197 
heaven — that  is,  praying  for  less  and  less  carbonic  acid  and  even  more  and  more 
oxvgen — a perfect  object-lesson  in  sanitation,  art,  and  religion.  When  the 
Victoria  Gardens  and  Albert  Museum  were  established  in  Bombay  the  men 
employed  on  these  works  were  at  first  so  pestered  by  mosquitos  and  suffered  so 
much  from  malarious  fever  that,  on  the  recommendation  of  the  Hindu  karban 
(“  manager  ”).  the  whole  boundary  of  the  gardens  was  planted  with  holy  ^asil 
and  any  other  basil  at  hand,  on  which  the  plague  of  mosquitos  was  at  once 
abated,  and  fever  altogether  disappeared  from  among  the  resident  gardeners 
and  temporarily  resident  masons.  The  site  of  the  gardens  had  before  been  one 
of  the  worst  malaria-stricken  spots  on  the  island  of  Bombay.  No  one  in  those 
days  knew  anything  of  “the  mosquito-malaria  theory’’  of  to-day.  I myself 
used  myrrh  as  a protection  against  mosquitos.  They  never  came  near  any  bed 
in  w'hich  a little  myrrh  w'as  burnt  or  a little  tincture  of  myrrh  sprinkled  when 
retiring  for  the  night.  I never  knew  natives  w'ho  used  much  cinnamon  or 
cloves,  etc.,  in  their  daily  diet  ever  take  malarial  fever  or  die  of  cholera. 
I have  the  honour  to  be,  Sir,  your  most  obedient  servant, 
April  29.  GEORGE  BIRDWOOD. 
[London  "Times,"  1903]. 
The  basils  referred  to  by  Sir  George  BiRDWood  are  widely 
scattered  over  the  East.  The  common  cultivated  ones  here  are  :- 
Ocimuiu  canitm. — Called  here  Ruku-Ruku  is  a herb  with  purplish 
hairy  stems  and  soft  green  leaves,  with  rather  a close  spike  of  small 
white  flowers.  It  is  used  for  cough  medicine.  The  flowers  are  put 
with  sugar  candy  and  Kayu  manis  china  (Liquorice  root)  in  a cup 
which  is  covered  and  put  in  the  rice  when  boiling,  and  afterwards 
put  out  in  the  dew,  and  drink  it  in  the  morning.  The  leaves  taste 
of  peppermint. 
O.  hasilicnm. — Purple  variety,  “ Selasih."  A shrubbier  plant  with 
short  dense  purple  spikes,  flowers  white,  leaves  lanceolate,  stems 
rather  thick  and  smooth.  It  has  a scent  of  aniseed,  and  is  used  to  keep 
away  bugs  from  houses  like  flea-bane.  The  seeds  put  in  water 
swell  up  and  form  with  their  mucilage  a very  popular  cooling  drink. 
O.  hasilicuni. — White  variety,  ''  Kaniangi  " is  more  a slender  and 
soft  green  plant  with  shorter  green  spikes  and  white  flowers,  larger 
than  those  of  the  Ruku-Ruku.  Its  scent  is  something  between 
mint  and  aniseed.  This  is  used  for  flavouring  fish  and  other 
dishes. 
I cannot  find  that  any  of  these  are  known  here  as  a prophylactic 
against  mosquitos.  Nor  do  I find  any  of  the  names  mentioned  by 
Sir  George  Birdwood  known,  except  the  word  Tulsi  or  Tulasi 
■applied  to  O.  canuin.  O basilicuni,  the  purple  variety,  is  called  here 
by  Tamils  Karun-tulasih  or  black  Tulasih.  However,  I have  not  yet 
met  with  either  0.  sanctum  nor  0.  gratissinium  in  the  Peninsula  at 
present. 
Were  the  prophylactic  powers  of  these  basils  known  to  the 
Malays  they  would  doubtless  be  extensively  planted  for  this 
purpose,  but  as  the  mosquitos  of  one  country  are  diflerent  from 
those  of  another  it  is  possible  that  some  kinds  of  mosquitos  may 
be  affected  by  them  while  others  are  not.  Several  other  plants 
have  from  time  to  time  been  lauded  as  doing  away  with  mosquitos, 
notably  the  Papaya  and  Castor  oil.  The  latter  certainly  appears 
to  be  quite  useless  but  a case  has  been  recorded  in  which  a row  of 
Papayas  prevented  the  mosquitos  from  entering  a house.  .\ny 
experiments  with  any  of  these  plants  would  well  be  worth  recording:. 
H.  X.  RIPLEY. 
