May 1, iodli 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
763 
Bef )rf: ibe clcclava.tion of the British protectorate trans- 
il'Mions, alleged to have bsea purchases of lanil, took 
place between whites aud the natives. In Borae oases 
these were reasonable in their nUnre, and the pnroh.i- 
sev3 have subsequently by occup.ition acquired what are 
presuined to be indefeasible titles. In others, however, 
the claims of the alleged purchasers have been 
extravagant. Square miles were obtained at a small 
fraction of a penny per acre, without any inquiry 
into the title of the vendor, who was frequently the 
first native met on the beach, and there h.is been no 
occupation. Until all the claims have been dealt with, 
ouce for all, the asiricuUurfil prostress uf the is!;\ndi 
will be retarded.— London Times, M'Uch 15. 
GEM MfNING IN CALIFORNIA. 
Tlie recent deposit of a .specimen of California 
jade in the park Museum directs attention toCali- 
fi)vnia as a lield tor s;em mining, observes tlie Sm 
Francisco Chronicle. " E.xc!'pliii<,' a tourmaline 
mine in San Diego county, and a turquoise mine 
near the souLliern Nevada border, ne believe 1:0 
systematic effort at mining for gems has ever been 
made here. The pebble beacli ne.ir l'a~cader(^ has 
yielded at times some valuable stone", but wiieilier 
they came from tlie iieiKl'houi ingform ition, or were 
cast up by the waves from llie bottom of the sea, 
has not been ascertained. Opals have been found 
on the beach in llie neighbourhood of San Diego, 
find diamonds of kooJ quality have occasionally 
been picked up in the sin. ces of some of the jilacer 
mines in til's northern counties. 
" The tuiquoise and tourmaiine depos-its are 
specially valuable. Handsome gems are made from 
both. I'he latter is found in the forii; of variegated 
crystals, and gem:i have been produced from them 
wilicli werespleiidid imitations of dianinulsof the 
purest w ater, pigeon-red rubies sappiiires, emer- 
alds and pink and yellow top.tz^s. MoiiSana con- 
tains lar;ie deposits of sapphires of splemlid qualiiy, 
but no depasit of any consequence of lluit neu\ 
has been found in California. It; is offset, ])erliaps, 
by the turquoise deposits, especi.ally as this 
stone is now popular. Ijut the C:tlifornia deposit 
is so large that the maiket could easily be broken 
by an excessive output, so the produciioii is 
regulated to suit the wants of lapidaries and 
jewellers. 
•' In Calaveras county tliere is a mine w hich is 
worked expressly for tlie quarl z crystals it contains. 
These are not exactly gems, but tlie crystals are so 
large that enormous ornamental globes of excep- 
tional value are obtainable from them, and the^e 
are in higii demand. Japan had fornieriy a 
monopoly of this business. But the largest quartz 
crystal ever found is said to have come from this 
California mine. Another variety of quartz used 
for gem-making found in this state is ;duysoplua^e, 
which takes a beautiful polish. Its coljris usually 
a pale apple-green. Some attention is at present 
being given to the developaient of this material iu 
this state for gem-making purposes. lb is allied to 
nickel and usually associated with it, and it is 
belie\ed to be present in the nickel deposits found 
near Kiddles, in southern Oregon. Valuable 
deposits of it have been found in Calilornia recently. 
But the most valuable of all recent discoveries of 
precious stone deposits in California is said to be 
that of tiie jade, which was lately added to the 
Park Museum collection. Its quality is of the 
finest character, and the deposit is said to be large 
enough to be quarried in blocks big enough for 
pioiiumental }^nipose. —Bradstveets, 
PEARL FISHERIES IN BENGAL- 
H.\XDSOMB RETURNS. 
Calcutta, April 9.— Some valuable pearls, 
some of wtiich are being sold lor R-tUO and 
R6IHJ each, liave been obtained at the fisheries 
on the Ichamati River, where pearl fishing 
is carried on. The yearly return has been 
so good that the fishermen have stopped 
gelling iisli.— il/rtrfr«s J/oi/, Apiil 10 
THE "NEBM" OR "MARGOSA" 
TREE. 
31 el ia Azndirachta. 
A platitiiig correspondent writes : — 
" \Vhat is iSeein? (Jan any of our readers enlighten 
US as to the identity of the neem leaf, and t^dl us 
wlieiher there is any plant allied to the neem in- 
digenous to the island or cultivated here? An 
Indian paper has Ibis :—' With regard to the 
efficacy of neem leaves as a disinfectant, it ia in- 
teresting to learn that Baroda, which is 
situatea between Boracli on one .'^ide .and 
Wasad and Nadiad on the othc, and where hun- 
dreds of people go daily from p'aocs infected with 
plague, is free from the epideiiiic. In this (con- 
nexion it is pointed out that until leccntly there 
was a special agency employed iu uarorla fur daily 
burning, for about an hour, fr sh neem leaves for 
ten days in those houses in wliirh deaths had 
occurred, no matter from what cau>e, and also in 
the iieigbboui ing houses.' " 
Our corresi)ondent will no doubt recognise 
the tree by its other name "Mnrgosa" 
Telkohniba of the Sinhalese and Veppannam 
of the Tamils, we htdievc) We have a 
specimen in our garden at 'J'urret Road, 
which got so hacked, lliroiigli native 
neighbours begging piece:^ (d the bark or 
branches ami leaves (as mrdicinc) that we 
hail to forbid access to it l'<_)r a time. 'Ihe 
tree is common in the ^Northern forests 
where Mr. Dyke found it to be indigenous. 
Balfour's '• Cyclopfedia" tells us: — 
"In appearance tbe wood is much like miliogany, 
and is used by (he natives for general purposes. Its 
bark is bitter, is considered a. valuab'e Ionic, .and 
has been tried by Europea 1 ]i'iy-ici aiis with a 
success nearly equivalent to w h it migiitliave been 
expected from cinchona barl;. (Jil is nbiained from 
the seeds by either expre-i i m or boiling, and is 
much used medicinally. The fruit is no5 unlike a 
small French olive in size and appear.mce. The 
oil is of a deep yellow colour, has a strong smell 
and an unpleasant bitter taste ; is much esteemed 
by native doctors as a w.arin medicine, as an ex- 
ternal application in foul ulcers, and as a liniment 
iu rheumatic and sjiasmodic affections, etc. It ia 
frequently burntin lam|is, and i^solil in the bazaar 
untler the name of bitter oil, also black oil. Dr 
Maxwell found this oil equally efficacious to cod- 
liver oil in cases of consumiition and scrofula. Ha 
began with half-ounce do-^es, morning and evening, 
which were gradually reduced. Margosa, as well 
as illipoo oil, mixed with nn equal quantity of cold- 
drawn castor-oil, produces a hart! vegetable wax of 
an agreeable roseate coloui-. I'lie leaves uf the 
genera Melia and Azadirachtn, dried and kept in 
books, are nuich u.-ed by the jieople of India to 
preserve furs, feathers, books, papers, and clothea 
that are lodged in trunks, book cases, etc., from 
tlie attacks of iiif_ects. It is useful to place alon;» 
with them small jiackets of cainplior, or little cup5 
of canipUor dissolvetl in alcohol," 
