November t, 1882,] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



3'% 



Entkrprize — A scheme is on foot in which 

 capitalists undertake to invest £10,000 in imirortino; 

 and breeding ostriches and cultivating wattles ami 

 olives in the Northern Territory of Austialia. — fionce'-. 



North Tkavancore Land Planting and Agricult- 

 ural Shoiktv (LiMiTun).— The writer of the letter on 

 the Kannan Divan Hills in a recent issue now writes 

 to us:— '-The Society have decided to grant a cimi- 

 niission to .igents who will effect sales of land lor 

 them, and if any one would care to undertake an agency, 

 they would hear of favourable terms by writing. Mr. A. 

 W. Turner will gl.idly put up any one who may come 

 over, and show him over the land. The journey 

 would be a most charming excursion." 



Pearl Oy.sihr.s migrating from the F.ed Sea to the 

 Medeiterrauean is a piece of news given in the Graphic 

 by this mail. Can any one send us Dr. Keller's 

 report, or is it given in substance in Nuturet 



Dr. Keller has communicated to the Swiss Geographical 

 Society some mteresting notes relative to the migi-atiou 

 of fisli by means of the Suez Canal. It was at one time 

 predicted" that the interchange of fish between the 

 Mediterranean and the Ked Sea would soon assume large 

 proportions, but this prediction has not been fulfilled. 

 Specimens of the smaller Mediterranean fish have been 

 found in the Red Sea, and for some unexplained reason 

 the fish seem to travel in that dtL'eetion in preference 

 to the other. The most interesting cu-cumstanee noted 

 is that the pearl oyster is slowly making its way toward 

 the Mediterranean. Its progress is slow, but it is said 

 to be moving in large companies. 



Malt CorPKE.— If that new temperance beverage, malt 

 coffee, be as stn-ngtliening and nutritious us other 

 malted foods it will bf a matter for regret should this 

 addition to the national dietary come to harm through 

 fiscal reguLitions. There are, we know, several so- 

 called " coffees " whose disappearance would be no loss 

 to the British public. These are, for the most part., 

 coffee oi;ly iu name, a very small portion of the 

 fragrant berry being mixed with ingredients whicli 

 have no sort of claim to public favour. iM.ilt cofl'ee, 

 on the contrary, should be both wholesome and in- 

 vigorating, if the constituents are what the name 

 implies. Each is beneficial in tts own way to the 

 human constitution, and the combination ought, there- 

 fore, to improve the health of those wlio consume it. 

 We assume, of course, that the article is genuine; 

 real coffee and real malt in due proportions, without 

 any foreign ingredient added. Such is the claim, at 

 all events, by those who have introduced the com- 

 pound, and, if it can be upheld, the new industry 

 would seem rather to deserve Stale encouragenieut 

 than suppression. — Globe, 4th Aug. 



Ekman'.s Fibre Patent — . Mr. Thomas Christy, 

 of Fencliurch Street, writes again : — " Mr. Leechman 

 has had another iutoi-view with Mr. Eknian with a 

 view to determine if Ins patent process could be profit- 

 ably employed in C'ejlon upon coconut husks with 

 a view of extracting the fibre so as to yield a com- 

 mercial result. The apparatus, which consists of a 

 cylinder for boiling the material in, and a furnace 

 for making bi-sulphite of magnesia, is the whole 

 plant that is necessary, of course provided anyone 

 who is going to work it has a small steam boiler, 

 beciiuse the fire is not put under the cylinder, but 

 the coi'teuts of the cylinder are heated by steam. 

 So many people ask me where the paper on which 

 the book is printed has been made. My reply is, 

 ' at the Ilford paper works ! ' " — [The paper is of excel- 

 lent quality aud the wood pulp is so cheap, that 

 to prepare a' il export fibres hence for paper making, 

 would be in most cisc9 useless. But, according to 

 Mr. C'liristy, Kknian's pa^ei t process will facilitate 

 enormously t' e preparation of fibres from plant- 

 ains, jiineapple.s, aloes, &c., fur textile purposes, the 

 fibres for such purpjsea selling at high prices. — Ed.] 



The Tea at present most in demand in the London 

 market is a good thick malty liquor, with a bright 

 copper colored infused leaf ; nnderfermentd teas witli 

 pale liquor aud greeuish infusion which was the fashion- 

 able tea a short time ago, now linds no buyers. — South 

 of India Observer. _ , 



Shaving Cinchona. — Has any one experience ex-^ 

 tending over a longer period than three j'cars and 

 four shavings? We hear of a planter in a high dis- 

 trict whose trees are renewing their bark for the 

 fifth time — with from si.x to eight niontlis between 

 each shaving — and his experience has been an increase 

 ill quantity and largely m quality at each shaving, 

 while only a small percentage of his trees seems to 

 have snfi'ered in any way. 



Grafting l^XTRAOKDiNAEy ; Vines on Cacti. — Dr. 

 Taylor of " Science Gus-iip " writes to the Aiitfralasinv: 

 — "I don't know how much truth there is in the 

 stated discovery that experiments have been niade in 

 South California which are likely to revolutionize 

 viticulture. Grape cuttings, inserted or grafted on the 

 trunks of cactuses, are said to flourish as vigorously 

 as on cultivated land. If this be so, the most barren 

 lands of tropical regions may be turned to v.'»luable 

 account. I mention the statement (which I have seeu 

 m an American scientific journal) for what it is worth 

 as well as 10 give a hint to such of my Australians 

 readers as may be iterested iu vine culture." 



Quinine : Prof. Morton on the New " Cuinoline." 

 — According to the Oil find Drwj News, President Henry 

 Morton, of the Stevens Institute of Technology, who 

 has given much attention to the production of artificial 

 quinine, was recently interviewed hy a reporter and 

 said that artificial chinoliue was so much like the 

 drug of eonimerce that many persons believed it to 

 be the medicinjil equivalnnt of quinine. If it did not 

 prove to be fully that, there could be no doubt that 

 the progress thus made would be advanced till it 

 produced quinine itseif. By a process of destructive 

 distillation, 'hinoliue could be obtained from quinine, 

 aud, with the resources of modern chemistry, it was 

 certain that this result could be reversed. Professor 

 Morten said that he had mauufaetured the artificial 

 chinoline in his own laboratory, a few ounces at a 

 time, until he had produced probably some three pounds 

 in all. He had succeeded in making some minor im- 

 provements in the process, as for instance in the 

 purification. When first made in Ge.-manv, the colorless 

 liquid .-tssuiiied a reddish-biviwu tint on expo.sure to the 

 air, but as he now made it, I he liquor remained color- 

 less at all times. This liquid was combined with, 

 tartaric acid, and then formed bi-tartaric of chinoline. 

 In this form, if pure, it was a white, cryst.alline 

 powder, resembling commercial sulphate of quinine. 

 Professor Morton exhibited some of this powder. It 

 has an acrid, slightly burning taste, but the flavor is 

 not so liitter as that of quinine, and it jjassea 

 away much more quickly. A number of experiments to 

 teat the medicinal qualities of the new product have 

 been made iu Russia, Germany and America, but 

 with no decisive result. -It has been proved, how- 

 evir, that the artificial chinoline, when administered 

 medicinally, has the effect of lowering the tcmpen ture, 

 a-t quinine has, and that, like quinine, it is a powerful 

 antiseptic. When asked as to the probable supply 

 and cost of artificial chinoline, iu case it should be 

 proved the medicinal equivalent of quinine. Professor 

 Alorton repl.ed that it could easily be manufactured 

 in great quantities at large works erected for that 

 purpose, and that the actual cost of its production 

 need not exceed one dollar a pound. luasmucJi as 

 the supi'ly of I'eiuviau bark was diminishiu;;, the gre,"** 

 impoitani't of a che,ap inexhausiilde substitute wis 

 apparent. This last statement of the Professor is 

 certainly no borne out by the great exicnsiou which is 

 taking place lu chiuona cultivation. 



