480 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[Jan. 1, 1901. 
stone against which they were to be pressed by 
hydraulic pressure. The rough sand stone tore the 
fibres asunder, and a stream of water, liowiug over the 
stone, carried the fibres into a trough, from which 
they were passed forward to a series of cylinders, 
arranged with sieves of meshes of progressive sizes, by 
which the fibres were sorted according to their coarse- 
ness or fineness. At different stages the pulp was run 
into large vats with revolving cylinders, the idea of 
which, he believed, was taken from a machine invented 
by Mr. Dickinson. The pulp adhered to the revolv- 
ing cylinder, and when a auffieient thickness was wound 
round it it was taken off. This then was known as 
mechanical wood. Chemical wood was obtained by 
the use of certain liquors and boiling. Great care had 
to be taken that no knots were allov/ed to go throu(<h. 
Some authorities said they should be drilled out, while 
others said that all the hard knots should be removed 
from the soft pulp after it had been run from the 
boilers. He was a believer in this plan. All, how- 
ever, were agreed that any rotten wood or stained 
portions should be removed before boiling. The 
wood in some mills was carried on an endless 
revolving belt along which boys and girls were 
stationed in order to pick out the undesirable parts. 
Then the wood was crushed. The adherents of another 
process objected to this. They sawed the wood into 
inch discs, which were carefully packed in the boiler 
with a view to getting in the greatest amount of 
wood, and they also claimed to get by this plan a 
finer circulation. The great objection to this method 
was the loss by sawdust, which some declared amoun- 
ted to 10 per cent., a serious item. In this country 
the pine and the fir were the sources from which 
mechanical wood was supplied, but in America it was 
obtained from 25 different varieties, the chief of 
whiih were spruce and poplar. As showing the 
great interest taken in the supply of wood for pulp, 
he mentioned that about 50 years ago, Mr. Young 
suggested the use of poplar in this country, saying 
that it was the coming wood fibre. lie even went 
to the length of planting poplars for miles upon miles 
on the banks of the Dee in Scotland, but the climate 
and the soil were not suitable, and much to every- 
body's regret, the trees died off. Mr. Walker after- 
wards instructed a number of students in the use of 
the microscope. — Home paper. 
ELEPHANT BREEDING IN MALAYA. 
J hrougli the kindness of Sir Frank Swettenhaiu 
the Resident-General of the Malaya States, a 
a correspondent of The Asian has been £;iveu 
some interesting items of information concerninc; 
the breeding of elephants in captivity. It may 
be remembered that over two years ago we dis- 
cussed the " Domestic affairs of the elepliant" and 
the information now placed at our disposal con- 
siderably amplifies the facts set out under that 
heading. The breeding of elephants is a question 
of little practical importance ; so liigh an autliority 
as the late Mr. Sanderson stated tiiafc even if ele- 
phants did breed in captivity, it would not pay to 
begin stud operations as the youngsters are of no 
use for working purposes until 15 years of age; 
and this being so it, was cheaper and more .satis- 
factory to catch and tame. From the naturalist's 
point of view tlie matter is full of interest, and it 
would appear that the sources of information Sir 
Frank Swettenham has made accessible to us, will 
provide answeis lo many debated fpiestions. From 
the fund of information jnesently furnished we 
select a few of ilie more important items. The 
Snltan of Perak, whose mahouts have supplied 
answers to the quest ions put for our correspondent 
states that tiie (laiiing of tame elephants as a 
rule results in the birth of a c.ilf. " The birth of 
calves can be regarded as a matter of certainty," 
This disposes of any idea that the production of 
caives in Malaya is only occasional or accidental. 
The young ones are taken in hand to be broken 
when about fouryears old, and are apparently used 
for ligi.t w ork at a much earlier age than the limit 
named by Sanderson. Bat there is probably a 
wide margin of difference between "woik" as 
under.stood by the late Superintendentof Kheddas, 
and as understood by the not very energetic Ma'ay. 
We had, we confess, gained the impression that 
the domestication of the elephant in Malaya 
was complete, but our illusions are dispelled 
by the infornaation now before us. Tlie question 
was asked " whether a bull born in captivity 
has been successfully put to a cow born in 
captivity ?" And the answer disposes of the 
" complete domestication " theory in very few 
words : — A bull born in captivity has never been 
successfully put to a cow boru in captivity. 
The fact is curious, and opens up a large new field 
of enquiry. No enquiry was made as to whether 
a cow born in captivity had been known to throw 
a calf to a wild bull ; but there is little reason to 
doubt that the cow, whicli has never known free- 
dom, proves equally fertile with others when .served 
by wild males in the junf le. The query " Canyon 
say whether a lull born in captivity has been 
succft-ssfully put to a cow caught and tamed?" 
was, unfortunately, left unanswered. The point 
is an im| ort.nnt one, involving, a,s it does, the ques- 
tion ot respective effects of captivity on the re- 
productive power of male and female. The opinion 
that tame tuskers do not more commonly exhibit 
desire because hard-worked, is, we believe, pretty 
generally accepted ; two answers to leadingques- 
tions are answered by the Sultan's mahouts in 
terms which strongly confirm this belief. " The 
bulls which cover most freely are those which are 
in the best bodily condition and which do not per- 
form hard work;" and again "the bull which 
has been longer in captivity, has the stronger sex- 
ual inclination." In regard to the latter, it must 
be born in mind that the work performed by tame 
elephants in Malaya is extremely light compared 
with that demanded of elephants in military or 
civil employ in Burma and in this country. None 
we are informed, work all the year round, and 
most are worked for only a few months out of 
the twelve. Further, the Malay owner, when 
his elephant sliows signs of failing condition, turns 
him out in the jungles for a con.siderable period to 
regain flesh. 
Sanderson's dicta concerning elephants in con- 
nection with breeding have been proved erroneous 
in some respects, and the Malay authorities confirm 
the more modern views. Sanderson, it will he re- 
membered, favoured the theory that the period of 
gestation varied according to the sex of the calf. 
The Malay witness is not altogether satisf actor j in 
his answers to questions concerning the length of 
the period of gestation, but as regards the length 
of period in connection with the sex of calf, he is 
quite definite— " It is the .same whether a bull or 
cow-calf is produced." Of this matter, however, 
we shall speak again. In considering the points 
in which Sanderson's informants differ from our 
Malay informants, the difference in the conditions 
of the life led by tame elephants in this country 
and those surrounding the taine elephant in Ma- 
laya must be borne in mind ; the latter far more 
nearly approximate to the conditions of jungle life 
and therefore we may conclude that natural habit 
and tendency is less distuibed. Therefore while 
Sanderson's informants may have been perfectly 
