November t, 1884.J THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



37' 



ceding fruits, but as this fruit usually contains but one 

 seed, tins compensates to a certain extent for deficiency 

 in size, and it is noticed that these seeds contain rather 

 more alkaloid than the seeds from fruit No. 1, although 

 this fruit yielded seeds which were larger. The proportion 

 of strychnine is fairly constant, being a little more than 

 one-third of the total alkaloid. 



We now made further analyses to elucidate the im- 

 portant question alluded to in the early portion of this 

 paper, namely, whether increase in the size of the seed 

 corresponded with an increase in aikaloidal content, 

 for this purpose the largest seeds were selected from fruit 

 No. 1 and also the smallest seeds from the same fruit; 

 these two sets of seeds were then separately analysed. 

 willi the results recorded in an appended table. These 

 results conclusively show that the largest seeds con- 

 tiin the greatest amount of total alkaloid, although the 

 increase in alkaloid in the present instance has been in 

 brucine, tie' quantity of strychnine in both seeds being 

 the same. This latter point deserves fuller investigation 

 in other specimens. 



General Bearing of the Investigation.— the principal ex- 



* perimental results of this inquiry are summarized in the 



appended tables. Apart from minor points that have been 



elucidated, the following important conclusions have been 



arrived at: — 



•The poisonous nature of the pulp of the fruit of Strychnos 

 Xux-vomica has been conclusively demonstrated by physio- 

 logical experimi nt. The chemical examination of the pulp 

 has shown that it contains, besides the alkaloids strychn- 

 ine and brucine, a new glucoside which we have called 

 loganin. 



The glucoside loganin has been shown to exist in small 

 quantity in the seeds. 



The alkaloidal content of the seeds of Strychnos Wux- 

 comica is directly as their size and inversely as their num- 

 ber in the fruit. 



Chemical and Botanical Analysis of the Seeds of Strychnos Nux-vomica indigenous to Ceylon. 



The seeds obtained from the Strychnos Nux-% ica 



indigenous to Ceylon are especially noteworthy for their 

 extremely high alkaloidal content. Every specimen ex- 

 amined has contained much more alkaloid' than we have 

 previously shown to exist in the richest specimen of nux- 

 vomica seed that enters the English market— "Bombay " 

 (3-"0 per cent). One specimen of the seed (from No. 3 

 fruit) yielded a very much larger quantity of alkaloid 

 than has ever been supposed to exist in the seeds of this 

 plant (5-84 percent). This is a matter of gnat importance 

 from a commercial standpoint, for the plant is very 

 abundant in Ceylon, and at present none of the seeds 

 are exported from the island. 



This communication bears witness to our great indebted- 

 ness to Dr. Ondaatje; but for his notes, drawings, speci- 

 mens and his unwearied interest in the work, the results 

 described in this paper could never have been n 

 Dr. Ondaatje's drawings are of the greatest value not only 

 on account of their high artistic merit, but also for the 

 great accuracy with which the botanical characters are 

 depicted. The illustrations to this paper are probably the 

 most faithful reproductions of the nux-vomica plant that 

 have yet appeared. 



Analyses of targe and Small Seeds from sanu l:\-rd. 



Tiik Fruit Trade in New Orleans and Honduras. — 

 An American paper says that eight years ago a steamer 

 was rarely seen in a port of Spanish Honduras, and all 

 the trading was carried on iu schooners. Now there are 

 six steamers plying regularly between New Orleans alone 

 and the Honduras ports, all engaged in the fruit trade, 

 and there is not a day but a steamer is seen landing at 

 short intervals along the coast and at the Bay Islands, 

 taking on the cargoes of Bananas, Coconuts, Pine Apples, 

 Limes Lemons, and Oranges. A steamer will bring to 

 New Orleans 15,000 to 20,000 bunches of Bananas, ami an 

 equal number of Coconuts. The effect of this trade has 



been to stimulate the cultivation of fruit in that lazy 

 country and increase the price. Coconuts now bring 20 

 to oil dollars (about £4 to £6) per thousand on the coast, 

 and at these prices the cultivation is very profitable. Land 

 is cheap; it may he bad for nothing in some places, and 

 for a trine in the best regions. It retjuires seven years for 

 a Coconut tree to bear, but from that time on it yields 

 a never-failing crop of 120 to 150 nuts a year. The I 

 bears a crop of bunches nine months from the time the 

 sprout is planted, and as the soil is very rich the yield 

 . is large — larger than that of any other article of food 

 I grown in the same area. — Journal of Horticulture, 



