May 1, 1900, 1 THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTUKIST. 
773 
be done by ensuring the free licensing of 
sweet toddy trees under efficient and trust- 
worthy Inspectors, whose reniunei-ation can 
. easily "be found from the new and necessary 
tax, and whose employment will be amply 
compensated by the suppressioii of the illicit 
trade and all the evils which follow in its 
train. The relative value of the two in- 
dustries in Madras is shown by the fact 
that the annual toddy revenue of the district 
is over two lakhs of" rupees, and the annual 
value of the purchases of jaggery by a single 
Madras firm in the district is over 15 lakhs ! 
Absolutely no information is available in 
Ceylon on these points. Verily they manage 
these things much Iietter in India, notwith- 
standing its immense area ! 
CEYLON TEA IN 18S9 AND PBOSPEGTS. 
A recent mail has brought us the .uinual 
'report of Messrs. Geo, White & Co. on " In- 
dian, Ceylon and J iva tea." Writing of Cey- 
lon tea, this Firm says :— "On the whole, pro- 
spects seem favovu'able to expansion in the 
sale of good liquoring descriptions, while 
that for very common may be partially 
abandoned, and the prevailing lowest retail 
price be Is M ])er lb. If the purveyors to 
the public can induce their customers to 
purchase a slightly better blend than they 
have lately perhaps been accustomed to, 
they would not only benefit themselves, but 
also help to raise the whole Trade to a 
higher level than it has been on for some 
time." 
It is interesting to note how the annual 
averages for the different divisions of Ceylon 
— as always specified in Messrs. Geo. White 
& Co.'s Reports— vary. Thus for,— 
Udapussellawa, Nuwara Eliya, New Galway, 
Dimbula anH Lindula, the average runs :— 
1^97 = 9gd ; 1898 = 9Jd ; 1899 = gj-d. 
' Maskeliya, Dikoya and Bogawantalawa :— 
1897 = 8g ; 1898 = Sh ; 1899 = SL 
' Lower Dikoya, Ambagamuwa, Kotmale, Yak- 
dessa, aad Dolosbage, it runs :— 7^ ; 7 ; 7y. 
Pusellawa, Ramboda, &c.— 7i ; 7g ; 7i. 
• Hantane, Hewaheta. Maturata, Eangala, &c.— 
'74 ; Ik ; 71. 
:■■ Kelebokka, Knuckles, Hunasgeriya.— 6J ; 7 : 7i. 
' Matale.— 6^ ; 6g ; 7|. 
Kurunegala, &c.— 5g ; 6J ; ej. 
Kelani Valley, &c.-6^ ; 6^ ; 7. 
Ratnapura, Rakwana, &c.— 7 ; 6g ; 79. 
■ Kalutara.— 6^ ; 6g ; 7^. 
Udagama and Morawak Korale.— 7^ ; 7^ ; 7id. 
Haputale and all Uva.— 8^ ; 8:1 ; 8Jd. 
General Average for all = 8d ; 7|d ; and 8d. 
MOSQUITOS AND MALARIA. 
A SCHOOL OF TROPICAL MEDICINE. 
' In the absence of Lonl Locli, Sir Henry J. 
Jourdain presided last night at a meetiiii? of the 
Royal Colonial [iistitute, held at the Whitehall 
Koonis, Holel Metropole, when a paper was re.id 
by Dr. Manson, medical advisor to ihc Colonial 
Office, on "A School of Tropical Medicnie." 
ATHong those present were Lady Gort, Sir Cecil 
dementi Smith, Sir Henry Norman. Sir William 
•Bobinson, Sir G G Walpole, Sir J Goldney, the 
"President of the lioyal College of Physicians, and 
■Mr. J O'Halloran (Secretary). 
TROPICAL DISEASES. 
After some prefatory remarks on the specialisa- 
kUoh and division of diseases, Dr. Manson proceeded 
to draw attention to certain forms of tropical 
disease, indioatiut" llieir iuiuortanoe, showing the 
necessity for a special system of study to be 
applied to theui, and poiiitint; oat how such a 
system could Ite best carried out Dividing tro- 
pical diseases int.i the two c'a-ses, endemic and 
epidemic. Dr. i\Ianson placed malaria liist in 
importance under the former. It was, he main- 
tained, the great disease of the tro|)ic?, the 
principal cau^e of sickness and deith unci of social 
stagnation. Malaria was the true reason why 
Africa was ciiled the Dark Continent; and five 
millions died aniui 'lly of fever, mainly malaria, 
in British India ; while one-third of our soldiers 
in that country, European and native, suffered 
annually from that disease. The unhealthy, 
that is to say malarious, character of West 
Africa more than doubled the cost of <};overn- 
ment, and the death-rate i here was 85*2 per 1,000. 
In fact, what with death and invalidiiiu' and leave 
01 absence, two men were required to do the work 
of one, and to induce them to accept the eniploy- 
mont double pay had to be offered. 
PROPAGATION OF MALARIA. 
The question was . how could the cloud of 
malaria ever floating over such districts be dis- 
pelled. It was a connnon and misleading fallacy 
that disease was caused by climate : it was really 
caused by beasts and plants which were subject 
to man's dominion. The first thing v^as to dis- 
cover the disease geim, and Dr. Manson pro- 
ceeded to consider the nnilerlying principles 
which govern the distribution, the propagation, 
the acquisition and the suppression of the mala- 
rial germ, adding that those principles would 
equally apply to nearly all tropical dise;i>es. 
The germ of malaria lived in the human bloodj 
it could be easily discovered there when ]>resentt 
and Iransterred by the needle of a hypodermic 
syringe into the ^eins of a healthy subject, who 
in a few days would ilevelop malarial fever. This 
could be done in any country or climate by such 
artificial means, but Nature's needle and syringe 
was the mosquito. This was the reason why 
malaria was only acquired under natural condi- 
tions where and when the mosquito was to be 
found. The geographical distribution of malaria 
was therefore determined by the geographical 
distribution of the mosquito. Fortunately there 
was only a limited number of the hundred species 
of mosquito that propagatel the malarial germ 
and until an insect had partaken of the blood of 
a germ-laden subject its bite would not be 
dangerous.— Mo/'WMig' H erald. 
Tea Diseases.— We have already given 
Mr. CoUett's paper on this subject and 
intimated that we thought he deserved well 
of his brother planters for the same. We 
learn that while Mr. CoUett does not at all 
presume to pose as an authority on plant 
diseases — although he has paid attention 
to the subject for a number of years— yet he 
thought it as well to commence thus early 
in the ' season ' to agitate upon this question : 
(1) because many planters are as yet imable 
to identify the principal tea-diseases when 
they see them ; and (2) because it occurred 
to iiim that au exposition of what is known 
of grey and brown blights, etc., up to the 
present time, might prevent much of the 
anxiety likely to follow the outbreaks of 
disease in Juiy-August, which, he fears, are 
inevitable. 
