61 



do the work of Abbe Faurie, I consider the small number of new 

 species which I can find in this collection almost as strong a testi- 

 monial as is Hillebrand's own work to the thoroughness with 

 which Doctor Hillebrand has covered his field. Almost all of the 

 species described by Doctor Hillebrand. and a wide range of 

 forms which are not treated as species, are found in the Faurie 

 collection." 



TROPICAL PRODUCTS AS FOODSTUFFS. 



Tropical Life (Londona, discussing the European food situa- 

 tion created by the war. ofifers the following remarks : 



"We are no believers in 'crank' foods, but it is no crank state- 

 ment to say that, weight for weight, much nourishment can be 

 obtained from sweet-potato tlour, banana flour, and other fruits 

 and vegetables produced in the tropics. The Rubber Growers" 

 Association have been giving substantial money prizes to the man 

 who can invent fresh demands for raw rubber on a large scale. 

 Napoleon offered and, we believe, gave a big prize to the man 

 who produced sugar from a source other than cane, viz., beet. 

 Think, therefore, what a reward should be given to those who 

 can come forward at times like the present and show us in Eu- 

 rope how to cheaply feed the million. Long before the last shot 

 of this conflagration has been fired we may realize the mistake 

 of being so dependent on other European countries, even for such 

 things as eggs, bacon, butter (animal and vegetable), etc., whilst 

 even eggs can nowadays be kept in the cold chamber for weeks, 

 and so certainly for a sufficient number of days to enable them 

 to be produced in huge quantities in the tropics and brought over 

 here for consumption. This being so, why not do it ? Compared 

 to bread, the above may be semi-luxuries, but they are necessi- 

 ties too, and the supplies cannot be allowed to stop through war 

 in these days of huge populations packed in small areas. Ger- 

 many, we believe, is already exporting tons of palm-oil butter for 

 human consumption, whilst the edible products she now manufac- 

 tures from tropical raw materials, especially copra, are enormous ; 

 those from copra must equal if they do not exceed those of 

 France. According to The Financist for July, Germany imported 

 last year 195,000 tons of copra, against 45.000 tons only in 1906. 

 This, therefore, shows an increase of 430 per cent in eight years ; 

 and if France has not increased latterly at the same rate that Ger- 

 many has, it is only because she imported such huge quantities, 

 comparatively speaking, before. In 1906 she took 128.000 tons; 

 in 1912, 178,000: whilst last year her total has increased, but we 

 have not the figures by us, and answers to our letters asking for 

 them are not yet to hand. Imagine, therefore, the plight the 

 households of the European middle and lower classes will soon 



