Feb.  i,  1893.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST- 
549 
gold  up  to  a mark  pointed  out  on  the  wall,  if  Pizarro 
would  spare  his  life:  and  it  is  known  that  Indians 
laden  with  the  ransom  were  on  their  way  to  the 
oapitai  when  they  heard  of  their  Sovereign’s  death. 
The  streams  from  which  they  washed  it  are  still 
UDproepccted,  and  any  white  m-n  att-.mpting  to 
penelrate  the  tropical  forests  through  which  they 
flow  would  be  likely,  if  fever  spared  him,  to 
end  his  career  by  a poisoned  arrow.  Without 
placing  much  dependance  on  the  legends  of  the 
Indians,  it  is  certain  that  these  stolid  folks  know  of 
secret  deposits  which  they  will  not  reveal,  le-t  they 
should  meet  the  fate  which  befell  their  ancestors. 
Old  peop'e  were,  until  recently  alive,  who  remember 
Pumacagua,  the  rebel  descendant  of  tbelucas,  coming 
to  the  meeting  place  of  the  conspirators  dripping  wet, 
but  laden  with  ihe  sinews  of  war,  which  he  had  taken 
from  a cave  in  the  b d of  a river,  the  memory  of  which 
is  preserved  by  carefully  gua  ded  tradi  ion.  Indians 
still  bring  gol  I into  Panama,  but  eff  ct  ignorance  wlieu 
they  are  asked  where  they  obtained  it,  and  quite  re- 
cently Her  Majesty’s  Minister  in  Quito  reported  that 
Indians  rom  the  Jivaro  and  Napo  f rest  country  use 
the  metal  to  pay  their  taxes,  exacted  in  the  old  man- 
ner by  “ repartamieutos,”  or  fixed  purchases  of 
Gov-  rnment  goods,  and  then,  if  they  have  any  sur- 
plus. toss  it  back  again  into  the  rivers,  in  terror  lest 
their  supposed  wealth  should  subject  them  to  the 
cruelties  still  tradition-d  amongst  them  as  the  resnlt 
of  the  greed  of  Pizarro  and  the  “ Couquistadores.” — 
Standard. 
LIBERIAN  COFFEE  IN  MADAGASCAR  ON 
TRIAL. 
Mahanoro  possesses  at  the  present  time  only  one 
single  plantation  of  Liberian  coffee,  on  the  Estate 
“ Cascades  where  there  are  8,000  plants  which  the 
owner  hopes  to  increase  to  12,000,  in  a few  months. 
The  trees  are  planted  at  10  feet  distance  from  each 
other,  say  : 400  coffee-trees  per  acre  ; the  owner  will 
continue  his  plantation,  placing  the  trees  at  12  feet 
distance  from  each  other,  and  we  are  of  opinion  that 
that  is  too  much,  for  we  must  suppose  that  trees 
like  these,  which,  in  a few  years,  attain  some  25  to  30 
feet  in  height,  ought  to  have  each  a space  of  12  feet 
in  diameter. 
The  plantation  on  “ Cascades  ” estate  is  eighteen 
months  old,  some  of  the  plants  have  attained  two  feet 
in  height ; the  leaves  measure  from  12  to  14  inches  in 
length,  and  six  inches  wide. — They  grow  with  a speed 
verily  incredible,  in  spite  of  the  great  dryness  now 
prevailing. 
Mr.  L.  has  since  one  or  two  months  left  Mahanoro 
for  the  upper  part  of  Yatomandry,  where  he  intends 
to  try  a plantation  of  Liberian  coffee  on  a large  scale, 
we  wish  him  every  success.  The  estate  “Cascades,” 
moreover,  possesses  a plantation  of  tea,  2,000  plants, 
which,  also,  the  owner  will  augment  by  degrees. 
Though  there  is  no  other  plantations  of  Liberian 
coffee  than  that  of  “ Cascades  ” at  Mahanoro,  we  un- 
derstand that  several  owners  of  diffrent  estates  have 
already  asked  for  seeds  of  that  plant,  and  will  begin 
to  sow  them  as  soon  as  received. — Madagascar  News, 
Dec.  17,  1892. 
» : 
Oitbic  Acid  as  a Water-Purifier. — The  well- 
known  chemist  M.  Girard,  chief  of  the  Paris  Munici- 
pal Laboratory,  has  lately  been  engaged  in  making 
researches  concerning  the  bacilli  of  cholera  and 
typhoid  fever  ; in  so  doing  he  has  ODce  more  proved 
the  effects  of  acids  in  destroying  microbes.  He 
finds  citric  acid  to  be  the  most  useful  and  powerful 
of  all.  One  gramme  he  says,  added  to  a quart 
of  tainted  water,  will  effectively  destroy  all  the 
microbes  that  may  be  in  it.  Consequently  he 
reoommends  the  use  of  natural  lemonade  as  an 
excellent  beverage  at  all  times,  and  especially  during 
epidemics.  If  necessary,  a little  bicarbonate  of 
soda  can  be  added  as  a means  of  neutralising  tha 
acidity  of  the  lemon,— Vhemist  and  Druggist,  Deo.  31. 
UPPER  FLOORS. 
A correspondent  asks  us  if  we  have  ever  con- 
sidered the  advantages  whioh  might  be  secured  by 
the  more  free  adoption  ot  upper  floors  to  resi- 
dences in  Ceylon.  He  writes  that  he  believea  we 
are  in  this  island  notably  behind  other  tropical 
countries  in  which  Europeans  reside  in  the 
provision  of  houses  so  constructed,  and  he  attri- 
butes to  the  sparsity  of  these,  a prevalence 
of  neuralgic  and  other  similar  complaints 
among  many  of  the  Europeans  who  live  in 
Ceylon.  He  points  out  that  much  of  the  ten- 
dency to  the  ailments  named  is  due  to  sitting 
in  the  strong  draughts  which  are  almost  insepar- 
able from  the  design  of  most  of  our  dwellings. 
In  order  to  seoure  a free  circulation  of  air  in 
suoh  buildings,  doors  have  to  be  left  open  on  all 
sides  of  our  living  rooms,  with  the  result  that 
it  is  almost  impossible  to  find  a corner  in  them 
whioh  is  free  from  a direct  draught  of  air,  the 
consequences  of  whioh  are  pretty  universally 
recognised.  Now  in  houses  possessed  of  upper 
stories  the  coveted  oirculation  of  air  is  secured 
by  the  freer  movement  of  that  element  as  elevation 
is  increased,  and  our  correspondent  states  it  to  have 
been  apparent  in  his  own  oase  that  neuralgia, 
to  which  painful  complaint  he  had  for  years  been 
a martyr,  oeased  when  oiroumstances  admitted  of 
his  lining  in  a house  provided  with  an  upper 
storey.  Independently  of  this,  it  will  be  recog- 
nised, our  correspondent  asserts,  that  it  must  be 
benefioial  to  sleep  well  above  the  influences  of 
vapour  arising  from  the  soil  of  a tropieal  oountry 
at  night,  and  he  gives  us  his  opinion  that  in 
no  oountry  within  th9  tropics  are  Europeans  so 
liable  to  neuralgic  at'acks  as  they  are  in  Ceylon, 
and,  as  we  have  said,  he  attributes  this  largely 
to  the  paucity  of  upp°r  floors  to  our  dwellings. 
We  think  that  our  correspondent  has  a prima 
facie  case,  and  that  it  would  be  found  good 
eoonomy  to  pay  a somewhat  higher  rent  than  is 
oharged  for  single  storey  bungalows  in  order  to 
secure  tha  advantages  mentioned.  Of  course  we 
know  that  the  siogie  storied  houses  so  largely 
used  throughout  the  tropics  were  brought  iuto 
common  use  mainly  in  dread  of  the  effect  of 
earthquakes  upon  buildings  of  loftier  construc- 
tion. But  in  Ceylon,  and  probably  throughout 
the  greater  part  of  India,  these  phenomena 
are  but  rarely  felt,  and  when  they  are  so, 
scaroely  to  an  extent  which  might  influence 
injuriously  a building  of  two  stories.  There 
is  next  to  be  considered  the  question  of  exptnse 
in  oons  ruction,  but  we  doubt  very  muoh  if  this 
would  prove  to  be  a very  serious  one  if  the  design 
was  made  on  scientific  priDoiples.  For  if  the  work 
of  building  walls  of  increased  height  is  expensive, 
it  may  be  remembered  that  the  upper  part  of  these 
may  be  largely  reduced  in  thickness.  Then, 
although  doubtless  timber  flooring  is  sotrewhat 
ooBtly,  this  would  be  largely  compensated  for  by 
the  diminished  area  of  roofing  rtquirtd;  while 
certainly  a smaller  plot  of  ground — often  very  ooBtly 
in  our  large  towns — would  suffioe  for  an  upstorey 
building  than  for  one  which  must  provide  ail  the 
accommodation  required  on  a single  floor.  There  is 
doubtless  very  much  in  what  our  correspondent  has 
written  about  the  sanitary  advantages  which  can 
be  secured  by  an  upBtorey  house,  and  we  oordially 
reoommend  those  who  invest  their  capital  in  the 
building  of  houBe  property  to  consider  his  state- 
ment. Of  late  years  there  has  been  a maiked 
advance  in  this  direction  in  some  of  our  larger  and 
more  progressive  towns,  but  much  yet  remains  to 
be  desi'--  d in  this  respect,  and  the  importance  of 
the  arguments  employed  by  our  oorreBpoudeQ  is 
