January t, 1890.] THE TROPICAL AGWCtlLTU Rl ST. 
485 
ing his visit to America. " I have crossed the Atlantic 
eighteen times and thia is my second tour around the 
world. I have lived in Oeylon thirty-one years, and 
have watched closely the growth of the tea industry 
in that country and in India. 
" The object of my visit to Amerioa is to establish 
new agencies for Oeylon tea. An agency will be 
established in San Francisco, and, sooner or later, 
there must be a house for the distribution of our goods 
in Tacoma. I do not know whether I shall be able 
to establish the house at present or not. Tomorrow 
I shall oonsult with several of your local merchants. 
Most of our tea now goes to England. Last year we 
exported from Oeylon 35,000,000 pounds of tea, and 
from both India and Oeylon 185,000,000 pounds were 
exported. The average jobbing price received for the 
same was 24 cents, this being muoh higher than the 
average price received by the Chinese exporters, as 
our tea is far superior to the Japan and China tea. 
Ceylon and India tea is the only machine-made tea in 
the world. All other tea is made by hand. 
" In 1873 we exported 278 pounds of tea. It was then 
doubted that any one besides Chinamen could make 
tea. Now, the Chinamen are coming to ns to learn 
how to make tea. The superintendents of our works 
are all Europeans. At present there are 200,000 acres 
under cultivation in Cejlou, and 300,000 persons, each 
reoeiving on an average 13 cents a day, are employed. 
These laborers save 60 per cent, of their wages, as it 
oosts them only 6| cents per day to live. 
"The condition of the lower classes in Ceylon and 
India is improving. The oasts are being broken up, 
and 300,000,000 people are kept peaceably with only 
66,000 soldiers." ■ , 
Mr. Pineo represents the tea merchants of Oeylon. 
His servants receive 8300 per annum for their err- 
vices. The woman is 20 years old and has a child 3 
years old. Her husoaud "is aged 23. In addition to 
several rings in her ears and nose, she wears silver 
anklets and gold rings on her toes— so Mr. Pineo 
says. Some of her costumes are very elegant. 
" JAMAICA SABSAPAEILLA." 
With a paper parcel W6 received the following 
letter from Mr, J. P. Abraham:— 
" I beg to send per bearer a sample of fresh Jamaica 
sarsaparilla roots this day taken out from 8 inch pots. 
They are of from 3 pots which weigh fresh. The 
plants are 15 months old in pots, and never planted 
in ground, all of the 3 pots seems full of roots. I 
am glad if you could kindly forward the sample for 
valuation and of their analyze as the cultivation of 
Indian Sarsaparilla do not require any attention nor 
good manure, and can be easily grown from sea 
level up to any elevation, it is a very hardy variety, 
the parent plants being imported from Jamaica 
Botanical Gardens." 
We referred the letter and specimens of drug to 
Dr. Trimen, who has courteously responded after 
the following interesting fashion: — 
"The sample sent is a rather poor one, the roots 
being too yonng and not of full size ; no doubt also 
growth in pots has somewhat hindered their full de- 
velopment. In ordinary trade samples of this sort of 
Sarsaparilla the cylindrical roots are considerably 
more in diameter and the large mass of fibrous root- 
letB (•' heard ') is usually absent, having been trim- 
med off before sending to market. 
" There are somi> curious points connected with 
this product, which baa been cultivated in Jamaica 
for many years past. The plant is not native there, 
and its geographical origin is not ascertained ; nor 
has it e* - er been botanically determined with 
certainty. Moreover this drug, though certainly a 
Sarsaparilla ii m Jamaica, is not the ' Jamaica 
Sarsaparilla ' of commerce. Th s latter is a produot 
of Central America and obtained its name in con- 
sequence of coming by way of the W. Indian Island. 
It differs from the kind before us in the dark red- 
dish-brown colour of the root-bark which has very 
little starch in its structure or as ,it is termed 
in the trade is ' non-mealy.' It is this sort 
that is most sought after by druggists. The aort 
grown in Jamaica is much paler in colour, more 
starchy (' mealy ') and is less valued in the English 
market. Its cultivation nowever is still carried on 
there to a considerable extent and is said to be very 
profitable ; the export in 1870 was 1,747 lb. and in 
1871, 1,290 lb., I have seen no later returns. 
" I do not think the culture of Sarsaparilla advi- 
sable here, at least on any large scale. The reputa- 
tion of the drug, oncevery high, bus been falling for 
many years, and by many therapeutists and practi- 
tioners it is now regarded as almost if not entirely 
inert. Careful chemical analysis has not revealed the 
existence of any alkaloid with important properties, 
and the use of this once famous tonic is steadily dimi- 
nishing." H. T. 
Here are two strange revelations : first as to the 
doubtful origin of the plant and then as to the 
scepticism which has arisen regarding the efficacy of 
what was once deemed a potent tonic and* 'puri- 
fier of the blood." There is a substitute for 
Sarsaparilla which grows wild in India and Ceylon 
which was once in high repute. We recollect Dr. 
O'Shaughnessy of Calcutta analyzing it, and we be- 
lieve his report was favourable. In Jaffna we 
heard that natives thin of habit, went through a 
regular course of sarsaparilla, when appointed to 
a Government office in order to obtain a degree 
of obesity necessary to secure full respect from 
the people 1 
By a curious coincidence, after passing Dr. 
Trimen's adverse judgment to the printer, the 
American Exporter reached us, with an advertise- 
ment commencing thus: "Your last chance to 
regain health, is Ayer's Sarsaparilla — the well 
known standard blood purifier. If you have never 
tried it, begin at once," &o. Then follow certifi- 
cates of cures of blood poisoning, scrofula and 
oarbun.-les ! But medical science and quackery are 
two different things. Only where is the process of 
disillusion to stop ? 
"INDIAN AND CEYLON INSECT PESTS".* 
(Third Noticed, 
But we now come to an insect of special local 
interest, not only because it attacks tea, but because 
it is named after the late Dr. Thwaites of Pera- 
deniya. 
A Caterpillar Injurious to Tea and Sal. 
Dasychira thwaitesii, Moore. 
Plate III, fig. 1, a imago $ , b imago g , c, cocoon in 
tea leaf, d pupa, e larva (dorsal view), f larva (side view), 
all natural size; fig. 1, g, Chalcis etiplcea, Hope (en- 
larged) ; Jig. 1, h Perilampus, new species (enlarged). 
Nature and Extent of the Damage, — Caterpillars 
and cocoons of this insect were forwarded to the Mu- 
seum in February 1888 by Mr. Trotman of the Planters' 
Stores Agency, who writes — the caterpillars " have 
lately visited our Eastern Dooars tea garden in such 
quantities as to cause serious damage to the leaf of the 
tea shrubs." 
In the Indian Forester is an account by Mr. W. K . 
Fisher of a caterpillar that defoliated sal trees in the 
Eastern Dooars and Goalpara in 1878, and which ap- 
pears to be the same insect. 
Mr. Fisher writes that, in the commencement of 
October 1878, every leaf of the ek\ trees, in a forest of 
about two hundred square miles in extent, had been 
devoured. In this tract, which is situated on a raised 
plateau of red loam and gravel, and is called the Purbot- 
juar and Guma forests, and in which sal almost every- 
where constitutes the predominant species, the foliate 
was so completely destroyed that the sal trees were 
rendere* 1 perfectly bare of leaves, and the ground Was 
strewedwith their debris, and with the caterpillars' dung, 
The caterpillars, however, prevailed over a much 
larger area, the more westerly forests in the plains of 
the Eastern Dooars suffering the most. Other trees 
* Notes on Indian and Ceylon Insect Peats— with 
splendidly executed plates— Price Rl'25 — to be had at 
Observer Office, 
