July 1, 1902.] THE TROPICAL AaBICULTURIST. 
saw flowing pasl farms which bad been tapped 
6i 
from the hillside with comparatively bttle 
labour. T would recouiuieud all youngmen iiv 
Cevion who have a little money, and wlio 
find their prospects in tea planting the reverse 
of promish.i?, to go out to this country and 
Kvadually settle and participate in the comuig 
prosperity that is near. Government wiU 
Ee most hululgeut and liberal to all mum- 
trrants. With a powerful, wise and settled 
Ciovernmeut, and the presence of large 
numbers of hard- working British inimigrants 
the country will develop i)y leaps and 
bounds ; and those who go there now wdl 
share in the coming prosperity. Lhougn 
Peace has been declared, the Government 
will have a responsible task and large num- 
bers of Police will have to be maintained, 
and regiments of soldiers in the chief towns, 
till matters gradually adjust themselves after 
the lone war. Bitterness of feeling will 
graduauf die out. TROOPER. 
excreta. The excreta of fliea tliat had been fed oa 
infective sputum, when injectu'i into rabbitH, has 
given rise lo tuberculosis. But of all diuoasf-ii that 
it may transmit, typhoid or euteri'i fever probable 
rank.i fiist in importance. The de jections of pcieoi d 
infectbd with this disease, it has been stated on the 
beat of authority, harbour tlie CTUsal orpjaniam not 
only dnrinf; the period of actual illness, but for some 
days before and for some time after apparently 
complete recovery. The fly becomes contaminated 
by alighting on dejections that have not been pro- 
perly disinfected, and then may carry the germs into 
surrounding households. The bacilli multiply rapidly 
in milk, and how easily can a fly render a whole 
pailful poisonous bv falling into it or oven simply 
sipping it I In cities and towns with good sewerage 
systems and well-enforced sanitary regulations, the 
carriage of typhoid by the fly is doubtless exceptional, 
but in concentratio.i and army camps it is presumed 
to be very common." 
Let ua hope that before long we shall have n 
Colombo, such a Sewerage System and such 
Sanitary Regulations as those referred to above.— 
Your.'s truly, SANITAS. 
MOSQUITOS AND FLIES. = 
Colombo, Jane 6. 
Dkar Sir,— We have not heard much about the 
exDeriinents with kerosine oil and " chuloos 
a'akinat lake flies, mosqnitos et hoc genus omne. 
May I draw the attention of that august body, 
the Municipal Council of this city, to the 
remarks of an American paper ( I he 1 uOUC 
Hcnllh Journal) with reference to a simple 
remedy for abating the mosquito nuisance, viz., 
permanganate of potash (in solution kno^vn a s 
Condy's Fluid) which is .said to kill the insect 
at any stage. To quote the journal itself: "a 
handful of permanganate will oxidise a ten-acre 
swamp, kill its embryo insects, and keep it free 
from organic matter for thirty days at a cost ot 
25 cents.* With caie a whole State may be kept 
free of insects at a small cost, [and so might a 
small island like Ceylon]. An elfioacious method 
ia to scatter a few crystals widely apart. A 
single pinch of permanganate has , <illed aU lie 
aerms in a l.COO gallon tank." \^'l 1 the 
Acting Sanitary Officer, who seems zealous of 
the good name of bis department, put tlie 
alleged marvellous properties of permanganaie 
of potash to the test and see if some bene it 
could be derived from the above remarks of tlie 
American Journal of Public Health \ 
Another matter, which will no doubt interest 
the Health Officer just at this time, when enteric 
is abroad, is the following statement which 
occur- in an article on the Entomology ot the 
HouseFly.by the Government Entioinologist at the 
e^'^Numerous disensea, some of them most serious 
in character, may result from the visits of the fly to 
our food and our persons, for it often brings with it 
virulent germs ftom ihe f fecal or putrid rnatter 
which it has visited. It has been demonstrated thta 
the fly can contract plague from feeding on animals 
that have died of this disease, and that having 
contracted plague, it may live for several days and 
finally fall or drop dead on to food, meanwhile having 
been depositing excrement laden with virulent bacilli. 
It ia fli'mly believed by medical men in India that 
oholerft is very frequently transmitted by the house 
fly Tuberculosis Ijaoilli are taken up by it through 
it otten does, on the sputum of consump- 
fly 
teediti„, 
live persons, and these germs are given 
off in tlie 
*— Ot a, 
Ed, r,4 
dollar— about 80 cents of our rupee.— 
VOLCANIC DUST FROM BARBADOS. 
MR, JOHN hughes' EXPERT ANALYSIS. 
London, May .30. 
Dear Sir, — T enclose you a specimen and 
Photo-micrograph taken by my senior assistant, 
Mr. A Ashe, of the Volcanic dust, which, as the 
result of the eruption ot Mount Soufri6re in the 
island of St. Vincent, fell in such quantities in 
Barbados on the 6t,h of May and following days. 
The Dust is of a dark grejf appearance, possessing 
a distinctly gritty character, tiiougli the largest 
particles probably do not exceed the size of a 
priiitei's full stop." When exhausted with a weak 
vegetable acid solution of a strength of one part 
Crystallised Citric Acid to l.OOJ parts of cold 
distilled water, employing 1,000 parts of such 
solution to one part ot the dust, and allowing 48 
hours for exhaustion, there is only 2"60 per cent 
dissolved out and 97 -40 still remains in an insolubl, 
form as Silicates of Iron and other Mineialse 
associated \yith Quartz. In the portion soluble in 
the above weak solution, Iron Compounds chiefly 
predominate, associated with small quantities of 
Calcium Sulphate, Potash, Salts and traces of 
Phosphoric Acid. Though not possessing any 
special fertilising value in itself, the dust by 
reason of its minute state of division will naturally 
improve the physical character of a soil such as 
that of Barbados, and it may reasonably be ex- 
pected that the crops of sugar will under 
the influence of a suitable rainfall give an increased 
yield during the next two years at least, if not 
for a longer period. Under the microscope it will 
be seen that the dust consists of two classes of 
minerals, one being large and fairly uniform ia 
size while the other consists of a very fine dust. 
Of the former a large proportion is black and opaque; 
whilst the tran'ipareut particles are partly white, 
such as Qiiariz associated with crystals! tinged 
with green. The very line dust appears to b3 
composed almost entirely of Quartz. The dust 
when exhausted with a strong solution ot Hydro- 
chloric Acid (50 per cent WA) was dissolved to 
the extent of 14-45 perceut and contair.v-^d '39 
Potash piobaliy derived from Felspar, a coinmoii 
ingredient in igneous rocks. — Yours faithfully, 
JOHN HUGHES, F.I.C., 
AgiiciiUural Analyst, 
