634 
THr TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [March i, 1890. 
as the millionaires'. Or we oan understand a 
finanoier saying that he reserves taxes on the whole 
community- -taxes, for example, like those on sugar, 
tea, and beer — for times of emergency ; but then, 
let that policy be avowed and discussed, and the 
workmen brought clearly to understand it. ' At 
present the theory is that all should be taxed, 
roughly speaking, on the principle of equality ; 
but recent legislation has carried the facts far 
beyond that point. The well-to-do now pay in 
direct taxes nearly as much as the handicraftsmen 
do in all their taxes, and then pay their indirect 
taxes over and above. It is time that these facts 
should be made clear in Budget discussions, and 
that we should at least know the central idea upon 
which Parliament is proceeding. If the well t i-do 
are to pay "ransom," as Mr. Chamberlain onc9 
put it, they ought at least to have the credit of 
paying it in the popular eyes.— Spectator. 
* 
QUININE AND THE EPIDEMIC. 
If the " influenza" has disturbed trade generally, 
it has also stimulated one or more special branches. 
Notably the consumption of quinine has been 
inoreased, and the stooks of dealers and druggists 
everywhere reduced. Some considerable deliveries 
have also reoently been made to America. All the 
same, there is no f -ar of famine prices. Messrs. 
Lewis and Peat, of Mincing-lane, in a circular just 
issued, say that the available stocks of quinine are 
too large— too mum is manufactured for these 
times of " peace," and importers have so regularly 
supplied the auctions with cinchona each fortnight, 
that there has been little chance of a permanent or 
serious advance in values. A halfpenny is about the 
extent of the rise, the quotation being Is 3|d per 
ounce in bulk. It is extraordinary how the price of 
quinine has fallen in recent years. A dozen years 
ago English sulphate of quinine was quoted 13s, now 
it is Is 6d. German was then 12s, now it is Is 3|d. 
The price of bark for quinine was unprecedentedly 
low last year. As there were large speculative 
transactions, it would be interesting to know whether 
the "bulls" reckonel on the epidemic — Pall Mall 
Budget, Jan. 31st. 
# 
THE WEATHER PLANT. 
To the dissipation of the claims of Professor Nowack 
of Vienna to be able to foretell not only meteorologi- 
cal phenomena but actually earthquakes and explo- 
sions of fire damp in mines, by observing the movements 
of the leaves of a plant, a whole number of the "Kew 
Bulletin " is devoted. The German Professor, who 
ought to have bean born in pre-scientific time3, 
actually took out a patent for his supposed dis- 
covery. It was tested by the eminent botanist, 
Professor Oliver, who describes as below the creeping 
plant so common in the jungles of Ceylon, especially 
in the drier portions of the island. We once culti- 
vated it, for the sake of its pretty purple flowers 
and especially for the little red and black seeds, which 
are strung as necklaces and used by goldsmiths as 
weights. Those seeds have strangely different effects 
when swallowed and applied sub-outaneously, as 
Professor Oliver shows in his description, which we 
quote : — 
The plaut Abrus precatoriits, Linn., is a well- 
known tropical weed. Originally a native of India, 
it is now widely dispersed in tropical regions, 
including Mauritius, the West Indies, &c. It 
ia a leguminous plant, with the habit of a shrubby 
climber. In the case of the plants used by Mr. Nowack 
the young rapidly-growing shoots were cut in before 
requiring any support. Thus the production of lateral 
shoes and foliage was stimulated. 
The seeds of Abrus precatori»s are well-known as 
" crab's-eyos," and are used all over the world for 
decorative purposes. In India they are called rati, 
and are largely used by goldsmiths as weights, each 
weighing about If grains. It is sta'ed that the famous 
Kohinoor diamond was first weighed by the rati, a 
word which is indeed supposed to have given origin 
to the jeweller's carat (Kerat, Arab.) 
The powdered seeds are harmless when eaten, but 
rapidly produce fatal effects when introduced beneath 
the skin even in small quantity. They are used oriini- 
n'jlly in India in " Sui " poisoning, the object being 
to obtain the skins of the poisoned domestio animals. 
The poisonous action ia due to the action of a protied 
Abrin. 
The leave3 of the plant are two to three inches 
long, with 10 to 15 pairs of ehoitly stalked leaflets. 
The texture of the latter is very delicate and mem- 
branous ; the surfaces glabrous. 
At the point of insertion of each leaf on the stem 
is a slightly swollen joint or pulvinus, and each leaflet 
is provided with a similar small secondarv pulvinus 
at its point of insertion on the main richis. The rachis 
as well as the leaflets perform considerable movements 
both vertically and laterally on their pulvini. It is 
with these movements hat the bulk of tLi< report is 
concerned, as on them Mr. Nowack bases his various 
weather prophecies and barometrio charts. 
The leaves are arranged on the stem alternately 
with for the most part a divergence of £, but since in 
its development a leaf generally bends round through 
an angle varying from a few degrees to as much as 
90°, it is found on an adult shoot that the leaves point 
in various directions. They spread themselves so as 
to obtain the most favourable illumination. This point 
is of some importance and will be referred to later 
on. 
We have only to add to the above description that 
the roots of the plant have all the properties of 
liquorice. We need scarcely say that botanically, 
meteorologically and seismatically, Professor Nowack's 
pretensions to foretell by means of this interesting 
but not miraculous plant were refuted. Professor 
Oliver's conclusions we quote : — 
In conclusion, I contend tha' all the movements ex- 
hibited by the leaves of Abrus precatorius depend on 
causes not so far to seek as those suggested by Mr. 
Nowack. 
The ordinary movements of the leaflets, of rising and 
falling, are called forth in the main by changes in the 
intensity of the light. In a humid atmosphere they are 
more sluggish than in a relatively dry one. In other 
words when the conditions are favourable for transpira- 
tion the movements are most ac ive. 
Th e position for snow and hail is connected intimately, 
in the cases that have come under my own observation, 
with a spotting or bi 1 inff (by insects) of the leaflets, 
and is not due to any other external factor. 
The position for fog an 1 mi?t and for electricity in 
the air is probably due to the disturbance caused by 
varying light, the rhj thmical movements of the leaflets 
being temporarily overthrown. 
The position indicating thunder and lighting I take 
to be pathological from its tendency to recur on the 
same leaves. 
Daily movements of the rachis constitute a periodic 
function in this as in many other plants with pinnate 
leaves. The regularity of these oscillations is consider- 
ably influenced by both light and temperature. 
How important severely careful and disinterested 
experiments are, can be judged from the claims 
previously made on behalf of Professor Nowack and 
his prophesying plant, by his English agent in a 
letter to the London Times, as follows : — 
Professor Nowack contends; (1), that the weather 
plant is an electro-magnetic plant ; (2) that if it is 
placed, corresponding with a magnetio compass with its 
north branches towards north, in an apparatus of his 
own special, hut, after all, very simple, construction, and 
is therein grown and cultivated in the special and sim- 
ple manner described by him ; it will then, and only 
then, cease to be susceptible to the influences of its im- 
