Nov. 3, 1885] THE TROPICAL AGRfCULTUKlSIf^.- 



^7;* 



cluster on the branches as i£ they had broken 

 into blossom. All along the road the Australian 

 " robins " precede us, Hitting from fence-top to 

 fence-top, and turning their glowing, incandescent 

 red breasts towards us, as if they were askmg 

 whether our humbler English robin red-breasts could 

 equal them. The crow shrikes, or magpies (surely 

 the most delightful as well as the most useful of 

 Australian birds), were everywhere, basknig and 

 frolicking in the sun like so many kittens, and piping 

 their lovelv flute-like notes like the half-forgotten 

 refrain of 'some old song. The pretty but more 

 silent and smaller magi)ie-larks were almost eiiually 

 numerous. Occasionally we got a glimpse of the 

 male of the beautiful blue wren, but he was too 

 proud to show much of himself. The yellow wrens 

 were not halt so shy or so scanty, whilst the fly- 

 catchers were abroad, and busy in great force. 

 The black crows had possession of the semi-cleared 

 country, except where a few jays disputed with 

 them. Overhead, a pair of kites or an occasional 

 hawk soared and screamed. But the parrots and 

 parakeets and cockatoos were by far the most 

 numerous and varied of all the feathered tribes, as 

 it is right and proper they should be in an Aus- 

 tralian forest. In one place a number of those 

 stately grallatoral birds known as " native com- 

 panions " were going through all the movements 

 of a quadrille party, bowing to each other, retiring, 

 advancing and retreating, as if to some unheard 

 music. They are handsome birds, for their crimson 

 heads contrast well with the generally French grey 

 plumage. The ordinary blue cranes were not ucomn- 

 mon, plovers or curlews were numerous, and we saw a 

 few of those much sought-after birds, the bastard, 

 better known to sportsmen, perhaps, as the "turkey." 

 The forest grew denser and swampier as we 

 penetrated it. There was a thick and almost im- 

 penetrable undergrowth of young gumtrees, heath, 

 myrtaceous plants, prickly acacia, climbers and 

 bracken, and one felt what a capital haunt and 

 breeding-ground such a place must be for snakes. 

 One had to reverse the old proverb about not being 

 able to see wood for trees, here we could hardly 

 Bee trees for wood. 



Snakes are gradually getting scarcer in Austraha. 

 A war of extermination is being waged against them, 

 which is getting hotter and fiercer every day, for 

 there are more people joining in the attack. The 

 more a country gets cleared for pasturage, the 

 less are She chances for snakes. They are then 

 belter seen by their natural enemies, among which, 

 perhaps, their most deadly are the laughing jack- 

 asses {Dacelo ginaiiteu) - a kingflsher wliichhas taken 

 to kilUug and feeding on snakes instead of on flshes. 

 We arrived at a clearing in the forest, where 

 there are one or two small but comfortable wooden 

 houses, at one of which we passed the night. A 

 good many half-wild cattle roam about (my friend 

 owned 2,000). They lead a semi-savage lite, a few 

 being trained to come near the station to be fed 

 and milked. A number of rough forest liorses, 

 brought up in a similar way, also hung around tlie 

 place. We mounted these, and rode about eight 

 milcB into the more unfrequented parts, where the 

 kangaroos still abound. They had recently been 

 much disturbed through rabbit shooting ; but 1 saw 

 two red wallaby kangaroos and one "old man" 

 (iiuuropm major). I had never seen them before 

 alive, except in menageriei and zoological gardens, 

 and as a naturalist and geologist I- was therefore 

 deeply interested in seeing them in their native 

 haunts. They are the oldest race of man:mals 

 in the world, and lived in England during the 

 Becondaiy period, whicli must have been many 

 millioiia of yeara ago.— Australasian. 



THE MAXUFACTUKE OF QUININE. 

 The price at which sulphate of quinia, the quinine 

 of the druggist, is uow selling is lower than it has 

 ever before been in the history of the trade. At 

 the time liiu 20 per cent, duty was removed, in July, 

 187'J, quinine of American manufacture was being 

 offered at f3.3o i',-- ounce in bulk, or #8.10 in ounce 

 vials, while the price of the foreign artcle, duty un- 

 paid, was about 50c. per ounce less. As soon as 

 the duty was removed the price of the foreign drug 

 advanced to about the level of the American. 

 Foreign manufacturers, finding the -American iiiailicl 

 open to them, sent large quantities of quinine to 

 this country during the six montlis immediately 

 following the date of the removal of the duty, which 

 in the face of the light demand caused prices to 

 fall, the price of American quinine near the close of 

 187".) being $2.(10 an ounce in vials. .Shortly after 

 .January 1st, 18S0, there was an active demand both 

 in the United States and abroad for quinine, and 

 prices advanced to S'3 an ounce at the close of the 

 month. Since that date the price of sulpliate of 

 (juinia has fluctuated, the foreign and domestic article 

 both being offered today at about the same prio«, 

 8(lc. per ounce. 



What has been the cause of this great reduction 

 in the price of quinine since 1880 ? lias the removal 

 of the duty alone had the effect of cheapening the 

 drug .so greatly during the past live years, or have 

 there , been other causes that have contribut.:d to 

 this result ? While the removal of the duty has 

 been an important factor in Uie cheapening process 

 it lias by no means been the only cause. The law 

 of supjily and demand, wliicli largely regulates the 

 prices of all commodities, has to a great extent led 

 to the reduction of the price of this drug. Quinine 

 is cheap to day in England and on the continent of 

 Europe as well as in the United States, partly because 

 the cinchona bark, from which it is obtained, is 

 cheap, and the cinchona bark is cheap because it is 

 in large supply. For many years South America 

 supplied practically all the liaik used by the quinine 

 manufacturers of the world, but through the active 

 exertions and costly experimentsiof the British and 

 Dutch Governments over twenty years ago the cin- 

 chona plant was introduced from South America into 

 the East Indies, Java, Ceylon, etc., so that large 

 quantities of bark are now yearly obtained from these 

 sources of supply, in addition to the amount furn- 

 ished by South America. 



Ceylon is now one of the main sources of supply 

 for bark, and it has only been during the past ten 

 years that the shipments from this island reached 

 any appreciable amount. In 18(11 the flrst seeds 

 were received in Ceylon, and in 18()'J tlie export of 

 bark was only 28 ounces, but in the season of 1882- 

 83 the exports were (i,'.)2.5,oy5 pounds, and in the 

 season of 1883-81 they were 11,500,000 pounds. 



The American manufacturers do ■ jt ^eem to have 

 been so seritusly alTected by the removal of the 

 duty on quinine as to be compelled to close their 

 works. While they are not producing as much 

 quinine as belt re the removal of the duty, it is 

 certainly a noteworthy fact that they are running 

 and obtaining a profit even with free quinine, 'llie 

 American nianufactuiers claim that the result of 

 the removal of the duty has been to make the 

 United Stales a battle-ground lor foreign manu- 

 facturers ; that the suxpius product of these manu- 

 facturers has been sont to this country in lur^e 

 quantities, and Uiat the treeing of quinine has 

 stimulated and iiicreoscd its production abroad. 

 As all of these results )u,\e ccntnLuted to the 

 cheapening of the price of quinine, th; Ameiican 

 consumer is thereby so much benefited by the le- 

 tuoval of the duty, cveu il the quinine mauufact' 



