2t8 
d:HE TROPICAL 
AGKICULTtJRIST. [Oct. i, \m. 
ment Entomologist, both naturalists of 
repute, go a long way to prove that the 
accusation against this little animal is not 
wroiigly placed. Tiie raungoosa is not 
indigenous to Barbados and ils introduction 
may be another case of the bahmce of 
nature being upset by man's artificial means. 
In any case the inhabitants seem now to be 
paying heavily for the introduction of this 
animal. (Jan any blame be attached to the 
muijgoose in Ceylon for the destruction of 
our bird life ? We do not know of any 
great prevalence of these animals in the 
isUnd, but the matter may be worth ol)serva- 
tion. It has gor e so far in Barbados that the 
Agricultural Association of that Oolouy has 
presented a petition to the G-overnor, praying 
that action be takeu by the Legislature to 
lessen the numbers, or get rid altogether of 
the mungoose in the island. The main points 
ia the peiition, from the* Agricultural News, 
are as follows : — 
That since the ictroducfcion of t!ie mungoose, 
insectivorous birds, snakes, toads, bats and hz irtls, 
which were fairly numerous, have gradually duni- 
nished, until now, few insectivorous ci eatures are 
seen, and snakes, toads and lizards are rarely found 
in the caneiiulcis. 
That owing to the destruction of these birds, 
reptiles, etc., which prey on the insects attacking 
the sugar-cane and other crops, these pests have 
so increased that heavy loss is now su-stained by 
the sugar cane growers and other inhabitants of 
this island, who are engaged in agriculture. That 
the mungoose is almost, if not entirely, respon- 
sible for the great diminution of the insectivorous 
birds, lizards, etc., your petitioners submit, is 
abundantly proved by the researches of the Kev. 
N B WatsoD, the Vicar of iSt. Martin, an ento- 
mologist of repute, and the information, supplied 
them by Mr. Henry A JByllou, B. Sc., the Euto- 
moiogist of the Imperial Department of Agriculture, 
Mr Watson stated that from 19U0 to the present 
time, he had examined the contents of the 
stomachs of fifty-nine mungoose and some lizards. 
In the stomachs of fifteen of the mungoose, he 
found the remains of toads, and in the stomachs 
of the toads taken from the mungoo»e, he found 
portions of beetles of various descriptions ; in 
seven mungoose stomachs, he found portions of 
green Jizaids ; in one, portions of ground lizard ; 
in seven, the remains of blackbirds ; in six, 
centipedes; in four, portions of thegiound dove; 
in one, the remains of a small yellow bird. In 
the stomachs of two green lizards examined he 
found larvae and pupse of moths, the maggot of a 
&y, three caterpillars, a small field cricket, a field 
spider, and portions of some beetle. Mr. Ballou 
informed your petitioners that in Dominica, where 
there is no mungoose, ground lizards are numerous. 
That in Barbados, prior bo the intro luction of 
the mungoose, the green and ground lizards were 
to be found in large numbers in the xugar-cane 
fields eating the moth-borers, as they emerged 
from the tunnels in the canes to dry their wings, 
prior to taking flight. 
That the moth-borer tunnels provide easy 
access for the spores of the rind fungus, a disease 
which has caused great loas in the past to your 
petitiouera and others engaged in the culture of the 
augar-caue; and your petitioners regret to state 
it is Btill causing considerable loss. 
THE MOSQUITO PLANT. 
TO THE EDITOR OF THE " TIMES." 
Sir, — The supposed discovery by C^i plain 
Larymoi e in Norihern ?Jigf ria of a basil {Ocimum 
viride) which possessed the property ol driving 
away iiio-quiLoes has since the beginning of the 
year beeu noticed frequently in the papers. It 
was the ^ubjecD ot a lener Irom Captain Larymore 
himself in The Times of April 2atL. last. 
1 have rectMved, in coasequence, letters from 
all pans Ol the world asking for seeds. I should 
therefore be greatly obliged if you would publish, 
for general lutormatiou, the enclosed correspond- 
ence, which appears co dispose conclusively of 
the plant's possessing any real protective value. 
I am afraid we are all of us prone to jump at 
an easy empirical remedy rather than to attack 
laboriously the root of an evil. Some years ago 
it was announced that blue gum trees would 
render a inalaiious locality hdalthy. Much moi.ey 
was accordingly spent in planting them on the 
West Oi»a*t of Africa, in Cyprus, the Campagna, 
and eisewhere. Kxpeneuce has shown that it 
rather increased than diminished the malaria by, 
as is nort uiiJerstood, affording shelter to the 
Anopheles which carries it, 
As Dr Pruuo points out, the evil of these em- 
pirical nostrums is that they produce " a false 
feeling of security " and lead to the neglect of 
the oaly precautions which are really effective. 
Kew, July 24. W. T. TnistLTON-DyKK. 
— London Times, July 27 
[A letter and long report from Sierra Leone 
follow; bub see Sir George Birdwood's letter 
on the subject, below. — Ed. T.A.I 
TO THE EDITOR OF THE " TIMES." 
Sir, — I do not desiie to revive the ancient con- 
troversy over Basil, if the plants we so call are 
indeed the ' Ocimum ' of Pliny [48 (12)] ; but 
having carefully read in The Times of yesterday 
Dr. Prout's report of June 30 last, ' On the Basil, 
in relation to its effects on mosquitoes,' 1 must 
protest that I am quite unable to accept his experi- 
ments with single poLs of this plant and three, five, 
and even six captive mosquitoes, as a conclusive 
demonstration of the inutility of Captain Lary- 
more's proposal for hedging in human habitations 
in the tropics with this plant as a protection 
against mosquito-borne malaria. 
Of course, all the time that I was planting the 
Victoria Gardens, Bomliay, round about, and 
through and throu^li with Holy Basil I was 
draining it ana in every oiher way contriving to 
secure its salubrity — and one must evei be on guaid 
against the assutnption of cause nud efiect where 
there may be only sequence of fact. But with every 
allowance lor error, juy experience in the Victoria 
Gardens must count tar more, with me at least, 
in favour of Captain Larymore s proposal than Dr 
Prout's multitude of experiments in miniature can 
count against it. 
Game [AND Fish?] Protection Sooikty.— 
Mr. John Eraser's letter elsewuere, calld atten- 
tion to the losses of tish being incurred -ia 
the streams which the Ceylon Fishing Ulub 
have stocked at great expense, apparently 
through unlicensed natives and employees. 
Officials, of both the Kailway and the Oivil 
8eivice, should be on. the alert. Many 
sportsmen will agree also with the opinion 
expressed re the killing of sambur« 
