NEW DEUGS. 91 



between Sierra Leone and the Congo, and belongs to the 

 natural order Sterculiaceas. The seeds, several of which 

 are contained in a fleshy fruit four to six inches long, are 

 the well-known Kola-nuts of West Africa, where they are 

 extensively used for satisfying the cravings of hunger and 

 enabling those who eat them to endure prolonged labour 

 without fatigue. Powdered, they are used to clarify stag- 

 nant water, which is said to be thus rendered agreeable 

 to the taste. The trade in Kola-nuts is one of great im- 

 portance in the Gambia and at Sierra Leone, and of late 

 years it has spread to Central Africa, and also to the 

 African shores of the Mediterranean, as well as in the 

 West Indies. In view of its probably becoming an im- 

 portant plant for cultivation in tropical countries, a number 

 of plants were propagated at Kew in 1880, and distributed 

 to Calcutta, Ceylon, Demerara, Dominica, Sydney, Mau- 

 ritius, Zanzibar, Java, Singapore, and Toronto ; so that 

 at the present time the nuts are produced in other countries 

 than Western Africa. Indeed, five or six years ago it was 

 reported from Jamaica that if a demand should arise for 

 them in this country, they could be shipped thence to the 

 extent of several tons a year. The suitability of the West 

 Indies for the cultivation of Kola-nuts was well exemplified 

 by the exhibits of fruits and seeds in the Colonial and 

 Indian Exhibition of 1886, which were very fine, especially 

 those grown in Grenada. Notwithstanding, however, that 

 Kola has occupied the attention of English and Continental 

 chemists and pharmacists for several years past; and import- 

 ant properties and uses have been assigned to it — notably 

 that of restoring the nerves after a too free use of stimu- 

 lants, and as an ingredient in the preparation of cocoa 

 and chocolate, by which the strengthening power of those 

 beverages is said to be considerably increased, so that a 

 workman can, on a single cup taken at breakfast-time, go on 

 with his work through the dav without feeling fatigued — 



