July  r , 1893.] 
Supplement  to  the  “ Tropical  Agriculturist 
77 
I,  wing  to  the  evaporation  taking  place  on  the 
lind  is  considerably  cooled.  The  cool  air  forces 
the  hot  and  heavier  air  through  the  hole  in  the 
door.  The  kerosine  tin  filled  with  water  should 
not  require  attention  for  at  least  48  hours,  when 
the  bucket  that  has  caught  the  drippings  is 
emptied  into  it.  Hound  the  building  should  be 
planted  a thick  grove  of  banana  trees,  3 or  4 
deep,  and  about  6 or  8 feet  from  the  house. 
The  owner  of  the  dairy  will  derive  profit  from 
the  fruit,  and  keep  his  dairy  cool  owing  to  the 
great  evaporation  from  these  trees.  A dairy 
constructed  on  the  above  plan  is  said  to  pre- 
serve the  atmosphere  inside  it  fully  25  to  30 
degrees  cooler  than  the  air  outside. 
<. 
THE  KITUL  PALM. 
( Continued .) 
It  has  been  stated  that  the  spathe  has  to  be 
cut  into  by  means  of  a chisel  in  order  to 
introduce  certain  “ medicines.”  Now  this  cutting 
into  needs  to  be  very  carefully  performed,  for 
if  the  chisel  through  carelessness  or  ignorance 
is  driven  too  deep,  so  as  to  reach  the  central 
portion  of  the  flower,  the  latter  becomes 
altogether  useless.  There  are  other  “ medicines  ” 
(Sin.  “ Lunumirisa,  literally  a compound  of  salt 
and  chillies)  besides  the  one  I mentioned  in 
my  last  contribution.  Here  is  another : Heeras- 
patu  ( Vitis  quadranyularis)  and  chillies  are 
first  well  pounded  together,  and  then  fried  in 
oil.  Another  very  effective  preparation  is  made 
as  follows:— The  leaves  of  Japala,  the  bark 
of  the  Murunga,  salt,  pepper,  white  onion, 
ginger  and  chillies  are  taken  in  certain  proportions 
and  pounded,  the  juice  of  the  Caffre  lime  being 
applied  at  intervals  to  the  mixture.  After  the 
“ medicine  ” is  inserted  into  the  cavity  prepared 
for  it,  the  leaves  of  the  orange,  lime,  Caffre 
lime,  Nattaran,  and  Heen-naran  (the  latter  two 
being  varieties  of  oranges)  are  pounded  together 
and  placed  over  the  first  medicine.  The  apex  of 
the  inflorescence  is  sliced  about  3 or  4 days 
after  the  introduction  of  the  “ medicine,”  by 
which  time  the  latter  will  have  produced  the 
necessary  effect,  after  being  well  exposed  to  the 
sun.  When  sweet  toddy  is  heated  and  at  the 
same  time  stirred,  it  turns  into  a thick  syrup 
or  treacle  called  “ peni.”  When  this  operation 
is  continued  further  it  becomes  “ jaggery,”  which 
is  generally  sold  in  the  form  of  cakes.  If, 
however,  the  treacle  be  put  into  a vessel  and 
hung  over  a fire-place,  exposed  to  the  actions 
of  the  smoke,  it  crystallises  out,  and  becomes 
like  sugar  candy.  Kandyans  of  the  Jaggery-caste 
make  excellent  jaggery  models  of  boxes,  animals, 
birds,  &C.  Jaggery  is  generally  dark  brown 
in  colour  owing  to  the  presence  of  impurities, 
to  remove  which  the  Kandyans  use  Heeraspatu 
( Vitis  quadranyularis),  beforementioned,  which 
they  put  into  the  vessel  of  sweet  toddy 
before  heating.  The  jaggery  then  assumes  a 
light  colour.  In  India  sugar  is  prepared  from 
this  palm.  The  following  is  a Sinhalese  riddle 
alluding  to  the  Kitul  Palm: — 
Sinhalese  Verse. 
1.  Yaradak  netuwa  bammak  badinawa  dutimi- 
2,  Ladak  netuwa  batak  kawanawa  dutimi. 
3.  Dukak  netuwa  kadulak  vetanawa  dutimi. 
4.  Kalnyak  aran  galayak  banawa  dutimi, 
Enylish  Version. 
I saw  a tree  being  tied  to  another  without  any  fault 
I saw  a medicine  being  given  without  any  disease, 
I saw  a tear  being  shed  without  any  trace  of  sorrow. 
I saw  a pot  being  taken  up  and  brought  brimful. 
ZOOLOGICAL  NOTES  FOR  AGRICULTURAL 
STUDENTS. 
The  animal  kingdom  is  divided  by  Zoologists 
into  6 sub-kingdoms,  viz.,  Protozoa,  Caelenterata, 
Echinodermata,  Annulosa,  Mollusca,  and  Yerte- 
brata ; Protozoa  being  the  lowest  division  of 
the  animal  kingdom,  and  Vertebrata  the  highest. 
Protozoa. 
(So  called  from  Gr.  protos,  first ; zoon  animal.) 
General  characters. — Animal,  simple  or  com- 
pound, generally  very  minute  ; the  body  composed 
of  a jelly-like  albuminoid  substance  called  proto- 
plasm or  “sarcode,”  not  divided  into  regular 
segments  ; no  nervous  system  ; no  definite  body- 
cavity  (that  is  a cavity  within  the  body). 
Class  1. — Gregarinidse  (L  yreyarius,  living  in 
flocks).  These  are  Protozoans  which  live  para- 
sitically  in  the  interior  of  animals ; they  are 
destitute  of  a mouth,  and  have  no  power  of 
throwing  out  prolongations  of  the  body  (pseudo- 
podia). 
Under  this  class  fall  certain  psorosperms  which 
deserve  some  notice. 
The  coccidium  oviformes  are  egg-shaped  bodies 
’033  to  ’037  mm.  long  and  ’015  to  ’002  mm. 
broad,  with  thick  smooth  shells  which  have  a 
micropyle-like  opening  at  one  end,  usually  the 
narrower.  The  granular  contents  are  sometimes 
uniformly  distributed  throughout  the  whole  in- 
terior space  or  sometimes  collected  into  spherical 
masses.  In  this  state  the  parasites  pass  from 
the  liver  and  intestine  which  they  inhabit,  to 
the  exterior,  there  to  undergo  further  develop- 
ment in  moist  surroundings.  The  contents  there- 
upon aggregate  into  four  oval  spores  which  be- 
come surrounded  with  a slighty  firm  coat,  and 
form  each  a single  C-shaped  carved  rod,  the 
concavity  of  which  is  closely  packed  with 
granules.  In  their  youth  these  parasites  are 
naked  inhabitants  of  epithelial  cells,  but  after- 
wards envelope  themselves  into  a firm  shell  at 
the  close  of  their  period  of  growth.  In  this 
condition,  in  which  they  present  a puzzling  re- 
semblance to  the  eggs  of  certain  entozoa,  they 
quit  their  former  resting  place,  and  generally 
the  former  host  also,  and  transform  their  sub- 
stance into  a larger  or  smaller  number  of  spores, 
each  having  a granular  ball  and  rod  within. 
The  spores  themselves  have  rather  a thin  wall, 
and  are  of  a round  or  eliptical  shape.  These 
organisms  are  found  in  many  warm-blooded 
animals  (including  man),  their  habitat  being 
mainly  the  intestines,  liver  and  bileducts.  A 
species  of  coccidia  is  also  found  in  the  various 
organs  and  parts  of  the  body  of  the  fowl. 
Leuckart  quotes  an  instance  of  a case  of  epi- 
zootic occurring  in  Pisa  in  1872,  in  which 
the  lesions  were  located  in  the  pharynx,  larynx, 
nose,  conjunctiva,  intestines,  and  comb,  and 
