378 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[November i, 1882. 



method is to break up thu natural salts of the al- 

 kaloid in the bark and fix the colouriiij^' n; it: Ts by 

 lime ia excess. The free alkaloids are then ext acted 

 with amylic alcohol, ether being added to facditate 

 the percolation and Hltration. Tlie alkaloids are cou- 

 into salts, and thus got out of the am\lic alcohol 

 verted into a watery solution. From this they are pre- 

 cipitated in the prcBence of chlor"form, which dissolves 

 them freely. Finally the chloroform is evaporated off, 

 and the residue weighed aa anli\drous alkaloids. The 

 various steps of the process are then mi' ut' ly detailed. 



The digestion and shaking with amylc alcohol dis- 

 solves all the alkaloids present, and ditsolveB very 

 little besidis ; but a portion of thesoluiion remains 

 absorbed by the spongy char.u-ter of tiie particles. 

 Such portions can be percolated out on a tilter with 

 amylic alcohol, and without etlie , but the filtration 

 is t dious and troublesome. By diluting the >i!cohol 

 with about three times its volume of stronger eher, 

 it is rendered very manageable, and the filtrations 

 and washings are acoompliehed in about au hour, 

 leavini; the residue practicdiy exhausted. Ii this 

 solution be evaporated spont:ineously, or by a w^Uer- 

 bath, it cret ps over the edges of the caiisule badlj ; 

 but if boiled down in a flask in a water bath, as 

 soon as the ether is driven off the remainder has no 

 tendency to creep over. Care must be taken that 

 the ether vapour does not catch fire. 



The alkaloids are wnshed out from the amylic sol- 

 ution as acid oxalates, being thus freed from wa^y 

 and fatty matters ; three washings are required. The 

 solution being concentrated, the alkaloids are precipit- 

 ated in the presence of pure, not commercial, chloro- 

 form. Normal solution of sodium is .added to ensure 

 precipitation complete to an alkaline reaction, yet 

 without sufficient excess of sodium to hold the alkal- 

 oids from the chloroform. A net filter is an efficient 

 m^ans of separating the chloroform, for not oueparticle 

 of it passes, while the watery solution of sodium 

 oxalate goes through to the last drop. 



In the same way ihe chloroform may be separated 

 by a chloroform-wet'ed filter, all impurities being 

 left behind. 



A Gum Forest.— Mr. O'Neill, H. B. M.'s Consul at 

 Mozambique, has recently reported lo the Foreign Office 

 that from Mr. James Heathcote, of Inhambaue (who 

 was emplojed by him for the recovery of the body of 

 the late Captain Wybrauts), he has received information 

 of the disc ivery of a considerable tract of copal forest. 

 Mr. Heathcote writes : — "The forest where I obtained 

 this gum, of which I send you spicimeus (1 have 

 collected 6 tons) is fully 200 miles long. It is a 

 belt which runs parallel with the coast, and is mid- 

 way between the coast and the first range of niouut- 

 aius. From Inhanibane it is nearly 100 miles to get 

 right into it." The distance of the forest from Inham- 

 baue is rather great, and may retaid its being opened up; 

 but its discovery adds to the known wealth of the district, 

 and a new export to the place. Mr. Heathcote points out 

 the following ounous coincidence, and although ii may 

 not be the first time that atteutiou has been drawn to it, 

 the Consul mentions it: — "The native name of this 

 gum is 'Stakate' and ' Staka.' The Zulu name for 

 gum IS ' luthlaka.' The name ' Stacte,' mentioned ia 

 Exodu-i XXX .34 (this is believed to be the gum of the 

 Stoma tree, Siyrux officinale), would be pronounced as 

 the above native name. The tree dominiers over all, 

 and standing in any place overlooking the forest;, you 

 see here and there trees grooving as ii were in a liay- 

 field. Tlie gum i as a beauti'ul odour if j ouiided and 

 burnt, also ii boded in a pot of wa er." The ordinary 

 gum copal tree of the inaitdand of Z ii zibar and Aiozaiu- 

 bique, though as a rule lofty, is bj' no means of the 

 striking st:iture indicated by Mr. Heathcote's com- 

 parison. — Public Opinion. 



The Coming Coffee Ceop in Southern India ia evid- 

 eutlv going to be a good one, if we may judge from the 

 number of orders for pulpers and otiier machinery 

 received at Colombo recently. = il/. Mail. 



KuEisEKS. — Dr. Trimeu brings back a most encourag- 

 iog account of the extent to which indiarubber is in 

 demand : the manufacturers will take all the raw pro- 

 duce that can be sent to them, and numerous new 

 uses for the aincle could be found, ii only rubber 

 were more plentiful and cheaper. On the other hand, 

 in Ceylon, the plants are flonrishiug amain and may 

 be expected to run wild with tea and lantaua — so well- 

 fitted is the climate for them. 



Utacamund. — The extent to which the Melanoxylon 

 has been eradicated is apparent from the scanty show 

 in the station of the golden blofsom of this variety 

 of Australian tree. In August it usually bursts into 

 profuse bloom and the trees are a mass of blossom 

 with a strong though not disagreeable odour. In a 

 few years, we may hope to see it disappear alto- 

 gether if house owners continue to remove it as ner- 

 sistently as they have done of late years. — SozUh of 

 Itidia Observer. 



Mysore (Monzerabad), 1st Sept. — Since the first 

 week of August, weather has been fins here. Only 

 some IS inches of rain have fallen for the month, 

 but we had a great deal too much of it in July when 

 97 08in. fell, and June with 5049. I wpu Id suggest 

 your fixing a rather stronger wrapper around iheT. A. 

 In the last two numbers they were torn to ribbons. It 

 was sc'ircely possible to read the address on one of them, 

 and I fear in consequence some day I may have to lament 

 its non-arrival from the impossihility of knowing in tha 

 post-office to nhom it is directed. The more I see 

 of the disease, or whatever it inav be that hus affected 

 my calisayas both " Ledger" and "Verdi," before prick- 

 ing out, the less I can think it is due to minute 

 snails, as I saw mentioned in a late number of the 

 T. A. Reading the article upon orange culture in August 

 number (on the right hand column of page 119), I was 

 struck with the idea that the "fungus of the cutting 

 bench" seemed a better explanation, if such is possible, 

 than any other theory I have heard started on the 

 subject, as I have noticed the surface sand in seed- 

 linn boxes adhering together with a "spider-web-like 

 substance" where the plants were dying off. 



Frxjits and Vebetaeles are "in se.ison" just now 

 iu and around Kandy : the market teems with them ; 

 and loads of them are carried along the roads for 

 sale. Oranges sell at a cent each, and a hundred good 

 limes can be had for six cents. j?he capabilities of the 

 soil are sneh that a good trade should be established 

 between Colombo and Kandy in fruits and veJctables 

 of all kinds. The absence of anythins like system- 

 atic cultivation is what strikes one everj'where. Even 

 the jak growes almost wild here and supplies the 

 Kandyan with a staple article of his ordinary food. 

 The appearance of paddy fields receiving but the 

 poorest attention from the sons of the soil gives one 

 the idea of Palestine — the land flowing with milk and 

 hone}'. Really, when looking at a vast expanse of land 

 very near tiampola on the Pussellawa road— an e.x- 

 panse of paddy laud all plorious with green and gold, 

 with paddy in ears and fully ripe — ready for the scythe 

 — bending under its own weight and having a scent 

 peculiar to itself, — 1 was forcibly reminded of jenesis 

 xxvii 27 : — " See, the smell of my son is as the 

 smell of a field which the Lord has blessed." The 

 seasons are eminently propitious : on the other side of 

 the road they are just preparing the land for sowing, 

 whilst along the line you see paddy in every stage of 

 growth. If only the hard-working cultivator of the 

 northern peninsula could be induced to settle here 

 and ti 1 the land. Ceyhm should once more be what it 

 it W.1S in ancient times, the "Eden of the eastern 

 ^ave." — Cor. 



