October f, 1884.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



2Q1 



the Director of the Botanical Gardens at Trinidad, who 

 has sent the following interesting information : — 



" Your remark that the odour of the oil is rather that 

 of lemons than of limes is quite correct. It is to be ob- 

 served that the odour of West Indian limes, as produced 

 here, is rather that of lemons, as produced in Europe than 

 of limes produced there. The young shoots and all tender 

 parts of the lime here have the odour of Aloysia citriodora* 

 the stronger lime odour being developed in the o'der parts. 

 In the treatment of the truit for obtaining the essence, 

 the more rapid the process, the more pronounced is the 

 lemon odour in the result if perfectly fresh fruits are 

 used. The strong flavour of limes, more or less tinged with 

 that of turpentine, seems to be a result of treating stale 

 or decomposed fruit tissue. The plan adopted on economic 

 grounds in Dominica and Montserrat of crushing the limes 

 as received from day to day ami then, on the attainment 

 of a large quantity of pulp, proceeding to boil down or 

 distil, seems completely preventive of a fine flavour in the 

 resulting essence when obtained. I might mention also 

 that in some of our samples the essence has been obtained 

 from lemons mixed with the limes, the two being grown, 

 on the same field and worked off by hand together. I 

 may add that our limes are the finest in the West Indies, 

 and are produced on trees quite unmatched for size and 

 exuberance in any part known to me in the Western 

 tropics." 



The mystery is thus solved. If this product can be 

 placed on the market at a price to compete with the Sicilian 

 article and of quality such as the sample now in the Mu- 

 seum of this Societv, there is every probability that it 

 will soon come into demand for purposes of perfumery 

 and culinary flavouring, etc., for which it is peculiarly 

 fitted by its pure fragrance aud great solubility in alcohol. — 

 Pharmact utical Journal. 



Oil, OF TTMES. 



Sir, — Since the appearance of my remarks on Trinidad 

 Oil of Limes in this Journal, I have received a letter 

 from the Montserrat Co., Limited, in which I am in- 

 formed that the statement therein quoted by me from 

 Mr. Prestoe's letter, to the effect that " the plan is adopted 

 in Dominica and Montserrat of crushing the limes, and 

 then, on the attainment of a large quantity of pulp, pro- 

 ceeding to boil down, or distil," is quite incorrect, at all 

 events as respects Montserrat. The writer adds the fol- 

 lowing remarks: — "We feel sure that Mr. Prestoe made 

 this statement in ignorance, and would be the first to 

 wish to correct it. The whole of the Montserrat lime 

 essence is made upon our estates, which probably turn out 

 three times as much as all the rest of the West [ndies 

 put together. All that we manufacture at present is hand 

 made, neither submitted to boiling or listillation, and the 

 quality is universally admitted to be the finest in the 

 market." I have not had the opportunity of examining a 

 sample of the oil of limes prepared by the Montserrat Uo. t 

 but of all the samples met with in commerce that 1 have 

 examined, not tine would bear comparison in odour with the 

 specimen of Trinidad oil of limes of which I wrote. In fact 

 I am told that the latter was not recognized as oil of limes 

 by the. usual buyers of the article, which is sufficient evidence 

 for my statement that it differs from the ordinary oil of 

 limes. 



The Montserrat Company's letter indicates, however, that 

 the difference I have observed is not due to the reason 

 assigned by Mr. Prestoe, and that there must be some 

 other cause for it. I should be the last to wish to publish 

 incorrect statements, or to injure the reputation of any 

 genuine commercial product, and should be glad, therefore. 

 if you will afford me the opportunity of publishing the 

 above statement. If the product of the Montserrat Com 

 pany has the same fragrance as the Trinidad specimen that 

 I examined, there' can be no reason why it should not still 

 be considered the finest in the market. — E. M. Holmes.— 

 pkarmaci utical Journal, 



* I' had enquired in my letter whether the oil was ■•' 

 tajned from lemons or from the leuiou-scentud v^rbcuu 

 {Afot/jut citriodora). — E, M, H. 



Aimus prkcatorius still seems to be attracting some atten- 

 tion, and is to form one of the subjects for the debate 

 on Indian drugs at the meeting of the British Medical 

 Association at Belfast. In the Journal de Pharmacie (.Tune, 

 p. 468), M. Patein gives an account of an examination of 

 the testa of these seeds. He finds them to contain a large 

 proportion of carbonate of lime and rather more iron than 

 haemoglobin. The colouring matter is soluble in alcohol and 

 contains, so far as has been ascertained, a salt of iron. It 

 is thrown down completely by subacetate of lead as a green- 

 ish precipitate. It is also turned green by alkalies and is 

 ireddened again by acids.— Pharmaceutical Journal. 



Refining of Shellac. — The crude shellac is refined in 

 the following way : — One aud a half kiloliters of soda arc 

 dissolved in forty-five liters of water contained in a small 

 boiler or kettle; five kiloliters of the crude shellac are added 

 in small quantities at a time. This turbid solution has the 

 characteristic odour of shellac, and a violet-red color. The 

 liquid is boiled for a few minutes, and, while hot, a wooden 

 air-tight cover is cemented on the vessel. When the liquid 

 is quite cold, the cover is removed, and the thin cake of fat 

 which is found on the surface is separated. The solution is 

 filtered through linen, the clear filtrate slowly decomposed 

 with dilute sulphuric acid, and the resulting shellac washed 

 with water until no acid reaction remains. The washed 

 resin is now pressed, and melted in boiling water, when it 

 can be shaped with the fingers. This shellac is cooled in 

 water containing glycerole, and, when hard, is dried. The 

 refined shellacforms yellowish-white glistening tufts or bars, 

 which, when dry, are yellowish-brown; should entirely dis- 

 solve in alcohol. — Popular Science. 



1'ki kolkim a Wood Presebvkb.— Petroleum is a valu- 

 able wood preservative. Wood of white pine exposed fully 

 to the weather and treated to a wash of petroleum sixteen 

 years ago, says a writer in the New York Tribune, remains 

 hard and sound within a sixth of an inch of the outside, 

 or so far as the oil penetrated, brown and compact, while 

 further in the pine has its usual white appearance. The 

 oil with its solid ingredients in solution entered and filled 

 the pores of the wood and changed it in both texture and 

 appearance to something like cedar. He used it first on 

 the roof of a dwelling and on the shing'es of several barns; 

 and after a lapse of sixteen years they appear to be as sound 

 as when first laid. AVhere the roofs are much shaded no 

 moss has formed on them. One of the barns had a steep 

 roof, from which the oil caused the snow as soon as it ac- 

 cumulated in any quantity to slide freely, and this freedom 

 from heavy loads of snow continued for several years. — 

 Independent Journal. 



The Nardoo. — With reference to the Nardoo (Marsilea), 

 so common in all our swamps, I have been informed by 

 a gentleman who was at Cooper's Creek at the time of 

 the death of Burk and Wills, that 'speaking of the aborig- 

 ines) after the swamps have dried up they collect the Nardoo 

 in large quantities by kneeling on the ground and scraping 

 it together. It is then put into a " cogie," or piece of 

 the sap-wood of a tree, with a hollow knot or protuberance 

 which forms a cup-shaped cavity, where it is freed from 

 earth or other dirt, and then ground in a quern, which 

 is simply a tlat stone slightly hollowed out in an oblong 

 form. Tin; process of grinding is performed with a round, 

 smooth boulder, and is facilitated by the addition of a 

 little water, or if that is scarce, by a squirt from the 

 mouth, aud when it is reduced to a sticky pulp'it is fit 

 for use. Contrary to the general belief, the Nardoo is never 

 converted into bread by these blacks. In the wet season, 

 when the Nardoo is not procurable, the blacks derive a 

 good deal of their support from the seed of a Myrtaceoous 

 tree, wdiich be believes to be a species of Eucalyptus, and 

 known there by the name of Yellow Box. When the fruit 

 is nearly ripe a small patch is cleared round the tree and 

 confined by branches, to prevent the fruit from escaping 

 when thrown on the ground. When a sufficient quantity 

 has been cut down they are allowed to remain on the ground 

 till the capsule bursts and discharges the small seed, which 

 is then collected into the "cogie," and afterwards manu- 

 factured like Nardoo. Also from the seeds of a tall grats 

 (evidently a Panicum), known by the aborigines as " Pawpa," 

 which is treated in a similar manner to the Yellow Bo 

 seeds Hats are made from the stems of this grass sinipb 

 bj sewing them together.— V. A. O'SfiAKJSSS un the FJoia 

 .of Queensland. — Gardeners Chronicle. 



