and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society*— May, 1912, 



All 



means of two mongoose-traps, I frequently 

 observed the mongoose spring on and success- 

 fully catch small birds feeding in the long grass, 

 it has taken to climbing trees, and therefore 

 the species building in more or less accessible 

 positions, such as the parrots and the lories, 

 have suffered most. The pigeons, which place 

 their nests in the more slender branches, have 

 to a much larger extent escaped. The harmless 

 ground snakes, once so highly prized by the 

 Fijians as an article of food, have disappeared 

 from Vitilevu, and it is said that even the land 

 crabs have shared the same fate. Luckily, how- 

 ever, the ravages of the mongoose are confined 

 at present to the two larger islands, Vitilevu 

 and Vanualevu, where sugar is grown on an 

 extensive scale. The lovely and fertile island 

 of Taviuni, in spite of certain ill-advised at- 

 tempts at introduction, which happily have so 

 far been frustrated, still remains free trum this 

 pest, and a sanctuary to the birds peculiar to it." 

 [Our naturalist readers will call to mind the 

 similar disastrous results which lollowed the 

 introduction of the mongoose into Jamaica, as 

 described by the laie W.E. D. Scott, of Prince- 

 ton, in his charming volume The Story of a Bird 

 Lover, 1903 (pp. 312-313).— Ed, 1 



In view of the correspondence on jungle fowl 

 which has recently been published in the Field, 

 it may be of interest to the writers and others 

 to note what DrP fl Bahr has to say on the 

 jungle fowl of Fiji, where he spent a year 

 (1910-11) in studying the avifauna of that group 

 of islands. His notes on the subject appear 

 in the April number of the Ibis. According to 

 Layard (Jbis, 1876) the wild jungle fowl of Fiji, 

 the familiar crow of which is such a characteristic 

 feature in these palm-clad islands, was intro- 

 duced by Capt. Cook. On the other hand, Dr 

 B G Corney, for twenty years chief medical 

 officer of the colony, thinks that fowls existed in 

 Fiji long before the coming of Capt. Cook. It 

 is pointed out that on the advent of the mis- 

 sionaries wild fowls were found in every island 

 of the group. The bird is called " toa '.' by the 

 natives, and, according to Dr Corney, " a small 

 variety existed in Tahiti when the hrst ship (H. 

 M. S. " Dolphin ") discovered it in 1766. The 

 story that Quiros discovered Tahiti in 1616 is 

 a gross error, but is repeated in most encyciop£e- 

 dias and similar works," If the fowl had been 

 introduced into Tahiti in 1766, it is most likely 

 that it would have reached Fiji at some earlier 

 period. Moreover, there is no evidence that 

 Cook did more than touch at the island of 

 Vatoa, the south-easterly limit of the Fiji group. 

 The introduction of the mongoose sealed the 

 fate of the jungle fowl in Vitilevu, On the small 

 islands off the coast of Vitilevu it is abundant, 

 especially on Bequaa and Mokagai, whence 

 I was presented with a pair of* these birds. 

 Though much harassed by the mongoose, we 

 managed to keep them alive for a year, and 

 several young were raised. The male, a typical 

 jungle cock in appearance, hecame very familiar 

 and with difficulty could be kept out of the 

 bedrooms. On Taviuni these birds are still 

 abundant; the planters are in the habit of shoot- 

 ing them with a rifle, using a tame fowl, which 

 in trained to crow as a lure,— Pieldj April, 20. 



CEYLON COCONUT OIL IN NEW YORK. 



AND THE REVISED TARIFF. 

 The situation in the coconut oil market is 

 almost anomalous. While some leading inter 

 ests raised prices for all descriptions, other 

 leading interests scored a reduction. Thus ou 

 the one hand Cochin is quoted at 10^c, and 

 Ceylon at 10c. per pound, a rise in each case 

 ot i'u. over the prices quoted last week. On the 

 other hand, Cochin is quoted at 9^c, Ceylon at 

 8 - 8Uc, and copra at 850. per pound — a decline of 

 a traction ot a point tor each description. Frices 

 in butu cases ate tor oil on spot, hut both sets 

 are largely nominal as trading has not been largo 

 in volume. Comparatively little oil arrived 

 during the week, Out the supplies on hand are 

 said to be ample to meet all present require- 

 ments. As a result the future positions are 

 offered ai oijly slight disotutits. (jochin at 

 9"40c., Ceylon at 8'Suc, ana copra at 8 oOc per 

 pouud. ivlaiseilltjs quotes 89 francs per 100 

 kilos for copra, and London cabled. Friday, 

 a quotation for April-May delivery of Ceylon at 

 £38 15s. per ton. 



The imports of coconut oil during February 

 were 4,059,830 pounds, valued at §328,862, in 

 February, 1911, the imports were 5,055,904 

 pounds, valued at $413,226, 



The Takiff; Chemical Schedule Revision, 



Washingtou, April 5, 1912. — Intimations are 

 given by the members of the Finance Uommitcee 

 of the United States (Senate that it will probably 

 be a week or ten days before further consider- 

 ation is given to the bill that has passed the 

 House ot Representatives revising the chemical 

 schedule of the tariff law. 



The formal brief prepared by the National 

 Conference of Soap Manufacturers as submitted 

 to the committee is declared to represent 75 per 

 cent, of the production of common and laundry 

 soaps. The object of this brief is to show that 



THEKE SHOULD BE NO INCREASE IN THE DUTIES 

 ON OIL MATERIALS 



entering into the production of laundry soaps, 

 and an elaborate statement relating to various 

 imported oils, etc., are referred to in the brief, 

 which ia signed by soap manufacturing concerns. 



Discussing in detail the use of the various 

 oils, alkalies, and resin employed in common 

 soap industry, all of these oils being imported, 

 the briet summarises [one] as loliows : — 



" Coconut oil should remain ou the free list, 

 where it is now, and, so tar as can be ascer- 

 tained, always has been. This oil is almost 

 entirely produced in the East Indies and otner 

 foreign countries. Coconut oil was for many 

 years chiefly used in the manufacture of tue 

 better grades of toilet and bath soaps. Relying 

 upon the continued supply of duty-tree coconut 

 oil, that oil has been more and more used in the 

 manufacture of common or laundry soaps, arid 

 now constitutes one of the principal ingrements 

 thereof. The public has reaped the Deneht ot 

 these improvements. The-price of coconut oil, 

 however, with its enlarged use, has steadily ad- 

 vanced, and to-day is at a point where it would 

 be impossible to furnish a soap of the present 



