 one of the most valuable collections of Indian barks 

 which had ever been sent to this country. Great credit 

 was due to the gentleman who had superintended the col- 

 lection of these specimens. It would be possible i- the 



future for any person who wanted to identify the bark 

 which he was using to do so by comparing it with the 

 Museum specimens. Two of the specimens were very in- 

 teresting from a botanical point of view as showing that 

 tile cinchonas, like the elms and ma])les of England, .some- 

 times produced a bark which was excessively corky. The 

 cork iu some of these barks varied from J inch to 4 inch 

 in thickness. There was also on the table a specimen of 

 Manilla Elemi presented by Messrs. Evans, Lescher and 

 Webb. It was imported in a new kind of packing, which 

 he had never seen before. There was also a specimen of 

 crude and refined ozokerit and an elastic bitumen from 

 Castleton, in Derbyshire, somewhat approaching the coo- 

 rongite of Australia. 



The President said that the members of the Society would 

 better appreciate the very complete catalogue of the .speci- 

 mens which had been sent with the collection of barks 

 when they were able to read it. The Council of the 

 Society had already expressed its thanks ofHcially to the 

 Government of luclia for its courtesy in pas.sing on to 

 the proper authorities the request of the Society to be 

 furnished with these specimens. They had been collected 

 and arranged under the personal superintendence of 

 Siu'geon-Major Bidie. If had not been for Surgeon-Major 

 Bidie's zeal, probably the Society would not have been so 

 successful in getting a complete collection, and certainly 

 not so successful in getting such excellent botanical speci- 

 mens. Their thanks were eminently due to him and the 

 officials of the Government for their courtesy. 



Leaf-disease in Netiiep.lands India is evidently 

 pursuing the same disastrous course as in the British 

 East Indian possessions, as witness the following para- 

 graph of Netherlands India news in the Stmi'.s Times : 

 — By last advices, leaf-disease had appeared on many 

 estates in the neighbourhood of Samrang. Trees in 

 hundreds have been thereby rendered leafleos, no re- 

 medy apparently availing. 



" Tapioca and Arrowroot. " — A correspondent 

 writes : — " Allow me to thank your Colombo correspon- 

 dent for his valuable iutormation as to boiling tapioca. 

 It isn't likely I should eat it uncooked, but it isn't 

 necessary to boil it at all. Baking answers tlie pur- 

 pose equally well. For your correspondent's informa- 

 tion, allow me to say ray grand-mother used to tell 

 me when a child that uncooked potatoes contained 

 poison, and since then I have learned that many other 

 esculent roots contain poison, but when subjected to 

 either a dry or moist heat, the poison is expelled. " 

 Mr. J. W. Home iuforms us that lie is prepared 

 to supply 100 tons of tapioca per annum at 3d per 

 lb. ; but even at this low rate there is no local 

 demand worth speaking of, and yet surely, iu these 

 " hard times," tapioca at 3d per lb., ought to be a 

 famous article of diet in families with children. 



Mysore, April 21et. — Good prospects for card- 

 amoms here, if we get April rains. But they have not 

 come as yet. Why do not Ceylou fellows advertize in 

 the Cei/lon Weekly Observer or the Tropical Ai/ricu/tarisl 

 ciuchoiiaseed. iPwo men do it, but where are the rest? 

 We want variety to choose from. Yarrow ledgers 

 germinated beautifully common method. So a beginniu" 

 in cinchona has been made. Queer climate. Been seedy 



I for a month anda-half. Will get usrd to it in time. 



i Could give more hints on pepper and cardamoms, 

 but am toMgiie lied. Indian planters arc not so free 

 witli information as Ceylon men. Witness Dobree 

 with liis startling pictures. He should have been an 

 artist. Perhaps the engraver was of an independent 

 turn. What knocks me up here is the kiln-like heat 

 compared with the steamy heat of Ceylon. 1 'II do 30 

 miles a day in Ratnapura heat, when yon reqire a 

 horse here for ordinary work. Tiiey get their rain here 

 all at once and heat clicto. to. yj, cotfee looking very 

 preity, but I sternly gaze on its charms, as card- 

 amoms are what must be cultivated. 



