134 



tifth and sixth experiments the author found that if the time between 

 two tappings is lengthened (to three weeks or a month) the distance 

 between the cuts may be lessened. It would perhaps, have been more 

 valuable if more trees had been tapped in each experiment. 



The author made a number of experiments on Hevea braziliensis. 

 He applied the spiral and the herringbone methods, and short sloping 

 separated cuts, but none vertical : his object was not so much to com- 

 pare different methods of tapping as to see whether Para yielded paying 

 quantities of latex in Kamerun, which has been doubted. 



The sloping cuts gave somewhat the best results. The method 

 was as follows :— The tapping-knife and pen-knife were used exactly 

 as in the Rambong experiments. 



Six sloping cuts, each 4 inches long, were made at equal distances 

 apart (and presumably at the same level) round the stem. Every cut 

 was parallel with and 2 inches from that of the previous day, so that 

 after 28 days the surface of the tree exhibited 6 vertical rows of sloping 

 cuts, 28 parallel cuts in each row, and the rows separated by 6 stripes 

 of untouched bark. The author does not state the width of each groove. 

 Not much can be deduced from the figures given. Only three trees, one 

 for each method, were experimented on, and the periods during which 

 they were tapped do not agree. 



There are things against the practicability of the separated sloping 

 cut. It would be interesting to know if less bark is used up, and if it 

 renews more quickly than is the case with the almost universal 

 herringbone method. 



W. J. Gallagher. 



IPECACUANHA. 



A good deal of interest has been from time to time raised by the 

 question of the possibility of the cultivation of the Ipecacuanha plant 

 in this country. The drug is an expensive one and there is a 

 steady demand for it, being as it is one of the few known remedies for 

 dysentery. For many years it has been cultivated with some success 

 by Mr. W. W. Bailey, formerly at Pengerang Estate, Johor and later in 

 Highlands and Lowlands estate in Selangor. No one else seems to 

 have been very successful with it in any part of the world. 



In cultivation it is by no means an easy plant to deal with, and 

 though it has been often tried at the Botanic Gardens, Singapore, it 

 never seems to thrive well, probably on account of the dampness of 

 the island. I have found it very sensitive to rapid changes of weather. 

 In hot dry weather it suffers much from the dryness of the air, and 

 heat and heavy rainstorms are also fatal to it. 



An article on Johor Ipecacuanha has recently been published by 

 Mr. E. M. Holmes in the Pharmaceutical Journal (January 18th 1908) 

 p. 04, which is of considerable interest and from which I quote. " For 

 many yoars past Ipecacuanha root has been cultivated in the Malay 

 states and imported into this country under the name of Johor 



