/anuary I, iSS6.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST* 



457 



DOUBLE-HEADED COCONUT TBEES. 



TO THE EDITOR OF THE " MADH.\S TIMES." 



Sir, — In a place called " Konilall," in Sheally 

 Tatuq, Tanjore District, close by a temple, stands a 

 doiihU he<uUd coconut tree bearing coconuts on 

 hotft- the heads, and to profusion. On enquiring 

 further, and on e.\amiuiug it fully, there appears 

 to have been another head about 10 feet below, 

 which the late storms had crushed down. Thfs is 

 quite novel, and one will scarcely believe until he 

 8065. I have seen in several districts date trees 

 having 2 or 3 heads, but never came across coconut 

 trees of the description I now see here. It would be 

 edifying to know the cause of tho phenomenon, and 

 men versed in gardening will be thanked for enlighten- 

 ment on the subject. Bauyan trees sometimes take 

 root in palm trees, the seeds having been deposited 

 by crows and similar birds, and palmyra trees also 

 take roots amid the cliffs in large '-peepul," banyan, 

 and other trees, the results of the acts of inuuceiit 

 cow-boys, who, after glutting themselves, deposit 

 the nut in a hole that they may happen to see on 

 a tree on which they have their noon-day repast of 

 the sweet smelling Palmyra '•fruit" juice. How 

 coulil a coconut tree, after a height of 15 feet, 

 give out another shoot, and another shoot, after a 

 further height of about 10 feet, is a mystery, to bo 

 solved. 



Ooleroon, Oct. 1. P . K. N. P. 



Sir, — If any one would take the trouble of driving 

 into St. Thome, he would see in the compound of 

 the church of •' Our i\lother of Clod" belonging to 

 the lloanese Mission, a coconut tree similar to the 

 one alluded to by your correspondent P. R. N. P. 

 in his letter of October 1. This tree has a double 

 trunk and a double heail too, but, unUke the one at 

 ** Kondall," it does not appear to be a very healthy 

 tri^e, nor does it yield fruit to any great extent. 

 St. Thome, 7th Oct. M'lixiE. 



THE DISPUTED IDEXTITY OF THE EED 

 BABK OF THE NILGIKIS. 



BV W. T. THISEITON- DYER. C.M.O., F.R.S., 



A^.<ist<mt Diri-rlor, Roi/al Gardens, Kew. 



A paper so headed in the fhcnnacc I'.tical Joi'Viml 

 effectually disposes of the fantasy of Jlr. Cross that 

 the red barks cultivated on the Nilgiris and in Ceylon 

 were not t'. snccirrhni but 0. micnmiha. Botanists 

 like Dr. Bidie and Jlr. Grant Duff gave Mr. Cross 

 oocular demonstration of his error but all in vain. 

 Trimen effectually disposed of the matter, and Mr. 

 Thiselton Dyer's final verdict is thus given : — 



*• At Kew we had exceptional opportunities for testing 

 immediately the accuracy of Mr. Cro.ss's statements. 

 Colonel Beddome had sent us a splendid set of ilricd 

 specimens of every cinchona form grown in the 

 Nilgiris, on which we reported early in 1882. Besides 

 these we posses in the case of C. micrantha authentic 

 specimens of the South American plant collected by 

 Weddell and by Pritchett, in addition to what is 

 presumably a type from Ruiz and Pavon's herbarium. 

 Besides abundance of Indian specimens we have one 

 in particular known to have been raised at Ootacamund 

 from Pritchett's seeds, and the accurate determination 

 of which has been verified by Howard. In this case 

 of C. sitccirtfhya we have Spruce and Cross's own 

 specimens from the slopes of Uhimborazo and a speci- 

 men, presumably from Ruiz and Pavon's herbarium, 

 verified by Howard. Colonel Beddome's admirable 

 specimens were carefully examined by my colleague. 

 Professor Oliver, the keeper of the Kew Herbarium, 

 and he found no reason to' doubt that the species of 

 Cinchona which passed as micrnnthi and .•tt'ccintbra 

 on the Nilgiris were what they professed to be. Dr. 

 Trimen, the Director of the Royal Botanical Gardens, 

 Ceylon, also examined them (together with the further 

 set collected by Dr. TJidie) with mo while he was 

 at home on leave in 1882, and we could see our way 

 to no other conclusion." 

 58 



, -LIQUID EXTRACT OF CINCHONA, 



! A paper on this subject by Professor Redwood 

 appears in the T/i<tnn,u\iitu-a! 'joiinwl, but it is of 

 too technical a character to be extracted. By the 

 agency mainly of hydrochloric aciil and heat 90 per cent 

 of the alkaloids are obtained from powdered bark. 

 But the Professor states : — 



"In the.se experiments I have exclusively used red 

 cinchona bark, good samples of which may be readily 

 obtained, especially among the barks taken from 

 cultivated trees. Those on which I have mostly worked 

 have been quilled succirubra barks, containing from 

 5 to per cent of total alkaloids. Jlost of the 

 samples of Hat rod bark I have met with have been 

 South American, and have been deficient in alkaloids, 

 but unduly rich in (piinovin and cinchona red, two 

 of the constituents of cinchona barks that arc least 

 credited with any useful properties. I would suggest 

 that for this and other siniiliir purposes in pharmacy 

 i|uillcd red bark only should be used, and that it 

 should contain from 5 to (i per cent of total alkaloids, 

 of which at least oue-half should consist of quinine 

 and ciuchouidine. If this proposition were acceded 

 to it wnulil be the duty of wholesale dealers to select 

 bark, of the specified description, while it would be 

 the duty of those who might have occasion to use 

 it in the production of pharmaceutical preparations 

 to satisfy themselves that what was supplied to them 

 corresponded in characters and properties with that 

 which was officially reipiired." We may add that Dr. 

 Paul and othir eminent chemists were incredulous 

 as to i'O per cent being obtained and olijeeted to 

 hydrochloric acid. It is the main agent employed by 

 Blr. tiammie at the Sikkhim manufactory of mixed 

 alkaloids, sulphuric acid being used to precipitate. 



^VITHEKING MACHINES. 



Blr. John tireig, .luuior, for John Greig & Oo. 

 writes a cm'ious letter to the Indian Tea Gazette, 

 portion of which we quote, with the remark, that if 

 all which is stated is corre(rt it is strange the Geylou 

 press has not been furnished'with the information : — 



The XL-.\TjIj Drier and AVitherer is now complete, 

 and together with a wliole set of simple and economic 

 Machines are now at work in Natal (XL-ALL and 

 factory-shafting lately sent there) besides siugle 

 Machines in nearly every district ; also a whole set 

 for every stage at Messrs. Jas. Brown & Co., Uatton, 

 Dikoya, Ceylon, who have lately sent a report on 

 the Withering and Drying by XL- ALL, together 

 with samples of tea from the bulk and unassorted, 

 just as it was dropped out of Machine. Report says, 

 actual results of first attinipt, without practice, 

 gave, as a self-acting Drier, 130 lb. dried perfectly 

 in 20 minutes. All the samples are marked leaf 

 i''ltlu.red (while in a wet state) and dried by XL- 

 ALL, withering a maund each fill of Machine in a 

 few minutes. A note in Report stati's that we find 

 that the leaf that was withered by Jlachine, and 

 after rolling same by our Link and Ijcver ]\Iachine, 

 takes exactly the same time tofrrnu^it as leaf withireU 

 ■natnraUy by the ordinartf Cleans. I now como to the 

 report on the bulk ami unassorted samples of this 

 .same tea by Messrs. Geo. \\'hite & Co., of London. 

 " Ceylon tea, black greyish curly, brii/lit infused leaf, 

 hri-^k and pungent jhivor, prices up to I'lfk/. per lb, 

 in bond." The point here in evidence of its being, 

 as your correspondent, like many other unprejudiced 

 and thoughtful Planters ardently desire, is the 

 character of all the five sain])les Uriiikt infused leaf; 

 there is also the verbal evideiu^e of the taster of 

 the Civil Service Stores, London, that he never saw 

 a more regular fermfntntimi or a hrif/htcr liquor. 

 What does this show, but the most perfuct wither- 

 ing (by fire heat) and more rapidly and without 

 labor than any thing else in existence. From the 

 fact of mo It)" dried in 20 minutes, and with practice, 

 Messrs. Brown .say they will be alile shortly to declare 

 better results; it shows by the character brisk and 

 pungent flavour, a first-class Drying Machine. But 

 they say as » Withering Machine alone it ought to 



