^28 Supplement to the "Tropical Agriculturist}* [kvniL 1, 1901. 
OCCASIONAL NOTES. 
We are greatly in favour of a Veterinary 
Hospital being established in^olombo, and with the 
expansion of the Veterinary Department this 
should be nn ea.sy matter and entail very little 
expense if worked in connection with the Society 
for the Prevention of Cruelty to Aniaml^, as in 
Bombay, In the last report issued by the Madras 
Department of Land Records and Agriculture we 
read: — "The Veterinary Hospital continues to 
increase in popularity and the number of cases 
treated has risen from 880 in 1895-6 to 724 in 
1890-99 and 804 in 1899-1900." 
Mr. J. W. Mollison, late of the Poona Farm and 
Deputy Director of Agriculture, Bombay Presi- 
dency, has been appointed Director-General of 
Agriculture for India. We do not think a better 
appointment could have been made, Mr- Mollison, 
•with his mature experience of Indian Agriculture, 
should make an ideal Director, 
An American fruit-grower is said to have dis- 
covered a plan by whicli ants can be kept from 
Retting on to trees, so desirable especially when 
budding or grafting has been done. This plan is 
most simple, viz., saturating woollen strings with 
castor-oil and tying these tightly round the trunks 
of the tree?. It is said that ants will not cross 
over the wool. Experiments with cotton string 
and other oils are reported to have been unsuccess- 
ful, but some of our Ceylon oils should surely do 
as well as Castor. 
" Preserved eggs" is the name given to egge 
that have been kept in a solution of salt and lime. 
It is said that there is no appreciable difference 
between them and fresh eggs after nearly six 
months, and that the plan of preserving eggs in 
this way enables poultry keepers to wait for good 
prices when eggs are cheap. 
rRACTlCAL HINTS TO HORSE-OWNERS. 
Chaptek III,— Shoeing. 
Shoeing may be described as "a necessary 
evil,*' and like many other " evils" of civilization 
re*^uires the greatest attention, in order that the 
conformity of the foot may as far as possible be 
preserved. The artificial protection of the foot 
that is necessary in the case of animals impressed 
into the service of man, has been secured by 
•various means since the usefulness of the horse was 
recognized. It was to the interest of horsemen to 
gee that their animals suffered no discomfort 
arising from bad shoeing. Faulty shoeing net 
only directly affects the foot, but is indirectly 
responsible for many forms of lameness. It is on 
this account that so much importance is put 
on the shoeing question by all Veterinary Colleges, 
where both a scientilic knowledge as well as a 
practical acquaintance with the structure of the 
horses' foot and the means of protecting it by 
shoes is insisted on. 
As this paper is intended for laymen, I do 
not propose to enter fully into the anatomical 
piud physiological structure of the horses' foot, but 
will only refer to its constituent jiarts so as to 
indicate the true functions which the foot is 
intended to perform. 
Anatomically the foot is divided into three parts, 
viz., (1) the bone structure ; (2), the sensitive 
structure ; (3), the non-sen'^itive outer covering 
of the foot or the hoof. The outer hand and 
horny layer is i itended by nature to protect 
the internal soft and vascular tissue, but this 
provision fails when the horse is taken from its 
natural habitat or surroundings, and is put to 
work on hard and often metalled roads. The 
object of putting on shoes is to prevent the 
•wasting of the protective structure, which is an 
out-growth from the coronary band. The outer 
hoof is generally spoken of as the wall, and i* 
protected by a hard glistening surface called 
the perioptic layer, wliich if filed of as is usually 
done by ignorant smiths gives rise to "brittle 
hoof " and other troubles. 
THE "UNCULTIVATED' OILS OP CEYLON. 
{C'o?itinued.) 
7. DoBANA Oil.— This is the product of 
Dipterocarpus glandulosus (Dipterocarpaceae), a 
large tree endemic to Ceylon and found in no 
great abundance in the moist low-country of the 
Island. The oil is blackish and resinous, and is 
said to be a good subslitule for the 'well-known 
gurgun (the product of D. turbinatus and other 
species) used in the treatment of leprosy. Being 
got from the wood it is described as a wood oil. 
With Hal resin (exuded by Vateria acuminata) it 
forms an excellent varnisli, and with vermillioa 
in addition, produces a red lacquer. 
8. Me Oil. — This is the product of Bassia 
Imgifolia (Sapotaceae), a veij* large branched tree 
common to the dry region. The oil is got from 
the seeds, and is used in native cookery as well as 
medicinally in the external treatment of cutaneous 
diseases. The residual cake after the expression 
of the oil is called "arappo, ' and exported to the 
Indian Coast. This substance is ufed as a deter- 
rent and also largely employed for washing the 
hair. The oil when kept settles down into a solid 
fat. 
9. Kekuna Oil. — This is the product of 
Aleurites triloba (Euphorbiaceae), and is sometimes 
spoken of as candle-nut oil. The seeds yield 
about 50 per cent of oil which is very suitable for 
soap-making and cloth-dressing, and for these 
purposes there is some demand for the oil from 
abroad. The refuse cake is a valuable fertilizer, 
Kekuna oil in many ways resembles linseed oil, 
and may be used as a substitute for the latter in 
mixing paints. The roasted nut is pleasant to eat 
but is laxative in its effect. 
10. Dome*.. Oil. — This is the product of 
Calophyllum inophyllum (Guttiferae), a moderate- 
sized tree found in the low-country, principally on 
the sea-coast. The nuts from wliich the oil is ob- 
tained are to some extent exported to India. The 
tree is sometimes called the Alexandrian laural. 
The seeds contain abundant oil, according to 
some reports even up to 60 per cent of their 
weight. This oil is used for biiraing as we 
