Miscellaneous. 



162 



[February, 1910. 



progress at present at Bombay. Over 

 1,000 lb. of cocoons have been supplied, 

 and the mills definitely offer Re. 1 per lb. 

 and are paying that. There has been a 

 very considerable development during 

 the last few months, and the cultivation 

 is being tried in hundreds of villages. 

 With a large market for hand-woven 

 cloth and a large market for cocoons, 

 the industry in India may become 

 established, but much depends on 

 whether the mills go on using the 

 cocoons. With the market so near at 

 hand it would pay Ceylon producers to 

 sell to Bombay. I may mention that a 

 machine has been made and patented, 

 which cleans the cocoons, that is, which 

 removes all the dirt from inside the 

 cocoons. It is a practical thing, and I 

 have assisted in its preparation and 

 designing. It is being sold in two forms, 

 a factory machine doing 30 to 60 cocoons 

 per minute, with power or hand working, 

 and a small hand machine doing ten a 

 minute. The clean cocoons are, of 

 course, " 100 per cent, silk," and will 

 fetch a higher price. Samples are being 

 worked in Bombay. If you have any 

 growers in Ceylon you should inform 

 me, as this and similar developments in 

 India may be important, and I would 

 keep you informed, say, once a mouth." 



A small pattern cleauing machine 

 priced at Rs. 20 has been indented for. 

 With average cocoons two boys will be 

 able to treat about 2 lb. per day. 

 Analyses and Reports. 

 The following note on kekuna resin by 

 Mr, Frederick Lewis is of interest :— "The 

 tree {Canarium zeylanicum) is moder- 

 ately common in the west zone up to 

 about 1,500 feet especially in land where 

 underlying slab rock occurs. Though 

 of considerable size, the wood is of no 

 value, as it rots rapidly. It is used for 

 making tea boxes, but there is danger 

 of the tea being tainted by the smell of 

 the resin. The latter is used as for 

 fumigation, and is said to be "rough 

 on cobras," but I cannot corroborate 

 this. It burns freely with a pleasant 

 odour and is probably one of the in- 

 gredients of the incense burnt in temples 

 and mosques. The seeds are very hard 

 and contain a fine flavoured kernel, 

 which is much relished." 



The Government Agricultural Chemist 

 has furnished the analysis given be- 



low :— 



Per Cent. 



',' Woody fibre 15-5 



Moisture ... ... 14'0 



Ash ... ... .40 



Acid number ... ... 0"8 



Ester number ... ... 122-0 



Saponification volume ... 122-8 



Iodine number ... ... 109 '0 



When exuded, light maroon colour. 

 Completely soluble in alcohol, from 

 which solution it dries to a clear yellow 

 mass." 



A sample of Erythroxylon coca leaves 

 from Ceylon forwarded to the Imperial 

 Institute formed the subject of the 

 following report made by the Director 

 of that Institution to the Ceylon Govern- 

 ment :— 



" The coca leaves, which are the sub- 

 ject of this report, were forwarded for 

 examination to the Imperial Institute 

 by the Secretary of the Ceylon Agri- 

 cultural Society with letter No. 975 dated 

 April 22. It was stated that the leaves 

 were grown in the Kandy District. 



"The sample consisted of oz. of 

 leaves from If to 2 inches in length, and 

 dull olive green in colour. They were 

 very dry and brittle, but the sample 

 was remarkably free from broken leaves. 



" The leaves were examined chemically 

 and found to contain a satisfactorily 

 high proportion, 1*2 per cent, of total 

 alkaloid soluble in light petroleum. The 

 quantity of material was, however, not 

 sufficient to permit of the identification 

 of the alkaloids or the isolation of 

 cocaine. 



" The sample was valued by brokers 

 at 9d. per lb. in London (November, 1909), 

 but they pointed out that coca leaves 

 are at present realizing more than the 

 average price. 



" As the leaves differed somewhat from 

 the Bolivian and Peruvian leaves of 

 commerce, and showed certain resem- 

 blances to Java coca leaves, they were 

 submitted to a botanical expert, who 

 reported that their identity was doubt- 

 ful, but in his opinion they resembled 

 Java leaves more than any other com- 

 mercial variety. There thus appears a 

 possibility that doubt may arise as to 

 the botanical origin of some consign- 

 ments of coca leaves from Ceylon. The 

 principal difference between the South 

 American and Java leaves is that while 

 the former contain cocaine as the princi- 

 pal alkaloidal constituent, the Java 

 leaves contain little or no cocaine, but 

 only certain related alkaloids, which 

 after extraction are readily convertible 

 into cocaine. The South American 

 leaves can therefore be used for the 

 manufacture of medicinal prepartions 

 of coca, whereas the Java leaves are ouly 

 suitable for the manufacture of cocaine. 



" In these circumstances, the Secre- 

 tary of the Ceylon Agricultural Society 

 was asked to state the origin of the 

 present sample of leaves, and he replied 

 that they were derived from plants of 

 Bolivian coca introduced into the Kandy 



