plants  have  ^rown  sufficiently  to  give  a supply  of  young  plants  for 
distribution  it  is  hoped  to  be  able  to  distribute  it  to  various  parts 
of  the  Peninsula  to  test  its  beneficial  qualities.  The  following  let- 
ter from  Captain  f^ARYMORR  appeared  in  the  Times  Weekly  of 
May,  2nd. 
The  Mosquito  Peani'. 
To  the  Editor  of  the  Times. 
Sir, — A growing  specimen  of  the  '‘mosquito  plant”  [ocimum 
viride),  which  I have  just  succeeded  in  bringing  home  alive  from 
Northern  Nigeria,-  has  been  accepted  by  the  authorities  at  l\ew, 
where  it  can  now  be  seen. 
I can  personally  testify  to  the  extraordinary  effect  which  is  pro- 
duced on  mosquitos  by  the  pleasant  odour  of  its  fresh  leaves,  and, 
by  placing  two  or  three  growing  pots  of  the  plant  in  each  room 
and  along  the  windward  verandah,  a house  can  be  kept  practically 
free  from  these  insects. 
One  of  the  malaria-giving  specimens  which  I caught  alive  and 
tenderly  enclosed  within  a leaf  of  the  plant  lost  consciousness  in  a 
few  seconds. 
The  scent  of  the  bruised  leaf  partly  resembles  wild  thyme  and 
eucalyptus.  The  ordinary  wild  mint,  the  leaves  of  which  are  some- 
what similar,  should  not  be  confounded  with  it.  The  natives  where 
the  plant  is  found  prefer  an  infusion  of  its  leaves  to  quinine  in 
cases  of  malarial  fever  when  they  themselves  or  their  children 
are  attacked,  a»id  declare  that,  at  any  rate  for  them,  the  infusion 
invariably  proves  more  efficacious  than  our  antidote. 
The  schools  of  medicine  which  follow  the  modern  mosquito- 
malaria  theory  might  therefore  give  the  matter  some  attention  in 
the  way  of  experiments  on  fever  patients. 
In  India  alone,  where  soldiers  in  barrack  rooms  are  not  supplied 
with  mosquito  nets,  the  use  of  the  plant  would  prove  an  undoubted 
comfort,  even  if  found  wanting  as  a complete  protection  against 
malaria. 
I am,  &c., 
H.  D.  LARYMORE,  Capt.  R.A., 
Northern  Nigeria, 
Chrisf  s College,  Cambridge,  April,  26, 
HISTORY  OF  THE  SERINGUEIROS. 
In  the  January  number  of  the  Bulletin,  I published  a translation 
of  Chapter  I of  a pamphlet  entitled  the  “ Heveas  or  Seringueiras  ” 
by  the  Director  of  the  Botanic  Gardens  of  Rio  de  Janeiro,  Brazil. 
This  chapter*  gives  a short  history  of  the  Para  Rubber  industry 
from  the  remote  past  to  the  present  day. 
Professor  A.  H.  Keane,  F.  R.  G.  S.  our  most  eminent  ethnolo- 
gist, and  author  of  innumerable  works  on  ethnology,  philology  and 
