686 
THE TliOPICAL AGxilCULTURIST. April 2, 1900. 
variety Shasta), These fish grow extremely fast; 
thev are most beautiful in appea/ an p , tiiey t^^ht 
and \^^■■\.y -m caiDelj- b- a S'-:v i,' out. nr;'! ■••ii ' tai.le 
the^ I ' -■'■■If : ior U) Sui'i, 10 /'(,:■ in, our ovvi-, blown 
troiv. ■ ' i'.v irout, as io Is called in Scotland. 
W'tMl vvoiiid be ihc ( -Ti ;!- ;je:i( i I'li .if pliu'iiif; 
rainbow-trout in rivi i> i r ' k .v\m iii <xi..i:M-i:t 
has not been tried in aij> i'v>i oi a -.fli . n'ix 
large scale to test i lie suit- biliiy ol ili^ li . I i- uu- 
euclosed waters. It is feared that they would tnigrate 
and be lost, as w,is the case wi.h thi' fontiuf.lis. 
But from an experiment tried in the Dove, it seems 
that the fish in such a stream have rainained until 
the third year of their age ; and their continuance 
in the be utiful Deibvshire river neems probable, 
provided there is a snffirieiit quantity of food for 
them, and the waur '1ot> not at any lime get too 
cold. It may be token as im I'xiom that fi^li whii li 
grow large quickly, eat greedily Tn nut such fish 
(amou|» whii h rainbows may be cla sei ) into a stream 
containing little food is decidedly a m stuke. They 
are sure to disappear, not necessarily in consequence 
of migratory tendencies, but merely in search of food. 
A few rainbows have, so I understand, been placed 
in the Test, and many have been caught. 
Having stocked our stream, loch, or pond, the 
question of preservation has to bf seriously considered. 
Last year Sir Hi-rbert Maxwell was largely respon- 
sible for a bill introduced by Lord Balfour of Burleigh 
on behalf of the Government, in the House of Lords, 
where it passed its third reading. According to its 
provisions trout would have lieen protected from 
anglers and I'etsmen between October 16 in 
one year and February 28 in the year following, 
both dates inclusive. To sell or expose trout 
for sale between these dates would also have 
been an offence. I moat earnestly beg all who value 
the sport of trout-fishing to support this measure, 
wliioh will surely lead to a better stock of trout and 
mproved sport for all classes of anglers. 
THE CEYLON LOWS OR SLOTH. 
PHOTOUBAPHED IN FIVK ATTITUDES- 
AWAKE AND ASLEEP. 
We have received from Mr. W L H Skeen 
one of the mo.st intere.sting set of photo- 
graphs it has ever been our fortune to gaze 
upon. They are ilhistrations of the habits 
of that strangest of Ceylon animals, the 
" loris." Mr, Skeen had considerable diffi- 
culty in taking the shy Uttle creature so 
often ; but he managed to get five suc- 
cessful representations within four to 
five hours of different positions, and 
these shew (1) the loris in full activity 
climbing a tree with his owl-like face and 
bright protruding eyes most keenly obser- 
vant ; (2) loris resting between two branches, 
but still "wideawake"; (3) loris in same 
attitude, but dropping off to sleep ; (4) loris 
fast asleep— and doubled up ; (5) loris sleep- 
ing in a siispended attitude. We can 
imagine how the heart of Prank Buckland 
or any similarly enthusiastic naturahst 
would be charmed with Mr. Skeen's most 
faithful and most Interesting reproductions. 
Tennent has two fair engravings in his 
"Natural History"; and this is what he 
says of the "loris" (specimens of which 
we have seen occasionally hawked round 
Colombo for sale) :— 
The only other quadrumanous animal found In 
Ceylon is the little loris,* which, from its slup;- 
Kish movcmoDts, nocturnal habits, and consequent 
inaction durinp; the day, has acquired the, name 
of the " Goylon Sloth.' There are two varieties 
* Loris gracilis, Geof. 
in the island ; one of the ordinai-y fulvous brown; 
and another larger, " Jiose fur is entirely black. 
A specimen of the former was sent to nie from 
Chilaw, on the western coast, and lived for some 
time at Colombo, feeding on rice, fruit, and vege- 
titble.s. It was partial to aut.s and other insects, 
arid WHS always eaijer for milk or the bone of a 
fowl. The naturally slow motion of its limbs 
enables the loris to approach its prey so stealthily 
that it seizes birds before they can be alarmed 
by its presence. The natives assert that it has 
been known to strangle the pea-fowl at night, to 
feast on the brain. During the day the one 
which I kept was usually asleep in the strange 
position represented on the last page ; its perch 
firmly grasped with both hands, its back curved 
into a ball of soft fur, and its head hidden deep 
between its legs. The singularly-large and in- 
tense eyes of the loris have attracted the atten- 
tion of the Singhalese, who capture the creature 
for the pur])Gse of extracting them as charms 
and love-potions, and this they are said to eflfect 
by holding the little animal" to the fire till its 
eyeballs burst. Its Tamil name is fhavangu, or 
" thin-bodied ; " and hence a deformed child or an 
emaciated person has acquired in the Tamil dis- 
tricts the same epithet. The light-coloured 
variety of the loris in Ceylon has a spot on its 
forehead, somewhat resetiibling the natnam, or 
mark worn by the worshippers of Vishnu ; and, 
from this peculiarity, it is distinguished as the 
Nama-thavangn. 
CINCHONA: 
IX SOUTH AMERICAN FORESTS. 
BY J. M. VARGAS VERGAKA, K.C.S.., ETC. 
(Abstract of a Paper read before the London Section of 
the Society of Chemical Industry, on Jan. 8.) 
The recent rise in the price of cinchona bark has 
led to hopes that South America might again com- 
pete with India and Java. In former years, when 
Colombia exported cinchona, very few barks gave 
more than three per cent of sulphate of quinine, and 
fairly good samples contained Vb and two per cent. 
The cinchona fever almost completely exhau^ed 
the Colombian forests, and trees now to be foond 
in the woods cannot be more than twenty years old. 
As the collection of the bark in bygone days wfks 
a very profitable business, samples were often mized 
with all sorts of rnbbish. The Qnineros were not very 
particular as to the quality of bark, their chief aim 
being to obtain as many bales as possible, without 
any consideration as to its content cf alkaloids. 
Hence the author is unable to determine whetVer 
there has been a favourable change in the consti- 
tution of the bark, or whether the increase in the 
yield of quinine is due to the extra care with which 
the extraction is ]now made. The following aresoma 
of his figures : — 
Quinine 
Quinine. Sulphate. 
Tuna (Do9), wild ... 4 20 5-72 
Cuprea (Bucaramangal, wild 2 26 3 (10 
Ledgeriana trunk, cultivated 4 08 5'57 
Do twigs do, 0-85 117 
Succirubra trunk do. 4'91 6'70 
Do. twigs do. 3-87 5-27 
Ledgeriana (old) do. 4-78 6 63 
Do, (new) do. 4-56 6 63 
The Colombian barks from the cold Andes are, 
according to Mr. Vergara, much richer in quinine 
than in the olden times, and the cinchonidine 
has almost disappeared from these barks. 
The ledger, old and new, presents a curious fact, 
the old is the same bark as the new, but has been 
kept under unfavourable conditions, being exposed to 
the rain, wind and sun during some years, so that 
the owners thought this bark had become completely 
useless. However, on analysing it proved egu£|il to.^e 
freshly gathered bark — Ji. and C. J>mggist. 
