April i, 1890.] THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 679 
In presenting our report to Your Excellency, we 
cannot but ttel that the mass of evidence gathered 
will be of great use to any person who may wish to 
commence the cultivation, and, although it ia too vol- 
uminous, and a great deal of it too irrelevant, to prmt, 
yet we would respectfully suggest that it should be 
made available to any one ior perusal. 
There is one marked characteristic in the statements 
made by persons who have visited this colony, alter 
experience in other coffee-growing countries; and it is, 
tbac the plant grows here as vigorously, m favourable 
situations, as they have ever seen it elsewhere. Further, 
we may state that, in spite of the lact ol such a vast 
acreage of trees having been uprooted, there ar« 
patches cf coffee at the present time scattered over the 
coast lauds as healthy and flourishing as any in former 
years, anol we fail to see any reason why, supposing the 
culture to have been a commercial success prior to 
1872, it should not be revived again, and with the 
benefit of past experience and the reservations before 
stated, again prove a great auxiliary to the agricultural 
prosperity of the coast districts. 
S. Ceowdee, Chairman. 
Chaeles Manning, 
G. Sinclair Smith, 
David Brown, 
J. Liege Hulett. 
Planting News : Eatu Pahat, Feb, 27th.— Grand 
news ior coffee planters to see Liberian quoted at 
#30 per picul. The firBt Johore Liberian sold 
in (Singapore only fetched $14 per picul. The 
weather is very unseasonable up here just now ; 
fahowers, and heavy ones, every day.— Straits Times, 
March 4th. 
Diabetes — A New Drug in its Treatment.— A 
writer in the Family Jjoctor draws attention to the 
use of a remedy in the diabttes : — The Syzjgiurn 
Jambolanum, or Eugenia Jambolana is a new remedy 
recently introduced lor the treanient of all cases ot 
diabetes. It is found in India, Ueylou, Mauritius, and 
Columbia. A tincture of the powdered seeds is used 
in doses from three to ten drops. It has been well 
tested in England, Germany, and in parts of the 
United States. It is said to prevent tne formation of 
sugar in the system and to stay the waste. 1 began 
its use on a marked case of diabetes some lour months 
ago. The only case in which I have used it,Mr,M. 
aged 55 years, came to me emaciated, much broken 
down in health. He was weak, especially in his legs, 
and walked with a slow, tottering gait. He was void- 
ing large quantities of urine, the specific gravity of 
which v as 1,037. The tests showed tne urine heavily 
loaded with sugar. I began with the use ot Rhus 
Aromatica, but after a month's use I was unable to 
see any appreciable benefit. The patient grew weaker 
and the urine remained unchanged. I now gave him 
two fluid ounces of the mother ticture ol the Syzi- 
giuni Jambolauum, and oidered him to take three 
drops tvery three houra. Alter a week I ordered five 
drops three times a day, and parvules of iodide of 
arsenic three times a day. 1 have kept my patient 
on these drugs ever since. In three weeks' use of 
this treatment he came to me feeling much stronger, 
and since that time he has continued to improve in 
strength and gain fleah. His colour and fulness ot 
the lace has been regained to near us former appear- 
ance. He tells me that he knows he is getting web, aDd 
feels as if hb could go to work. I rn.d, at ine present 
writing, the quantity of urine Las diminished one- 
half ; but I observe no appreciable change as yet in 
the quantity ul sugur, though the unuometer registers 
1,033. His craving lor wanv is not so groat ; and he 
is allowed to eat most all kinds ot looo, with the 
in junction to avoid the Diarchy foods asmuch as pos- 
sible, i do not flutter myseil that this paiieut will 
get well, neither do I imagine that all ihe good result 
tl.us tar are due to the Jambolauum ; but the 
patient s evidently Letter. Let otheis try this drug 
and report.— Burynyno, Lurbid'jes tj- Cu.'s 1'ruc Cur rent. 
Salmon Fishing in Scotland. — Salmon fishing on 
most of the rivers in Scotland opened on February 
11th. Some good takes were made by net in the 
upper reaohes of the lay, the Belly more and 
Pithchry station yielding 50. On the Deveron some 
hauls yielded 20 beautitul clean fish, and a total of 
130 were landed, as compared with between 20 and 
30 last year. — European Mail, Feb. 14th. 
Hewagam Koeale : Planting. — There are now seve- 
ral exteubive coconut and cinnamon estates m the 
district Lenawatte, about 300 acres in extent, belong- 
ing to Mr. Daniel, Superintendent of Minor Roads, 
is looking exceedingly well. Kesbewe estate, formerly 
belonging to the late Charles Silva Mudaliyar, and 
now the property of Mr. Richard Silva, sub-inspector 
of schools, though smaller in extent than Lenawatte, 
being only 80 acres, is much better soil. These being 
still young plantations, how long they will keep up 
their fertility remains to be seen. Then there is 
Gehenuwale estate (cinnamon and coconut), a gift 
to the daughter of Mudaliyar Charles Silva by her 
grandfather, the late Mr. Philip Perera. This ia in 
excellent order, is over 100 acres in extent, and brings 
in an income of over £100 a year from its cinnamon 
alone ; the coconut plantation not having come into 
bearing. Besides these nearer Colombo, there are the 
cinnamon estates of Messrs. Wbittall & Co., whioh 
are leased out. — Cor., local "Times." 
On Peabls. — A writer in the Gentleman's 
Magazine for January gives information which 
would lead one to expect a good market for the 
products of our next Pearl Fishery : — 
Pearls have been rising in value in the European 
market so long, and threaten to rise so steadily, that 
they may soon become the costliest, as they have long 
been the most elegant, ornaments of a beautiful woman. 
" Si douce, si douce est la Marguerite !" 
sang the ancient Provence troubadour. Many a jewel 
is fifty times as effective : the ruby is richer in colour, 
the diamond is brighter, gold and silver are more plas- 
tic — as full cf possibilities as Reynard's bag of tricks. 
The pearl has but its mild satin skin, like an angel's 
shoulder, its rounded ourves ; yet its shy, moony lustre 
seems to have a more permanent hold over a dainty 
fanoy than many a more vivid and more robust material. 
True, it is mere carbonate of lime ; true, its globing 
form comes but from the sickness of an invertebrate ; 
its colours are drawn, not from the living fish, but 
from its putrescence after death. As ornament that 
owes its existence to nothing but disease and decay 
certainly draws little from sentiment; and perhaps the 
pearl owes more to its constant association with noble 
piotures of beauteous women than to its intrinsic glory. 
For all that, the decorative position of pearls is quite 
unassailable. In spite of their grim origin, a necklet of 
fine pearls remains a far more refined and dainty orna- 
ment than one of brilliants. Perhaps one reason is the 
presence in pearls of beauty without brillianoy. 
Varieties in Pearls.— The same writer tell us that the 
highest known cost of a single pearl is said to have been 
paid by Tavernier at Catifa in Arabia. It was oval, 
spotless, two inches long, and its price was £110,010. A 
very fine British pearl — we might have a more regular 
British supply, I suppose, with a little more eelf-com- 
mand, and a grain more national pride — has found a 
resting place in the Crown of England. It came from 
the Conway. These finds, however, are very rare here. 
Scotoh pearls, when fine, fetch a good price. They 
wear a faint pink blush, which Parisians run after 
greedily. The Cingalese pearls are the whitest, but 
whe her white, pink, black, or straw-coloured, there 
must always supervene that peouliar translucent finish 
or " water," with more or less iridescence, which, like 
the bright colours on Roman glass, seems inseparable 
from the action of buried gases. Without this the 
pearl is of little or no value, and is termed a " blind " 
pearl, like those small pearlikins we often find within 
halt swallowed oysters at table. You might find a big 
"blind" pearl, worth nothing, in your mouth, which 
properly tinted by the bitter essences in the putrid 
stack, would be worth a fortune. 
