Dec. I, 1900.] Supplemerd to the ^'Tropical Agrimlturist." 
443 
principle and put it in the materia medica. This 
substance, closely luialogous to pepsin, is kuown 
as bromelir. Pineapple juice has been found to 
be most efficacious in throat troubles and diph- 
theria, as the juice dissolves the fleshy tissue, 
such as is found in these ailments. A cure of 
diphtheria in a most marked and, in fact, 
abandoned case is reported in the DruggisW Cir- 
cular as follows :— " For three or four years I 
have been hearing of the use of the Pineapple 
juice for the cure of diphtheria, but though little 
of it. Recently, however, it has taken better 
shape in the report of a case where the child was 
given up by the doctor, and a friend coming in 
remarked that he had known children relieved by 
the Pineapple. The physician in attendance said, 
'Get it and try it; it can do no harm,' A ripe 
Pineapple was got and the juice expressed and 
given in teaspoonf ul doses slowly. It seemed to 
clear the throat, swallowing was much easier, and 
in a few hours the child was sleeping. Recovery 
followed. The Pineapple was used in a number 
of cases subsequently, with success, in the same 
neighbourhood, and the people think it better 
than medicine." In bronchitis. Pineapple juice 
has been found to be excellent medicine by Dr. 
Pla&cher in softening the mucus. His formula i» 
as follows: "Slice the fruit, sprinkle with 
sugar, heat to boiling and strain. The dose cf 
syrup so obtained is about two tablespoonfuls." 
lu Cuba the Pineapple is highly esteemed from 
the fact that it is in general use as a mild 
laxative. From the Pineapple itself pharmaceu- 
tical chemists have separated a crystalline sub- 
stance which they call mannitol, which is in 
active use in compounding prescribed medicines 
for throat and lung troubles. 
In reference to the polishing of rice we read 
in the Queensland Agricultural Jourual that 
according to the Grocer, fashion demands a bright 
lustre in rice placed on the European market, and 
this is secured by rubbing off a dull outer coating 
of the grain, which has been shown to have a 
food value nearly twice as great as the rice grain 
after polishing. The polishing process, however, 
greatly improves the appearance of the grain, 
and it is now almost universally practised in 
cases where the rice is intended for the markets 
of the West. The material secured off is sold 
under the name of rice flour. The polishing 
is effected by friction against pieces of moose 
hide or sheep-skin, tanned and worked to a 
wonderful degree of softness, losely tacked round 
a double revolving cylinder of wood and wire 
gauze. After the polishing the rice goes to the 
separating and shifting screens, made of different 
sizes of gauze, by which it is graded before 
packing. 
The Banana seems much to the front at the 
present day, and comes in for a good deal of 
laudation : the banana plant, says M. de Lovedo, 
in El de Progress Mexico, will feed 150 men 
from the product of one hectare of land so planted ; 
while the same area in wheat would only 
supply food for six iadividaals ; for the same 
space arid under similar conditions of cultivation, 
its produce is 40 times that of potatoes and 100 
times that of wheat. The fruit of tlie banana 
contains 72 per cent of water, 2'14 per cent of 
nitrogenous matter, and 22 per cent of saccharine 
substances, llie latter giving it its great nutritive 
quality. 
We have all heard of mprnmy wheat which 
is said to have been raised from grain found 
ill tlie hands of Egyptian mummies some 3,000 
years old, and now comes the story which we 
read of in the Queensland Agricultural Journal 
of Mr. R. A. Stewart, a saddler of Kowes, Isle of 
Bute, growing peas from seed found in the 
tomb of an Egyptian king! A characteristic of 
this pea is that the white flowers have a beautiful 
red centre, surrounded by a white corona. The 
plants grew up sSrong and vigorous to a lieight of 
6 feet, the pods averaged 2 to 3 inches by half 
an inch, and the peas are said to be of excellent 
flavour. 
The chief Camphor-producing country is Formosa, 
where it is a Government monopoly. The reason 
for making it such appears to have been, among 
other reasons, the reckless destruction of trees 
and the great fluctuations in price, as well as the 
want of uniformity in quality in the article 
previously. The Government has passed strict 
forest regulations, and by wire forest adminis- 
tration Formosa is capable of supplying the 
world with 6,000,000 or more pounds (English) 
of camphor annually. The quality is established, 
and the price fixed not only locally but abroad. 
Tenders are invited for the lowest price of sale in 
foreign markets, and in March, last year, the 
monopoly of sale in foreign markets was secured 
by Mr. T. Arai of Messrs. Samuel, Samuel & Co, 
The above interesting facts are recorded in the 
Brisbane Courier. 
The Louisiana Cultivator referring to Indian 
corn says: — This wonderful plant that can so 
nearly supply all the food required for man 
and beast, bids fair to do still better in the early 
future. While it is now the dominant crop in 
American agriculture, it seems to promise even 
higher food value? in the future. It stands 
supreme as a fattening food, and the bassis of fat 
cattle and pigs in America. It is also fed largely 
to working animals, and analyses show that 
it contains sufficient protein to make it reasonably 
good food for them, though not so good as oats, 
the typical worker's food, because of its high 
proportion of protein. This nitrogenous matter 
it found chiefly in the germ of Indian corn, hence 
the size of the germ in a measure indicates the 
proportion. 
If tomato plants show signs of disease by tlie 
unhealthy appearance of the leaves, or scabby 
fruit, they should bo at once sprayed with 
Bordeaux mixture of a strength of 4 lbs, bluestone 
(sulphate of copper), 4 to 6 lbs. quick lime and 40 
gallons water. 
Wliat does an inch of rain mean ? Few persons 
have a definite idea. An acre, if calculated out, 
