174 



distinct advantage in its favour in places where labour is scarce.. 

 The export of Coffee from Jamaica ought soon to be doubled. 



This species of coffee receives its name from Liberia, a colony 

 founded in 1823 by a philanthropical society who purchased 10,000 

 slaves in the United States and sent them to settle in the northern 

 parts of Guinea. From this minature republic, Sir Joseph Hooker 

 introduced the new coffee. ( Rubiacece ) 



38. Cola acuminata, Schott 8f EndL — The Kola nut or Bissy is a 

 native of western tropical Africa. It is a tree from 30 to 60 feet 

 high, flourishing best in moist lands from sea-level up to 1,000 

 feet. A full crop of 120 lbs. of nuts or seeds cannot be expected 

 till the tree is ten years old, but in favourable situations fruit may 

 appear after four years. 



Great care is taken in Africa in the selection of nuts for sale, 

 they are carefully picked over, and all damaged and worm-eaten are 

 removed. The sound nuts are packed in huge baskets made of bark, 

 lined and covered with large thick leaves. The baskets hold each 

 3 cwts. With the leaves on the top kept moist the nuts last well 

 for a month, after that they are picked over again, washed and re- 

 packed, and will last for another month ; the process being repeated 

 every month. From the country between Sierra Leone and the 

 Congo they are carried to Gambia, where the merchants trading 

 with the interior, purchase and dry them. It is said that by the 

 time the nuts reach the tribes who live farthest from where they 

 grow, they are worth their weight in gold. In Jamaica, the ripe 

 nuts are separated into their component parts, and thoroughly 

 dried. It is possible that the African method is the correct one. 



The nuts are reputed to clarify and render healthy the most 

 foul water, and to render tainted meat edible, and when chewtd 

 either fresh or as a dry powder and the saliva swallowed, to be a 

 sure preventive against dysentery. They are also said to be goc d 

 for the liver and to possess the property of enabling persons eatii g 

 them to undergo prolonged exertion without fatigue. Dr. ]Neith 

 states that the nuts furnish a nutrient and stimulant beverage, 

 rich in the active principle of coffee containing also a large propor- 

 tion of theobromine, the active principle of cacao. These nuts in 

 addition contain three times the percentage of starch contained in 

 chocolate, and moreover they also contain less fat, so that besides 

 stimulant and nutritive properties, there is the probability that a 

 chocolate prepared from them will more readily agree with delicate 

 stomachs. AYhat enhances the value of kola-nuts is the fact that 

 citrate of caffeine — a medicine now much employed for the relief of 

 sea-sickness, megrims, and other nervous complaints — can be 

 readily obtained from these nuts, for the reason that the nuts 

 contain more caffeine than coffee berries, and in the cola-nut the 

 caffeine is in the free or uncombined state. See Bulletin for Sep- 

 tember, 181)1. ( Stercaliaccce.) 



39L Colvillk a kacemosAj Boj. — is a near relation of Poi)tciana rtgia, and 

 like it, is a native of Madagascar. It is a beautiful tree attaining a 

 height of 40 or 50 feet. The leaves are about 3 feet long, deeply 



