870 
Supplement to the "Tvopical Agriculturist." [June 2, 1890. 
in Oeylon that from various causes seem utterly un. 
able to help themselves, but it would be hardly fair to 
say that this is purely the fault of the individuals of 
these classes. To leave them to their fate in the strug- 
gle for existence would be callousness • to throw money 
to them indiscriminately, and bo satisfy our consciences 
that we are charitable, is productive of more harm 
than good ; for while it encourages an idle spirit in 
them, it robs them of all self-respect and every 
spark of independence. In an institution like the 
Wellawatta Indnstrial Home the policy adopted is to 
help them — not to do nothing but — to help them- 
selves. Here the boys are lead into the way of work- 
ing and earning a honest livelihood, and, what is 
most admirable, their young minds are being moulded 
by those in charge of them in a fashion that must even- 
tually stamp them as a new class of intelligent, 
willing and upright labourers that, speaking without 
prejudice, we are sadly in need of. To the Wesleyan 
Missionaries is due the credit of this good work, and 
especially to the Rev. Mr. Bestall, who we hear is 
hoping to be able to establish a sister institution 
for girls. 
The " Weather Plant," which has attracted so much 
attention in Botanical circles, and to which No. 37 
of the Kew Bulletin is entirely devoted, is of quite 
common growth in Ceylon — its Sinhalese name being 
Olinda. It is a creeping plant belonging to the order 
Leguminosje, and the seeds of the legume commonly 
known as Coondoomannie (which is the Tamil name 
of the creeper), are scarlet, black and white. The 
commonest however are of a bright scarlet colour with 
a jet black spot at the top. These latter are used 
by jewellers as weights, each weighing almost uni- 
formly one grain, and also as beads for necklets. The 
seeds are said to be innocuous if swallowed whole, but 
dangerous in a powdered state : yet, on the contrary, it 
is Btated that they are used as an article of food in 
Egypt. They are occasionally employed for external 
application in ophthalmia, and reduced to a fine 
powder, are used by goldsmiths to increase adhesion in 
the more delicate parts of fine ornaments. The root is 
employed as a substitute for liquorice, hence its name 
" wild liquorice." The leaves mixed with honey are 
applied to swellings, and pulverised and chewed with 
sugar are used to mitigate coughs. It is also stated 
by Drury in his book (1858) that the leaves were re- 
ported to be used instead of tea in Jamaica. It was 
Professor Nowach of Vienna who first observed the 
peculiar movements in the leaflets, and carried on 
hia observations for over 4 years, coming to the con- 
clusion after some 34,000 experiments, that the plant 
possessed the marvellous property of forecasting the 
weather, the direction of wind, electrical disturbances 
and earthquake shocks ! 
Mr. J. A. Kodipilly furnishes us with the follow- 
ing interesting and at the same time startling extract 
from the Scientific American of February 22nd: — 
" At the October meeting of the Vienna Academy 
of Sciences, Theodor Gross, of the Technical High 
School of Berlin, presented a paper of a very startl- 
ing character, in which the author endeavoured to 
make it plausible that sulphur is not, as now con- 
sidered, an element, but a compound of oarhon with 
some other as yet undetermined elementary Bub'tsnces. 
We quote from the Chemiker Zietung of Cocthen 
Heating a thin layer of precipi'ated sulphur in a 
porcelain capsule and allowine the ignited mass to 
slowlv burn without further application of heat, there 
remained as residue a black pellicle, which after 
heating in the presence of air, was converted into a 
lisht brown powder amounting to 0'2 per cent of the 
orieinal weight of the sulphur. Of this, one part was 
gradually introduced into forty par^s of fused potas- 
sium bvdrate contained in a silver capsule, and after 
adding five parts of potassium chlorate, the app'ication 
of heat was continued until the mass ceased to foam. 
After treatment with water this fuse left a flocculent 
precipitate; the liquid, after filtration, disengaging 
with hydrochloric acid a comparatively large volume 
of carbon dioxide. The precipitate was readily dis- 
solved by warm dilute hydrochloric acid containing 
a little HNO 3 birring a minute argentic residue. 
Added to this solution, potassa or NH3 produced 
flocculent precipitates insoluble in excess even after 
heating, but readily soluble in ac'ds. A f ter nearly 
neutralizing the excess of acid with potassa. the 
addition of hydrogen sulphide produced a light brown, 
very flocculent precipitate, which was thoroughly 
washed wHh hot water. This precipitate, according 
to careful investigation, contains a new bodv. Of all 
the known elements, only traces of copper might be 
present. This residue, when strongly heated in open 
porcelain crucible, fused together to small granules, 
having the appearance of selenium, whose weight 
amounted to about 2'5 per cent of the light brown 
powder obtained by incinerating the sulphur. Two 
and seven-tenths, e.g. of this powder strongly heated 
in a current of hydrogen lost 3 mg. The remainder 
dissolved in hot concentrated HN03 gave a ppt. with 
a large excess of NH 3 , which being carefully washed, 
was again dissolved in dilute HN03. In this solution 
hydrogen sulphide again produced a light brown ppt. 
and potassium hydrate or NH3 a ppfc. insoluble in 
excess. The author claims that this body fo obtained 
cannot possibly be considered a contamination of the 
precipated sulphur employed, for his results were 
always the Fame with samples procured from various 
sources, while with roll sulphur he had negative re- 
suits. He considers the body a product of decom- 
position of the sulphur used, being related to the 
allotropic condition ot the same in the precipitated 
form. For reasons to be made public at some other 
time, he considers sulphur a compound of carbon with 
several other bodies now looked upon as elements. 
He also believes the body above described to be such 
a combination." 
