Photograph by A. W. Cutler 

 THE CORNER DRUG STORE ON THE EAST SIDE, NEW YORK 



cents in 191 6. Aloes advanced scarcely 

 at all in the first two years of warfare. 

 The varieties coming from East Africa 

 and from the West Indies are used in 

 medicine. There are many species of 

 aloe and the commercial product is an ex- 

 udation from their leaves. So many 

 sources are available that aloe was fig- 

 uratively as well as literally a "drug in 

 the market." 



The price of Norwegian cod-liver oil 

 is an index of submarine efficiency. In 

 1914 the oil sold for 60 cents a gallon ; 

 in 1 91 6 for $5.50. Perhaps the German 

 scarcity of animal fats has also some- 

 thing to do with this increase. The rise 

 in price and scarcity of the much-used 

 Russian mineral oil in the first year of 

 the war will be remembered. Here, 

 again, America has been able to utilize 

 native products to supply the deficiency. 



BATAVIA — THE ANCIENT QUEEN OE THE 

 EAST 



Batavia, as of old, is still a great ex- 

 port center for the spice and drug trade, 

 as it was when it was fortified as the cap- 

 ital of the "Spice Islands," and was 

 known as the "Queen of the East." In 

 those days, when every sea voyage was 

 a perilous undertaking, it was only natu- 

 ral that a warlike community should as- 



semble' in such a place. And so pictur- 

 esque soldiers of fortune and adventurers 

 from all parts of the world gathered 

 about its canals and in its white walls, 

 besides Dutch and Japanese, many Ger- 

 mans, Portuguese, French, Chinese, and 

 Moors ; for, of course, being a Dutch 

 city, it was intersected by canals, and, 

 being a rich community, it was fortified. 



With its picturesque and adventur- 

 ous population, its quaint architectural 

 scheme, and its gleaming snow-white 

 ramparts outstanding like a finely chis- 

 eled cameo in the glare of the tropical 

 sun against the turquoise ocean, it was 

 a dream city of the departed days of 

 piracy and buccaneering. A garrison of 

 a thousand men was there in the seven- 

 teenth century, and an equal number to 

 guard the Dutch monopoly of the cinna- 

 mon trade in Ceylon. Today the old for- 

 tifications have crumbled ; the old "city" 

 proper is no more. 



The Dutch still maintain their impor- 

 tant position in the spice trade, but in- 

 stead of sailing vessels fast steamers 

 now ply between Batavia and Amsterdam 

 via the Suez Canal, and Amsterdam re- 

 mains a great drug exchange. New 

 York, Hongkong, and Singapore are ports 

 of great importance in the world's drug 

 trade, and the London docks are loaded 



237 



