June 1, 1899.] Supplevient to the "Tropical Agriculturist.^' 
891 
VICHKA SEED— A FAMINE FOOD. 
This is the product of a plant botanically 
known iis Cycmotis axillaris and common]}- cabled 
the Spider wort. It was found during the montli 
of Jaiuiiiry, 1898, that a considerable number 
of people in the Bombay Presidency were sub- 
sistini^- Oil this and other wild food grains, and 
this su^'yested the examiuatiou of the seeds of 
Cyanotic axillaris. 
The seeds are prepared for food by being 
ground and cooked into a large quantity of water. 
When sufficiently boiled it is allowed to cool, and 
suet and jaggery are added to taste. 
Attention was first called to the grain in a paper 
read by Dr. W. Grey before the ^Medical and Physi- 
cal Society of Bombay in 1882. Last year a sample 
was sent to Prof. Churcii, F.R.S., who is conducting 
an examination ot Indian food stuffs at the Imperiiil 
Institute on a special plan of his own in which 
for comparativ-3 purposes he brings out very pro- 
minentl,r the nutrient ratio. 
We give below the Keport made bj- Prof. 
Church :— 
This annual, which belongs to theN.O. Com- 
melinaceae, is common in many parts of India. 
Though anytliing but premising in appearance it 
has been used as food iu times of famine. The 
seeds are spongy and light ; 100 weigh only 4 
grains. Tiie sample received was largely charged 
with earthy matter which it was impracticable 
to remove entirely. 
These percentages were obtained : — 
Water - - - - 11-5 
Albuminoids (from total nitrogen) 1.3*9 
Sturch, etc. (by difference) - Oi'l 
Oil - - - - O-o 
Fibre - . - - 3-1 
Ash (includes some sand) - 6*9 
The nutrient-ratio is here 1 : 4'6, the nutrient 
value 79. By the phenol method 12"22 per cent, 
of albuminoids was shewn. 
After all these poor-looking seeds possess a good 
nutrieiit-ralio and a fair alimentary value. 
NEW TREATMENT FOR MILK FEVER 
IN COWS. 
The disease whicli is known as milk fever 
parturient paralysis, or dropping ..after calving, 
has 11 very obscure pathology, altliough the 
circumstances in which it occurs are very well 
known. Ii; must also be confessed thot it is 
a very fatal disease, and although iu this country 
several different methods of treatment have Ijeeu 
warmly recommended, the morality has always 
remained liigh when calculated on the results 
obtained iu a large number of cases treated by 
different veterinary surgeons. In consequence 
of this comparative failure of remedial measures, 
a good many owners have adopted tho practice 
of simply having every cow attacked with uiilk 
fever slaughtered for butchers' purposes as soon 
as the animal loses consciousness. It therefore 
appears to be desirable to call attention here 
to a new method of treatment, wiucli, it seems 
impossible to doubt, leaves every other far behind 
in point of success. 
The new method of treatment was first prac- 
tised by Schmidt, a Danish veterinary surgeon, 
who was led to employ it tentatively because 
of his conception of the nature of the disease. 
He bnlieved that the symptoms of milk fever 
are the result of the absorption into tlie general 
circulation of a poisonous substance which is 
formed within the udder itself during the first 
few days of lactation, the source of tiiis poison 
being the cells which, prior to cal.'ing, occupy 
the ultimate recesses of the mammary gland, 
and which are normally cast off and passed out 
with the milk first secreted. The primary seat 
of the disease being, according to this conception, 
the uddt;r itself, it occurred to Schmidt to try 
the effect of treatment which would immediately 
influence the secreting epithelium of the gland. 
With this object he injected a warm solution 
of iodiile of potassium in water into each of 
the quarters {previously milked) and then kneaded 
and rubbed the udder in order to force the 
liquid into the ultimate glandular recesse'^. At 
the date of publication of his original pnper 
on the subject, Schmidt had applied this treat- 
ment to fifty cases of milk fever, and had ob- 
tained 46 recoveries. Since then the treatment 
has had an extensive trial in Denmark, with 
results almost as gratifying as those obtained 
by Schmidt himself. Moreover, the method has 
already been employed in a good many cases 
in Germany and this country, with results that 
appear to be much more satisfactory than those 
previously obtained by ether metho'ds. 
As in the case of most other therapeutic eft'orts, 
it is very important that the treatment should 
be begun early, but it is admitted that death 
has resulted in cases of milk fever treated by 
Schmidt's method even witniu liJ hours after 
the onset of the attack. It maj' perhaps be 
reckoned a defect in the method that it is hardly 
one which the layman can take in hand, since 
it demands special instruments and great care 
that these and the liquid injected into the udder 
are free from bacteria, the introduction of which 
would lie very apt to set up inflammation of 
the gland. When proper care is taken there 
are no serious after-effects, the milk secretion 
soon becoming normal in quantity and quality. 
Should further experience of Schmidt s treatment 
justify the high opinion of it generally entertained 
by those who have already tried it, a rather 
serious source of loss to those engaged in milk 
production will have been iu great measure 
removed. 
GENERAL ITEMS. 
Sugar, as is well known to most people, i? not 
obtained solely from the sugarcane and beetroot, 
but from sources which would appear the most 
unlikely to yield any edible i)roduct. Take coal tar, 
for in-itauce, from wdiich so many beautiful dyes are 
obtained, and we believe also an exquisite sceuf. 
From the foul-smelling tar a very sweet sugar is 
obtained. In fact, so excessive are the sweetening 
properties of coal-tar sugar, that a quantity suffi- 
cient only to thinly cover a threepenny piece will 
suflice to sweeten a largo cup of tea. Maple 
sugar is largely produced iu North America from 
