no AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY. 



in square cross measurement. Their length is 28 cm., their weight 

 only II to 11*5 grm. It is a wrinkled, brittle substance, like a 

 piece of membrane, without taste and smell, mostly of a light- 

 yellow colour, in which case it is transparent, especially at its sharp 

 edges ; or blood-red, when it is more flaky and brittle. In cold 

 water these sticks swell considerably, becoming spongy, four- 

 sided prisms with concave sides, but not going quite to pieces. 

 But if, when in -this state, they are heated, even for a short time, 

 they dissolve altogether. The solution coagulates anew when 

 cooled, like glue, even when diluted. 



An analysis of Kanten 1 gave 1171 percent, of albumen Q), 62*05 

 per cent, of non-nitrogenous matter (evidently glue, the pararabin 

 of Reichardt), 3'44 per cent, of ashes, and 22*80 per cent of water. 



The Agar-Agar proper of the Malays, collected in large quantities 

 at Singapore and in the whole Malay archipelago, and exported for 

 the most part to China, consists of dried floridse, near relatives of 

 the Gelidium corneuin, Lamx., and particularly of the varieties 

 SpJioBrococcus spinosus, Ag., and 5. isiformis. 



3. Plants of Commerce. 



(a) Non-alcoholic Stimulants : Tea and Tobacco. 

 Tea. 



The trees and bushes of the Ternstroemiaceae, belonging to the 

 monsoon-region of South-Eastern Asia, are represented by two 

 evergreens, the tea-plant and the camellia, which have won for this 

 family distinction and significance all over the world. Both have 

 been cultivated in China and Japan for many centuries on account 

 of their leaves or blossoms. Tea-growing was till recently con- 

 fined practically to these countries, and furnishes their second 

 greatest article of commerce, its production keeping pace with a 

 vastly increased consumption elsewhere ; but the cultivation of 

 the camellia has extended over nearly all the lands of Christen- 

 dom, though mostly as a hothouse plant and under the gardener's 

 care. This universal estimation and wide distribution of the 

 camellia, moreover, are as much things of our century as is tea- 

 drinking itself. And although they appeal to altogether different 

 senses and tastes, the two plants have in their home a common 

 use. This is the utilization of their close-grained wood, and 

 especially of their oily seeds. 



The relationship between these two plants, from an economic 

 point of view, is seen in a still greater degree by observing more 

 closely the entire structure of both, especially with regard to blos- 



' In the Descriptive Catalogue of the International Health Exhibition, 

 London, 1884. 



