374 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [December i, r88 7 . 
TEOPICAL PBODUCTS. 
Die Tropisehe Agrihdtur. Ein Handbuch fiir 
Pflanzer und Kaufleute. By H. Semler, in San 
Francisco. Wismar i/iYL (Germany) : Hinstorff'sche 
Hofbuchhandlung. 1886. 15 Marks. 
The first and second parts of the first section of 
this voluminous and interesting work have just been 
issued. The author is a German-American of globe- 
trotting proclivities, who has resided in various parts 
of the tropics, notably in South Ameiica and Western 
Africa, and who has recently attracted considerable 
attention in Germany by publications on agricultural 
questions as affected by the American competition 
in foodstuffs. In the present work Mr. Semler describes 
the principal useful plants growing in the tropics 
from a practical point of view. So far not many 
plants of special interest to the pharmacist have been 
mentioned ; for the majority of these we must await 
the issue of the second volume. In the book before 
us we find hints to planters concerning the choice 
of plants for cultivation, descriptions of the most 
useful implements ; chapters on tea, coffee, cocoa, 
the various varieties of palms, kola nuts, guarana, 
coca and yerba mate. From the last four articles 
we quote some particulars : — 
Kola Nuts. — The botanical name of the tree yielding 
the kola nut Mr. Semler states as being undefined, and 
quoted by various authorities as Stercidia acuminata, 
Sterculia cola, and Cola acuminata. We should have 
thought that there was no question as to the first 
being the correct designation. It is also mentioned 
that slave dealers were in the habit of carrying with 
them a supply of kola nuts, for administration to 
their slaves as an antidote to the suicidal mania with 
which from time to time they were afflicted, and 
that it was through these slave-dealers that the kola 
nut was introduced in the West Indies, Mexico, 
Brazil, and Mauritius. In these countries, however, 
the white population have never paid the slightest 
attention to the tree, of whose presence in their 
midst the vast majority are quite unaware. A regular 
export trade is even carried on in kola nuts from 
Lagos and Loanda to Brazil. It is also suggested that 
a large proportion of the kola nuts imported into 
England are used in the preparation of low-grade 
chocolates, with the addition of a little cocoa. 
Guabana. — In a note on guarana the author states 
that the word is derived from the Guaranis Indians, 
which tribe are said to have first prepared the paste. 
Afterwards the tribe of the Mauche Indians usurped 
the monopoly of the preparation of guarana, but at 
present the paste is prepared by Indians and whites 
alike. The use of guarana has greatly increased in 
Brazil of late years, and it does not speak for the 
energy of the natives that they have as yet taken 
no steps to cultivate the guarana tree. The fruits 
of the tree are gathered in October and November, 
and opened with a hammer or stone, and the seeds, 
of which each fruit contains from two to six, of the 
shape of a horse-shoe, are abstracted. These seeds 
are dried in the sun or at the fire until the white 
skin with which they are covered may be rubbed off 
with the hand. They are then pounded in a mortar, 
and kneaded into a dough by the addition of a 
little water or dew. To this dough a certain quantity 
of coarsely powdered or whole seeds are added, and 
the mass is then either formed into balls or, and 
more frequently, into the sausages which are known 
to European druggists as guarana paste. The sausages 
or balls are baked in the sun or by artificial heat, 
and sent to the market in banana leaves or mats. An 
inferior quality of guarana is prepared by mixing 
cocoa or cassava with the seed, but this quality may 
be distinguished from pure guarana by its paler 
colour and comparative softness. Nearly all the guarana 
collected in Brazil is taken to Santarem, in the province 
of Para, a town of about 6,000 inhabitants, situated on 
the right bank of the river Tapajos, near its confluence 
with the Amazon, and which trades chiefly in cocoa 
and the mediciual products of the country. The 
average quantity of guarana brought into this town 
is estimated at 16,000 lb. per annum. On the Santarem 
market the price of guarana is generally about 9d. 
per lb., but at the original points of collection, whioh 
are mostly situated on the Rio Negro, it is much less. 
This statement of Mr. Semler's is in singular con- 
trast with that in Messrs. Gehe & Oo.'s last report 
(vide The Chemist and Druggist of September 25) 
that it seems to be the fact that it does not pay 
the Brazilian shippers to export guarana if the 
European price is less than 6*. per lb. 
Yerba Mate. — Writing on yerba mat6, Mr. Semler 
remarks that it used to be a common idea in Europe 
that this drug was obtained from the Ilex para~ 
guayensis only, while as a matter of fact five other 
varieties of holly yield the leaves, although th i /. 
Paraguay cnsis is the most important among them. 
Neither Hager, nor Stille and Maissb, however, speak 
of mat6 as being derived from any other variety 
than the/, 'paraguayensis. 
The Ilex parayuayemis is common in Southern Brazil, 
in Paraguay, in the Argentine State of Oorrientes, 
and in the territories of Gran-chaco and Missiones, 
and is generally found in large rows called yerbales. 
Among the native Indians the tree is known by the 
name of caa. The word yerba is Spanish for herb, 
more particularly medicinal herb. Mat6 is derived 
from the anoient Inka language, and originally meant 
a gourd or a vessel. 
Among the South American Indians yerba mate has 
been in use for centuries, and at present its con- 
sumption in South Amerida is still increasing largely. 
Brazil exported in 1880 over 28,000,000 lb. of mate, 
of which fully one-third was contributed by the 
province of Parana. Of this quantity 23,000,000 lb. 
went to the Argentine Republic. The exports from 
Paraguay amount to only about 5,000,000 lb. annually. 
Ohili and Peru take about 1,000,000 lb. between them 
every year. The consumption of mate in the Argentine 
Republic reaches the excessive figure of 13 lb. per year 
per head of the population, and this fact explains the 
large consumption of sugar in that country, which 
in this respect ranks next to England and the United 
States. On the South American markets three distinct 
varieties of mate are known. The best quality is 
termed caa-cuys ; it is prepared from young leaves, 
still partly hidden in the bud. Full-grown leaves, 
carefully selected and frequently divested of the central 
vein form the second quality, or caa-mira. The lowest 
quality, or caa-guaza, is composed of old and carelessly- 
cured leaves and of stems. In South America the mat6 
trade centres in two little towns, Villa Real on the 
Paraguay, north of Assuncion, and San Xavier for 
the territory between the Uruguay and Parana 
rivers. 
Coca. — Fifteen pages are devoted to coca culture, 
on which subject a good deal of interesting inform- 
ation is given. According to Mr. Semler, the Bolivian 
Government derive an annual revenue of some 40.000Z. 
from the lease of wild coca shrubs. It is pointed out 
how much the value of the leaves could be enhanced 
by a rational system of cultivation and proper care 
in the packing of the leaves, for instance by shipping 
the leaves immediately after gathering in tin-lined 
cases. But no such rational procedure cab be expected 
from the natives of South American republics, and 
it will probably be left to intelligent planters in the 
British or Dutch colonies to supply the European 
market with an article which has preserved as far 
as possible its original freshness. 
The author appears anxious to make it known that 
the idea of the work under notice was not conceived 
by him in consequence of the development of German 
colonising enterprise, but that for fully ten years lie 
has been engaged in compiling notes as the basis 
of a book which should be looked upon as a standard 
work among the large number of his compatriots 
engaged in planting and commerce in the tropics. 
He enumerates several English and Dutch works 
which have been written on the same lines, but 
claims for himself and for his nationality the honour 
of having produced the first complete work. In how 
far this claim is well-founded can only bs judged 
after the publication of the whole series, — Chemist 
and Druggist. 
