May, 1912.J 



401 



Drugs and Medicinal Plants. 



human generations which would re- 

 present approximately 120 years. 



Kola trees have many enemies. In 

 Dahomey deep galleries are hollowed 

 out in the branches and trunks ol Cola 

 nitida by a coliopteron, Phosphorus 

 Jansoni- Of all the insects attacking 

 Kola kernels, the best known and most 

 dangerous is a member of the eurcculi- 

 onidse, Balanius Kolce. In French Guinea 

 Kola trees are sometimes infected with 

 a disease manifested by the formation 

 of witches-brooms, and probably due 

 to a fungus not yet studied. 



Once they have been taken out from 

 the pod, the Kola nuts must in order to 

 be transported over great distances, 

 without serious damage, be very care- 

 fully packed. The caravan drivers 

 generally line the outside of the baskets 

 with leaves of certain marantaeeae, 

 above all those of Clinogyne Schwein- 

 furthiana K. Schum, and C. remosissima 

 K. Schum. When the nuts are not re- 

 quired to be kept for long, they are 

 enclosed in the wide leaves of a species 

 of Rubiaceae, Mitmgyne stipulacea Hiern. 

 For conveyance to Europe packing in 

 peat is recommended. 



The world's output of fresh Kola nuts 

 now amounts to about 20,000 tons. 

 French West Africa alone produces 

 4,500 tons. 



As yet Europe receives almost exclu- 

 sively dry Kolas. They are divided 

 into half-Kolas, or Kolas with two 

 cotyledons produced by Cola nitida, and 

 into quarter-Kolas or Kolas with four 

 or five cotyledons produced by the other 

 species. 



The price various from fr. 75 to 

 fr. 1'15 per kilogramme (3|U. to 3|c£. per 

 lb.) for nuts with two cotyledons, and 

 from fr. 40to0 fr. 75 to3fd. per lb.) 

 for those with four. 



The imports of dry Kolas into Europe 

 and the United States as yet only 

 amount to 1,000 tons per annum. Very 

 small quantities of fresh nuts have for 

 51 



some years past arrived in France, Eng- 

 land and Germany. This trade will 

 undergo great expansion when the 

 properties of Kola are better known in 

 Europe. 



It is chiefly in Africa, however, that 

 the consumption of Kola nuts is capable 

 of very great increase. A black who is 

 accumstomed to use this commodity 

 easily consumes 600 to 700 nuts per annum, 

 i.e., about 10 kilogrammes (22 lbs.). 

 More than one-half of the inhabitants 

 of French West Africa, i.e., about 5 

 million individuals, are already very 

 fond of it. The consumption is limited 

 by the rarity and dearness of the pro- 

 duct due to the difficulties of transport. 

 Therefore the construction of an exten- 

 sive railway system will bring about a 

 large increase in the consumption of 

 Kola nuts, which will thus be brought 

 within the reach of every purse ; this 

 growth cannot be otherwise than profit- 

 able to the business. The drying of the 

 nuts, owing to the dehydration and to 

 diastatic actions, entails a considerable 

 change in the chemical composition, 

 the most important point of which is 

 the liberation of the greater portion of 

 caffein, and it will be readily understoodi 

 therefore, that the action of Kola 

 on the organism has been attributed to 

 this latter. We may add in order to be 

 as complete as possible, as things at 

 present stand, that the presence of betain 

 in the proportion of 25 to 45 per cent, 

 has been pointed out in the Kola nut. 



The first investigations into the phy- 

 siological action of the Kola nut were 

 carried out at the suggestion of Dr. E. 

 Heekel. While some authors would see 

 nothing but the effects of caffein in the 

 action of Kola, Mr. Heekel attributed a 

 special activity to the kola red, which 

 was superadded to that of the caffein. 

 Recent enquiries into chemical compo- 

 sition evidently prove him right, because 

 this substance undoubtedly still contains 

 a small quantity of caffein combined 

 with tannin, and this tannic compound 

 cannot remain without effect on the 

 organism, 



