82 



NA TURE 



\_Nov. 25, 1886 



(Croton Elciitcria, J. J. Benn.). The first has a bitter, acrid, 

 and pungent taste, and a cinnamon-hke smell. With us it is 

 used as an aromatic stimulant, and as a condiment in the 

 West Indies. The sweet bark is a bitter aromatic tonic, 

 formerly used as a substitute for Peruvian bark, but now 

 chiefly as an ingredient in pastilles and for mixing with 

 tobacco for the sake of its pleasant musky odour. The 

 cultivation of perfume-yielding plants is recommended as 

 a probable commercial success, the demand for perfumes 

 at the present time being so great that it has even been 

 proposed to cultivate in Australia on a large scale such 

 plants as are now grown at Grasse, Nice, and Cannes. 



Jamaica. — The contents of this Court were both numerous 

 and varied. Rum and sugar were fully illustrated by a 

 large number of samples. CoflTee was also well represented ; 

 of this article the Official Catalogue states that two distinct 

 classes are produced in the island, the total annual export 

 being about 84,000 cwt. per annum, of which about 10,000 

 cwt. is Blue Mountain coffee, a fine quality, consigned 

 almost entirely to the Liverpool market. Pimento or 

 allspice is a product exclusively of Jamaica, where it 

 is grown in plantations or gardens known as "pimento 

 walks." The commercial article consists of_the dried 

 berries, which were exported from Jamaica to the value 

 of 53,867/. in 18S5. It is very largely used as a spice as 

 well as in medicine, on account of its aromatic and stimu- 

 lant properties. The fruits contain a quantity of oil, 

 which is obtained by distillation, and is used in per- 

 fumery and for similar purposes to which clove-oil is 

 put. Pimento-sticks are amongst the strongest and best 

 for walking-sticks and umbrella-handles, on account of 

 their strength, rigidity, and non-liability to crack. The 

 pimento-tree is of low growth, and is known to botanists 

 as Pimenta officinalis. 



In this Court were shown some remarkably fine samples 

 of Annatto seeds {Bixa On-//ana), noted for their plump- 

 ness, as well as for their bright colour, the waxy coating 

 of the seeds being highly valuetl as a red colouring- 

 matter. A large and interesting collection of fruits pre- 

 served in a salt-solution were here shown ; amongst others 

 the following will attract attention : Star-apple {Ckryso- 

 phylluin Cainito), Cocoa-plum {Chrysohalaiius Icaco), 

 Blimbing {Averrhoa Bilimhi), Akee {Citpa/iia edtilis, 

 better known, perhaps, as Blighia sapida). Many of 

 these are the produce of introduced plants, and the fruits 

 are for the most part fine examples. Amongst a number 

 of specimens of essential oils from well-known plants, 

 most of which are apparently of excellent quality, are 

 some that are but very little known, such, for instance, as 

 those from the Bermuda Cedar (Jiiiiipenis bcrmudiana), 

 the Mountain Cigar Bush {Hcdyosinuin tiiitaiis). Moun- 

 tain Thyme {Micromcria obovata), Cigar Bush {Critonca 

 dalea), and the Sand Box-tree {Hura crepitans). 



Barbados. — The exhibits from this island consisted largely 

 of similar produce to the islands already referred to. As 

 illustrating the extent of land occupied by sugar cultiva- 

 tion, it is stated in the introductory notice of Barbados in 

 the Official Hand-book, by the Hon. C. C. KnoIIys, that 

 " out of a total acreage of 106,470 acres, an area of 100,000 

 acres is devoted to canes." Tobacco is recommended 

 for extended cultivation, and root-crops such as arrowroot 

 and cassava gi\e heavy returns. 



British Honduras. — We take this dependency in this 

 order, as it occupied a position in the Exhibition next 

 that of Barbados. The importance of timber in the 

 produce of British Honduras is seen by a simple glance 

 at the exhibits, and to the future development of these 

 timber resources lies in a very great measure the future 

 prosperity of the colony. In the introductory notes to 

 these exhibits the following paragraph occurs ; — " To its 

 timber and dye-woods the colony of British Honduras 

 owes its existence, and whatever measure of progress and 

 advancement it may have attained. To the ciiscovery, 

 first of logwood, and subsequently of mahogany, its 



original settlement must be ascribed." Notwithstanding 

 the importance of the forest produce, very few of the 

 timbers are yet known either to commerce or to science, 

 but many of them are of exceptional hardness and beauty. 

 Mahogany is, of course, the most important wood in the 

 colony, and, next to it, the cedar (Cedrcla adorata), which 

 is not only exported to a very large extent, but is 

 also used in the colony for light indoor work — cigar- 

 boxes, trunks, packing-cases, and for dug-out canoes, 

 several of which were exhibited. .Amongst a collection of 

 lianes, or climbing-plants, is a specimen of the chew-stick 

 {Gouania doiningenesis), with the singular information, 

 besides that of its use as a tooth-brash and tooth-powder, 

 that " it is used in place of yeast to start fermentation iii 

 making ginger- and spruce-beer, &c.'' Probably the most 

 striking object in this Court is a large and beautifully 

 figured slab of mahogany ; the dark wavy cross-markings 

 are extremely beautiful and very remarkable in this 

 wood ; the plank is, moreover, without a flaw. 



Dominica. — The space occupied by this island, as well 

 as by the remaining colonies, was small ; the exhibits on 

 the whole, however, were interesting, and some were 

 worth noting, such, for instance, as the husks or 

 shells of the Liberian coffee, which are said to be worth 

 from I to 2 cents, per pound in the United States, the 

 fruits of Acacia Farncsiana, stated to be used in tanning, 

 and bark of Guava, the Psidium Giiayava, which is rich 

 in tannin, and is used as an astringent. Raw lime-juice 

 is exported from Dominica in increasing quantities, but 

 the greater part of the juice is boiled down until ten or 

 twelve gallons are reduced to one, and is shipped in this 

 concentrated form to England and the United States for 

 the manufacture of citric acid. 



Montserrat. — Sugar and lime-juice are the principal 

 staples of this island, and these were the most prominent 

 exhibits. 



St. Kitts and the Virgin Islands. — From these islands 

 the exhibits were but small, and without special interest. 



Antigua. — The chief product of this colony is sugar, 

 the average crop of which for the last twenty years is 

 stated to have been about 12,000 hogsheads. Yams, 

 potatoes, and Guinea corn are also grown in large quanti- 

 ties for native consumption. The exhibits were for the 

 most part such as were shown in other West Indian 

 Courts. 



Grenada. — Cocoa is the most important article grown 

 here, and some very fine fruits of good colour were shown, 

 as well as nutmegs {Myristica fragrans) custard apples, 

 or bullock's heart {Anona reticulata), papaws {Caricct 

 Papaya), Kola nuts {Cola acuminata). These latter were 

 remarkably fine specimens. A good deal of attention, we 

 are glad to see, has recently been paid to its cultivation. 

 The tree exists in all parts of the island, and was intro- 

 duced in years past by the African slaves, who used to 

 regard it as a specific against intoxication. 



Tobago. — The productive resources of this small island 

 are varied, and were well exemplified in the collection of 

 fruits, seeds, fibres, &c. The collection of preserved 

 native fruits in syrup, and jellies prepared from them, 

 was a special feature in this Court, a sample of preserved 

 or candied papaw {Carica Papaya) being especially good. 



St. Lucia. — Sugar, rum, and molasses are the chief 

 products ; cocoa and logwood are also produced in quan- 

 tities, though the latter is stated to be at the present 

 time a drug in the market. Tobacco, it is stated, has 

 been tried in one district with most satisfactory results, 

 so that it is purposed to extend its cultivation. Neither 

 the individual exhibits in this Court, nor in the remaining 

 one of St. Vincent, call for any special remark. We can- 

 not conclude our notice of the West Indian exhibits with- 

 out a reference to the series of over 100 water-colour 

 drawings, by Mrs. Blake, illustrative of the flora of the 

 West Indian Islands. John R. J.-\CKS0N 



Museum, Royal Gardens, Kew 



