Drugs and Medicinal Plants. 



200 



[March, 1912. 



presumption that the stems could be had 

 free. About 1,500 plantain stems would 

 be required to produce a ton of fibre, 

 and even paying at the rate of 2 ets. 

 for every stem, we may require only 

 Rs. 30 for the whole lot. Deducting 

 this Rs. 30 we can be positive of a nett 

 profit of Rs. 150 on every ton of fibre 

 exported. An acre of land could be 

 planted with 1,500 plants, and it takes 

 about 18 months to bear fruits. The 

 bunches could be sold (putting the 

 lowest average value) for 40 cts. each, 

 which would give Rs. 600 ; and about 

 Rs. 250 will be more than enough to 

 cover the cost of cultivation, and the 

 balance Rs. 350 could be added to the 

 profit on the fibre. 



I am sorry I haven't a list of the dif- 

 ferent species of plantains found cultiv- 

 ated in Ceylon, but I am sure Mr. Drie- 

 berg, the talented Secretary of the Agri- 

 cultural Society, would be able to tell us. 

 I am myself writing to that gentleman 

 on the subject. That particular .kind 

 found in Malabai k nowu there as Etta or 

 Nantra Vazha (Musa Paradisiaca, I be- 

 lieve) is not found in Ceylon. The fibre 

 extracted from this species is of a very 

 superior quality. This kind should be 

 introduced into Ceylon. Some years 

 back I brought a few seeds from Tra van- 

 core and tried them here in Jaffna, but 

 I am sorry none of them came up. 



I think I have said enough on the sub- 

 ject, and I sincerely hope that some of 



my countrymen would think of this 

 industry seriously. 

 » 



T. P. Masilamany. 

 Jaffna, 15th January, 1912. 



P.S.— Since writing the above, Mr. Drie- 

 berg writes to me about a " wild plantain 

 commonly found growing in Kadugan- 

 nawa, which bears an inedible seedy 

 fruit" which the gentleman expects to 

 be "identical with the Travaneore 

 variety, —the Etta Vazha." But I don't 

 think so, for the fruit of the Travaneore 

 variety is edible— both in the raw and 

 ripe state. The peculiarity of this fruit 

 is that the rind could be peeled off as 

 we would do the outer cover of the 

 tamarind. In Malabar this fruit is dried 

 in the sun and then converted into flour, 

 which they consider as good as or 

 better than arrowroot. The kind about 

 which Mr. Drieberg is speaking of, 

 I think, is the kind-known in South India 

 as Mala Vazha— hill plantain, This 

 they say is identical with the Manila 

 Plantain. Mr. Drieberg speaks also of a 

 new machine suitable for extracting 

 plantain fibre, and very kindly offers 

 to place it at my disposal for trial, for 

 which I am indebted to him. I am 

 writing to the gentleman suggesting 

 to send this machine to the different 

 agricultural instructors, and to ask them 

 to give public demonstrations.— T. P. M. 



23-1-12. 



DRUGS AND MEDICINAL PLANTS. 



INTERNATIONAL OPIUM 

 CONFERENCE. 



(From the Chemixt and Druggist, 

 No. 1663, Vol. LXXIX., December 9, 1911.) 



The International Opium Conference 

 was opened at The Hague on December 

 1 by Dr. Van Swinderen, Dutch Minister 

 of Foreign Affairs. Twelve nations are 

 represented at the Conference, com- 

 prising Great Britain, Germany, France, 

 Holland, Italy, Russia, Portugal, China, 

 Japau, Persia, Siam, and the United 

 States, all the Powers being represented 

 on the Shanghai Commission of Febru- 

 ary, 1909. Turkey was especially invited 

 to take part, but declined. The Right 

 Rev, C. H. Brent, Bishop of the Philip- 

 pines, who presided over the Shanghai 

 Congress, was elected President, and in 

 accepting the honour, referred to the 

 great problem involved in the opium 

 question. He believed the Shanghai Con- 

 ference pointed the way for the legisla- 



tion to be adopted, and he hoped that 

 the legislative Act which would result 

 from the work of the Conference would 

 have the opinion of the whole world 

 behind it. The Dutch Foreign Minister, 

 in his speech, paid a tribute to the 

 American Republic for its initiative in 

 calling the Conference, and thanked the 

 United States delegates for the trouble 

 taken in drawing up the memorandum. 

 The Minister declared that the resolu- 

 tion adopted at Shanghai would form 

 the basis of the final Convention, and 

 that in accordance with the wish of 

 Great Britain — a wish which, he said, 

 was greatly appreciated — the deliber- 

 ations would include questions affecting 

 the use not only of opium, but also of 

 morphine and cocaine. In reporting the 

 opening meeting, "The Times" corre- 

 spondent gives particulars of the scope 

 of the inquiry and a teutative pro- 

 gramme to which allusion has been 

 made on several occasions in The 



