102O 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[June i, 1882. 
Local Sales of Cinchona Bake seem to be now quite 
an institution. Mr. E. John has issued a programme of 
a very extensive sale of all kinds, the lots being no 
fewer than 92 in number. In consequence, the sale 
will commence punctually at 11-30 on Wednesday, the 
19th instant. Bids up to 25 cents can be at the rate 
of 1 cent ; but over 25 cents the bids must be 2-J cents ; 
and over Rl, the bids must be not lower than 5 cents. 
Elbedde sends 120 bags, of which 103 are " beaten 
twigs." St. Regulus sends 218 bags, and so forth ; but 
Fankerton " beats a', " as the Scotch say. The quant- 
ities are represented in lb., and one lot includes 1,045 
lb. of branch bark : the quantity from this estate being 
altogether over l,b00 lb. 
Cola A UTS. —Interest in this product has been re- 
vived by the reference in the la.it report from Kew. 
A eoire.-poudeut, who sends us an extract from Cham- 
bers's Journal, enquires : "Has it reach* d ( ey Ion ytt ? 
A native ol Sierra In one would probably thrive here.'' — 
"Sir Joseph Hooker's report on Kew Gardens, lately 
issued, contains an interesting account of the cola 
nut — the seed of the cola acuminata, a tree which has 
been very successfully propagated in the gardens. 
The cola nut is said to enhance the flavour of any- 
thing eaten after it, and is also said to possess extra- 
ordinary power, in allaying the pangs of hunger. It 
is, however, chiefly used as a luxury, and is in great 
demand among the natives of the Gambia. The trade 
in i his nut Las much increased of late years, and in 
1879 reached seven huuderd and forty three thousand 
pouuos. The plant— a native of the Sierra Leone dis- 
trict — has been introduced into the West Indies and 
has been distributed from Kew among the Botanic 
gardens in various parts of the world. ' : — So long ago 
as 7th May 1879, we gave the following inforaiation 
in the Observe : — 
Cola Nuts. — Until the arrival of the paper promised by 
Mr. Christie on tie cola nut of Africa we give the foil, w- 
ing information on the subject:— It was formerly described 
as several separate > pedes of Sterculia, a genus of plants 
of which tin re are several species in Ceylon, one of them, 
the 8. icetiila, bavins verj vie stinking flowers, as its name 
implies. It .s now the Cola (ijteiculia) acuminata, JJ«rs. 
and Bennet, and has been described as Sterculia grandi- 
flira, niiii.a, macrocarpj, vcrticillita, and oil ngifolia, and 
also as Liuuania Bichy.— Under two of the above names Bon 
in his Gaidener's Dictionary vol. 1. p. 515 gives the follow- 
ing account of it, showing that the tree and its nuts were 
well known in 1831 : — 
6 S. acuminata (Beava. fl. d'ow. 1. t 24J leaves oblong- 
acuminateo, quite entire, sun oth, on long stalks; flowers in 
axillary panicles ; anthers in two rows, sessile ; carpels 1-2- 
seedea. o. JSanve of the tropical parts of Africa particularly 
On the wes'ern coast. Flowers white with ^reading segmen s 
Carpels usually 2, opposite from abo:tinn. There are two 
vaiieues ot the Coia, one with white, the other with redd- 
ish teetls. The Eeeds are about the size of horse-cbesnuts. 
The teetls ot this species are known throughout tropical 
Africa by the name of Cola or Kola, They have long- been 
cele brated by voyagers as posses- ing a hi fc h degree o value 
an ong the natives of Guinea, who take a poition of one of 
them belore i ach of their meals, icr they believe them to 
enhance the flavour of anything they may subsequently eat 
or onnk. 'Hie seeds fomieiiy were said to be held in such 
hign estimation among the natives of Guinea, that 50 of 
them were sufficient to purchase a wife, but at present 20 or 
30 secd„ can be pui chased fov a handful of cowries, while 2 
or three tons of cowries would not purchase a perfect 
fern le at the present day. We have eaten the seeds, they 
h.ve a very bitter taste; they are about the size cf a 
pigeon's egg, of a brownish colour ; they are supposed to pos- 
set- s 1be same properties as Peruvian bark. 
Acwnmated.lea.vvd Sterculia or Cola. Clt. 1705 Tr. 40 ft. 
6 iS. macuocakpa; leaves oblong, acuminao, entire, 
■mooth, on long stalks ; (lowers axillary, panickd; anthers 
in two rows, sessile? carpels 4-6. seeded. S. Native of 
Gumea. Flowers white. Pods generally 2 from abortion, 
Oppose. The seeds of this tree are also known under the 
Dame Ol Colo, in Guinea; they possess the same qualities 
at .-o.:c of Sterculia acuminata. 
The Goveensient Java coffee crop for 1882 is es- 
timated at 850,700 piculs.— ,S'«;a its Times. 
Medicinal Barks imported into the United States in- 
creased from 4,038,000 lb. in 1880 to 5,648,000 lb. in 1881. 
Quinine in Nas.<l Cataeeh.— Dr. N. Folliott, 
writing to the British Medical Journal, states that 
coryza or nasal catarrh may be cured in a few hours, 
if taken at the onset, or at most twelve hours after- 
wards, by the inhalation of a spray of sulphate of 
quinine. The solution used is made by dissolving 4 
grains of quinine in an ounce of water, with just suffici- 
ent dilute sulphuric acid to dissolve it, and scentiDg 
with any agreeable perfume. The solution is injected 
up the nostrils in the form of a spray, with an ordin- 
ary hand ball spray producer in such a way that 
the quinine can be tasted at the buck of the mouth. 
This is doue every hour or oftener according to the 
urgency of the symptoms. He states that this remedy 
has been tried with success in h>y fever, and that 
if nasal catarrh is of parasitic origin, as he strongly 
suspects, the action of quinine is at once apparent, it 
might be added that, even supposing catarrh to be the 
result of sudtlen change of temperature, the action of 
quinine in contracting the superficial capillaries would 
be quite as obvious. It is somewhat surprizing that 
this property of quinine does not appear to have been 
tried for chilblains in the itching stage, when the 
capillary vessels are dilated. [After this who knows 
(nose) to what uses quinine can be applied ? If it 
contracts the nose why not the mouth ? — Ed.] 
The English Tea Duty. — As England cannot pro- 
duce tea, the English tea duty is not protective at 
all, but is purely a revenue duty, and as such, is 
open to no objection except tbat it increases the 
cost of living to the multitudes who use it. What 
the writer wants is that England, regarding India 
as part and parcel of herself, should protect Indian 
tea against China tea. A moment's consideration 
shows that for England to adopt such a policy, and 
protect Indian tea against China, would be an open 
departure from her tree trade principles, and would 
seriously disturb all our relations with China. It is 
probably too much to expect that our critics should 
consider the ruin they propose to inflict on the Cninese 
producers of tea; but they shoulel at least face the 
fact that what they ask really is, that England should 
adopt a distinctly protectionist policy in favour of 
India and against China. — Friend of India d; Statesman. 
[We can understand and sympathize with a movement 
in favour of a reduction of the British tea duty all 
round from 6d to 3d, but to ask, as some of the Indi- 
an tea planters and Inelian newspapers having asked 
for a reduction only of the duty as far as tea from 
India is concerned, is to ask for the reversal of prin- 
ciples which have long ago been accepted by all polit- 
ical parties and by the community, as true, fan- and 
beneficial. We sincerely hope the state of the Biitish 
revenue may speedily admit of the reduction by one- 
half of the tea duties, but that reduction will infallibly 
apply to all teas, whatever their origin. Duties are 
levied and are justifiable only so long as revenue is 
absolutely needed. In Britain, the day of distinctive 
or protective duties is over. Sometimes the temptation 
to retaliate on states which lay prohibitory ditties - on 
our products, the United States, for instance, and on 
those which give sugar bounties, and so forth, is very 
strong. But in any such action, it is the British con- 
sumer who would first and chiefly sufl'er. In Ceylon 
we need the Customs revenue, and indirect taxes are 
easily collected, and their incidence light. People pay 
them readily, who would denounce and evade right tax- 
ation. They ought not, therefore, to be tampered with. 
Nevertheless, if we also could cany out free trade 
principles, we ought to do so.] 
