528 



THE TKOPICAL AGKiCULTUfRIST. [Feb. i, i88g. 



at the rate of 250 to 300 per diem. Apply the 

 parallel generally as to the comparative amount 

 of work done ; add to this Government extras, 

 loss on premiums by death, and the numerous 

 other sub -charges we are exempt from ; and as 

 regards cheap labor, with whom really stands 

 the advantage ? As already said, the proof of 

 the pudding is in the eating ; facts are things 

 that won't budge, and the comparison afforded by 

 the published results of every Company, and the 

 many private gardens in Assam and India gener- 

 ally, gives practical evidence, it seems to me, no 

 planter from thence can attempt to qualify in 

 their favor. They are out of the running in fact 

 with Ceylon till they can see their way to reduce 

 their expenses, say by 3d per lb. That is on a 

 400 lb. crop, a profit in our favor of £5 an acre, 

 or say on a 200 acre estate an income £1,000 

 a year : in itself an interest on a capital outlay of 

 £4,000, that mightgenerally be considered sufficiently 

 satisfactory? A BESIDENT. 



CHEMICAL DYES AND THEIE DAKGEBOUS 

 CHAEACTEE: A WAENING. 



Dear Sib,— Not a few persons, even in Ceylon, 

 have experienced in person the dangerous ill-effects 

 of the many beautiful but deadly poisonous chem- 

 ical dyes. The evil consequences to health are 

 subtle and present themselves from the most un- 

 expected quarters— from deadly colored papers, socks, 

 sweetmeats, and even down to children's toys. The 

 report of the Society of those interested in German 

 chemical industry (Verein zur Wahrung der Inter- 

 essender Chemisteu Industrie Deutschlands) is 

 a Tory serious blow to this branch of chemical 

 enterprize, and many alluring pigments should cease 

 to offer themselves to the public as the kiss of death. 



The Commission defined poisonous coloring 

 materials to be all those colors or color preparations 

 which contain antimony, arsenic, lead, chromium, 

 copper, mercury, cinnabar, gamboge, picric acid (which 

 represents the many dangerous tar colors), barium, 

 heavy spar, cadmium, zinc, tin. After reading the 

 terrible list the wonder is we are not all dead men ; 

 for the use of these fascinating but deadly colors is 

 not merely common at home, but they have also been 

 largely introduced into India. 



The sale of articles colored with these poisonous 

 materials is to be made illegal by Act of the Ger- 

 man Tarliament. And the sooner this good example 

 is followed by England, India, and every other 

 eountry, tlie better will it be for the health 

 of the people. Further, a fair field will then again 

 be afforded for the many really beautiful and harm- 

 less Indian natural dyes, which, by the comparative 

 cheapness of the chemical poisons, were being 

 rapidly driven out of use. In this particular 

 matter I am afraid " Judson " must be regarded 

 as a dangerous character, while every tar color 

 should be avoided as more than suspicious. 



Surely this subject is not beneath even the atten- 

 tion of the Ceylon Government. 



PUBLIC HEALTH. 



BUBBER IN CEYLON: THE IMFEOVED SYS- 

 TEM OF GATHEBING MILK— SHOULD 

 HAEVESTING BEGIN? 



London, E.C., Dec. 2nd, 1885. 



Dkar Sir, — I have read the letter Messrs. Marval 

 Irmios have addressed to you. I am aware of the 

 nature of their process and can fully coiiarm wliat 

 they say. I caunwt agree with your reoiarks when 



you say that Ceylon has not sufficiently advanced 

 in rubber culture, because you have the Crypto- 

 stegia grandiflora and other nibbers which yield 

 milk and they are quite amenable to this process 

 which is both simple and inexpensive. Dr. 'Trimen 

 will confirm the fact of my having sent him some 

 years since Mangabeira rubber seed, telling him at 

 the same time that it produced a very fine rubber. — 

 I am, dear sir, yours truly, THOS. CHRISTY. 



CAEDAMOM PLANTING IN INDIA. 



Mercara, 21st Dec. 1885. 

 Dear Sir, — "Cardamom Planter" in your Nov- 

 ember's issue of the T.J. says, it would be highly 

 interesting to know how Imlia is standing the 

 present crisis in cardamoms. I am glad to inform 

 him that we can still manage to make both ends 

 meet, even with the present low prices. The 

 general opinion here is, cardamom prospects are 

 done for. Some of our AVynaad friends, however, 

 think differently, as they are going in extensively 

 for tliem, and seem very hopeful for the future. 

 I am afraid they will be rudely awakened from 

 their fond dreams one of these days. The cultiv- 

 ation is being extensively increased all over Southern 

 India, both by Europeans and natives, especially 

 the latter, who are following the example of 

 Europeans in planting up their jungles, and pick- 

 ing the fruit as it ripens, instead of stripping the 

 racemes as they used to do. I know one native 

 who got as much as 23 tons of cardamons last 

 season, and I hear he expects from 18 to 20 tons 

 this season. He is still going in for more jungle, 

 having bought about 3,000 or 4,000 acres more 

 last year. Prices in the local market have declined 

 in the last 3 years from E70 to B20 per mauiid 

 of 28 lb. and there is no doubt the prices will 

 fall still lower. Wr are having very wet weather 

 here for December, the sky being overcast all 

 day, and consequently great difficulty in drying our 

 coffee crops. — Yours faitlifully, YELAKEE. 



A Healino Plant. — la the Archit ik-r Pliuimucie 

 (November, p. 817) Dr. V. Zipi)erer describes and 

 illu.strates the striictiue of the root of t'tii\'.m'.i'ia 

 vitliteidi'ia., lladl., which is ustLl by the natives of 

 the riiiHppine islands as wl'11 as by the residents 

 there to furnish a kind of balsam that possesses 

 remarkable bealint; properties. This is kuown by 

 the name of Cebii or Tggulaw.iy balsam. It is pri-- 

 pared by boiling the baik of the roots ami twigs as 

 well as the leaves of the plant in cocoa nut r>il, 

 and forms a yellowish-white oily liquid having a 

 peculiar odour. Dr. Zipperer's examiuatiou of the 

 plant shows that it coutaius S'S per cent caoutchouc 

 in its tissues, and 3 per ceul resiu sjkible in alcohol, 

 and to these constituents its value appears tu bo 

 due. Dr. Zipperer stati.-s that during two years' 

 residence in the Philippines he had seen the balsam 

 used by Pluropeau doctois, as well as by the natives, 

 with great success in various skin diseases and for 

 healing wounds. It appears to promote an unusually 

 rapiti cicatrization. The plant is a climber growing 

 iu the mountainous declivities of the I-sland of Cebii, 

 whence it is chieily (jbtainod. The fragments of 

 leaves and twigs in the pllss^s^ion of Dr. Uudikofer 

 were .sufficient to enable this eminent histologist and 

 botanist to assure himself by the microscopical 

 structure alone that the plant ditfered from the only 

 two other species of Paramcria known, vi/., P. 

 yhifiihiMfera, J5enth. (see Kew IJcport for l.s.sl, p. 47), 

 and r. jtlii/i/'/itiisis, Bunth., alfoiiling another ctample 

 of the value of the microscupu iu phariuacogao«y. 

 — i'liarmaceutical Journal. 



