February, 1910.] 



163 



Miscellaneousi 



District in 1893. It would therefore be 

 desirable to ascertain definitely the 

 proportion of cocaine present in these 

 Ceylon coca leaves, and the nature of 

 the other alkaloids they contain. For 

 the purpose of this investigation about 

 14 lb. of leaves should be forwarded to 

 the Imperial Institute." The quantity 

 required has been forwarded. 



Mr. E. T. Hoole, Assistant Govern- 

 ment Veterinary Surgeon, has kindly 

 reported on a Tamil veterinary publica- 

 tion entitled " Handbook of Hindu Medi- 

 cines for Horses and Cattle," forwarded 

 to the Society by the author. He says : 

 " I find that it affords useful inform- 

 ation, and will be- of special service to 

 those who are out of reach of immedi- 

 ate veterinary aid. The drugs recom- 

 mended are mostly those that could be 

 easily obtained from the bazzar or field." 



The following is a report made on 

 samples of Batticaloa soils, which were 

 furnished at the request of the Govern- 

 ment Agricultural Chemist : — 



" I have the honour to report on the 

 samples of soil from Batticaloa Dis- 

 trict, received together with your letter 

 No. 2,727. 



" Box No. 1 jtom Sengalladi Estate 

 and Box No. 2 from Kiran Estate are 

 coarse quartzy soils, and consist of 

 almost pure quartz sand. No. 2 is in a 

 coarser state of division than No. 1, The 

 distribution of plant food is typical of 

 such soils, but the lime and magnesia 

 are higher than in similar soils of the 

 Chilaw and Kalutara Districts. The 

 potash and phosphoric acid are present 

 in very poor quantity, but not less than 

 is usually found in coconut soils. The 

 acidity is only faint in Kiran, but in the 

 other soils it is acid. A dressing of 

 burnt lime or basic slag or both would 

 prove beneficial to such soils, 



" Box No. 3, Vandarumulla Estate, is 

 similar in composition to the previous 

 soils, but has not such a good supply of 

 potash and phosphoric acid, and crops 

 svould be improved by the addition of 

 these. The lime is less in this soil than 

 the two previous ones. 



"Box No. 4> Sunhunkemi Estate, is 

 similar in general composition and 

 character to the other soils, but is noted 

 for the deficiency of potash and phos- 

 phoric acid, and if these were replenished 

 and accompanied by a liberal appli- 

 cation of cattle manure, the trees would 

 no doubt in time respond to the treat- 

 ment with increased crops. 



" Box No. 5, Karavakoo fields, where 

 pinniari or kalvellamai is cultivated, is 

 clay mixed with quartzy sand. The 

 state of division is even so that the 



coarse sand tends to keep it open. This 

 soil is of an entirely different character 

 to the others tested, having larger 

 supplies of mineral plant food than are 

 usually found in Ceylon soils. The 

 magnesia is very high, and there are 

 good supplies of lime and potash, and 

 the phosphoric acid, although in less 

 proportion, is still tc be considered a 

 high percentage. The humus matter 

 and nitrogen are present in fair quan- 

 tity. This soil would give a good many 

 more crops than one per annum. 



"Box No. 6, A kkaraipattu fields, where 

 muumari or cultivation by rain is carried 

 on, is also of the same class of soil as 

 Sunkunkerni, and is similar in compo- 

 sition to the others. 



/'In all the first lot of soils large quan- 

 tities of freshly burnt ashes, which are 

 rich in potash, unexposed to the 

 atmospheres, should be applied along 

 with finely ground bones, which are 

 rich in phosphoric acid, aud large 

 supplies of cattle manure, which will 

 supply the humus and the nitrogen. 

 All these soils require replenishing in 

 these constituents, and would no doubt 

 improve the crop." 



(The actual figures of analyses are not 

 reproduced.) 



Miscellaneous. 

 The fancy curtain, referred to in last 

 Progress Report, has been presented to 

 the Society by Mr. James Perera of 

 Molligoda, who is anxious to work up a 

 local industry in the manufacture of 

 such articles as curtains, boxes, &c, 

 from the kekilla (Oleichenia) fern, which 

 is so common everywhere, and is at 

 present put to no use. The article could 

 be inspected in the Society's office, The 

 following is a description of how it is 

 made:— "Hard kekilla reeis with the 

 pith extracted are exposed for three or 

 four days to the wind and then cut into 

 the required lengths. The pieces are 

 strung together and then enamelled and 

 left to dry. When they are sufficiently 

 dry the thread is removed and the 

 pieces are re-strung as per sample cur- 

 tain. After the curtain is made, any 

 required design can be painted on it. 

 Before painting the strings should be 

 drawn down to a uniform tightness and 

 fastened. Another way of producing a 

 design would be by painting pieces of 

 reed differently and stringiug them so as 

 to bring out the required pattern." 



Erratum. 

 Mr. J. F. Jowitt writes :— " I apologize 

 for asking a further correction. Pen- 

 nisetum cenchroides, Rich., takes prece- 

 dence of Conchrus mutabilis, Wight ex 



