2 34 



NA TURE 



\Jnly 5, 1883 



anl the average number of mistakes also occurs. Thus under 

 the genus Funkia the common name given is Planting Lily, 

 whereas it .should be Plantain Lily, a name that has been quite 

 recently accorded to these plants by a gardening contemporary. 



The annual Reports of Colonial Botanical Gardens are so 

 frequently reaching us and the matter contaii.ed in them is of 

 such value and importance that we regret we have not space at 

 our disposal to give a more extended notice of some of these 

 records of scientific work in our widely spread dependencies- 

 Tw o of these reports lie before us, namely, that of Dr. Trinien 

 on the Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya, Ceylon, for the year 

 1882, which report is dated at Peradeniya on January I of the 

 present year, and that of Mr. Charles Ford on the Hong Kong 

 Gardens, or rather on his work as Superintendent of the Botanic 

 and Afforestation Department, Hong Kong. A large por- 

 tion of Dr. Trimen's report is given to the consideration of 

 economic plants, the first mentioned being coffee. Under this 

 head it is with no satisfaction we learn that " Leaf disease has 

 in no degree diminished, and the continued failure of crop during 

 the past year has . dded to ihe difficulties of all concerned in the 

 planting enterprise of the colony." Dr. Trinien continues, " No 

 combii.ed effort whatever to prevent the disease on the lines 

 indicated by its known nature has been even attempted, whilst 

 the waste of money and time in local applications of ' cures ' has 

 continued. As at the same time high cultivation and liberal 

 manuring have become generally impossible from pecuniary 

 necessities, the existing stale of things, however much to be 

 lamented, cannot be considered surprising. A remarkably wet 

 season, too, has aggravated the condition <.f the badly nourished 

 trees, and the kw prices ruling for coffee have intensified the 

 loss by short crops. Thus the cultivation of coffee has been in 

 many places found not to cover expenses, and the necessity of 

 growing other products has been more than ever forced upon 

 proprietors." From this we gather that the prospects of coffee 

 cultivation in Ceylon are anything but promising, and with 

 regard to Liberian coffee, upon which the hopes of planters were 

 ■at one time founded, we find that it likewise has had to bear the 

 severe attacks of leaf di'ease, and consequently rises and falls 

 in the estimation of \ lanters. In suitable soiU and localities, 

 however, it does well, and the old trees now between eight and 

 nine years old, though badly diseased, show no diminution in 

 their crop-bearing capabilities. No record however is kept of 

 the exports of Liberian coffee from Ceylon distinct from the 

 produce of the other kind. Dr. Tiimen remarks that 'he 

 Hcmileia not unfrequently attacks the fruits of Literian ciffee. 

 As might be supposed, the subject of cinchona cultivation occupies 

 a large portion of the report, and next to it comes tea and cocoa. 

 The past year, we are told, has witne sed a very striking rise in 

 the expoit of the first-named beverage, the exports amounting to 

 623,292 lbs., an advance on the previous year of 345,702 lbs. 

 Tea estates have been opened at all elevations, and many old 

 coffee estates not su.ted for cinchona culture are now cropped 

 with tea. Indiarubbcr, guttaj erjia, and many other industrial 

 and medicinal p'ants come under Dr. Trimen's review of a year's 

 work at Ceylon, proving once more, if proof were needed, the 

 value of the Peradeniya Gardens amongst others in promoting 

 the advance of applied botany ; and the same may be said of 

 Mr. Ford's report of the Hong Kong Garden, for we find there 

 that a considerable amount of attention has been given to the 

 growth of such plants as Cinnamomum cassia, the tree furnishing 

 Cassia Lignea of the London market, the Chinese varnish tree 

 (Aleurites cordata), and the mahogany tree (Swietcnia mahogani). 



A new form of dry pile has been described in Wiedemann'! 

 Annalen by J. Elster and H. Geitel. In the previous forms of 

 dry pile, from the time of Zamboni downwards, the disks of foil 

 ■and paper have been placed in glass tubes, with the result that 



the film of moisture collecting on the inner surface of the tube 

 has always exerted a more or less destructive influence. In the 

 new dry piles the disks are strung with a sewing-needle upon a 

 single strong silk thread, which insures better insulation. Messrs. 

 Elster and Geitel have made the very interes'ing observation that 

 piles of this type can be charged from a Holtz machine. An 

 ordinary Zamboni pile of n,oco pairs of disks of tin and copper 

 foil gave, after ten minutes' charging, sparks one millimetre long, 

 and was able to illuminate a small Geissler tube for some lime 

 with a discharge continuous at first and afterwards intermittent. 

 Following up this analogy dry piles were constructed on the plan 

 of a Plante battery. Thin disks of lead foil alternating with disks 

 of silk paper painted with a mixture of soluble glass and peroxide 

 of lead were strung upon silk strings. A charged pile of 7000 

 such plates gave for ten minutes a spark one millimetre long ; 

 and after twenty four hours still showed electrification. 



The last report of the Eritish Consul at Tientsin supplies us 

 with information respecting the only colliery at present in com- 

 plete working order in China. This is at Kaiping, not far from 

 Peking. The coal is said to belong to the true carboniferous 

 system, and the bed dips to the south some forty-five degrees, 

 forming a large basin under the Gulf of Pehchihli. No fear is 

 entertained that the measures will run short. So far as has been 

 ascertained, the coal tearing stratum is about one thousand feet, 

 containing thirteen seams. During the winter months two hun- 

 dred tons per day of the inferior kinds of coal can be sold to 

 natives in the vicinity, who use it for pottery, brick, and lime- 

 kilns ; indeed, one of the most important results achieved by 

 the opening of the colliery has been Ihe revival of several in- 

 dustries in the vicinity which were lai guishing or extinct, on 

 account of the surface coal of the district being moslly worked 

 out, and the price of other coal being too high to be used with 

 profit. In connection with the colliery is a small railway, ihe 

 only one in all China. Its length is but six aula half miles, 

 and at the terminus the coal is placed in barges and carried down 

 by canal. After a little opposition the locomotives were allowed 

 to run freely. But ironworks, which it was also intended to 

 start, could not get over the superstitious opposition raised on 

 the score of the proximity of the Imperial u.mbs, and the con- 

 sequent geomantic di-lurbances caused by sinking shafts, &c. 

 The iron ore is said lo exist in enormous quantities, but it is no' 

 easy to work owing to ihe amount of silica present. 



We have received Parts 4-6 of the Transactions of the Yoik- 

 shire Naturalists' Union, which do credit to that energetic body 

 of local naturalists. They are entirely occupied by lists and 

 notes concerning the fauna and flora of ihis, our largest, county, 

 so arranged that each subject has a separate pagination, and 

 most of the authors give evidence of considerable biblir graphical 

 research ; some of the articles are of far more than local 

 importance. 



From several parts of Sweden the appearance of an unknown 

 caterpillar, which con-umes the crops, is reported. Its length 

 is from one inch to one and a half, and its colour grey-brow n 

 with green stripes. In one place it put in an appearance imme- 

 diately after a violent storm with rain. The Academy of Agri- 

 culture has despatched an entomologist to vi'it the places from 

 which it is reported. 



The German Society of Analytical Chemists offers two prizes, 

 of 25/. and 15/. respectively, for the best treatises on cocoa and 

 cocoa ruanufactur.es, with reference to their commercial value 

 and efficacy in nutrition. 



Admiral Mouchez will not be reappointed at the expiration 

 of his term of office. The Government is fully convinced that it 

 is useless to resort to this formality, and that it would be better 

 to continue his appointment by touie reconduction, as is customary 

 in France under peculiar circumstances. 



