FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 115 



natural course of things that philanthropists have first 

 applied their energies to the slave trade in the West ; 

 the East has still to tarry for an enlightenment which 

 is destined in the fulness of time to gladden a future 

 chapter of history.'' 



I must not close this chapter without briefly 

 mentioning the Cassia occidentalis (the benta-mari of 

 the Volofs, and known generally as such in Sene- 

 gambia and Gambia, which finds its way to Europe 

 for purposes of adulteration with the genuine article), 

 "negro coffee," although said to be a native of 

 the East and West Indies' — ^the seed of which was, 

 according to the ' Treasury of Botany,' found by 

 Livingstone to be used by the natives of Central 

 Africa as coffee: it is also used similarly in Mauritius. 

 If an alien originally, the plant has now become 

 naturalized in West Tropical Africa, where it thrives 

 in wild and " stinking " luxuriance. It is considered 

 among the natives as " senna," and used as such. 



On the Cassias occidentalis and tora, Professor 

 Attfield, Ph.D., F.R.S., &c., reported as follows — vide 

 Indian Agriadturist, ist September, 1882 : 



"Neither the seeds of the Cassia occidentalis nor 

 those of the Cassia tora contain theine. Neither 

 contain the principle somewhat analogous with theine, 

 viz. theobromine. Each variety was submitted to two 

 distinct processes — either of which process readily 

 extracts theine from coffee, &c., but no trace of 

 theine was detected: indeed neither variety yields 



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