August i, 1891.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 113 
CINCHONA BARK IMPOSTS AND PEOSFECTS.' 
Messrs. 0. M. & C. Wodehousa in their latest 
monthly Export autn up ths total imports of bark 
into the Uaifcid Kingdom for a series of years, and 
we aee at a glanoe how the same has begun 
steadily though slowly, to decline. The figures 
extend from 1885 to 1890 inclusive. The import 
from Ceylon fell off fro.-n 12,872,384 lb. (in 1886) 
to 8,135,156 Ibi last year. From India, Java, 
and other parts of the E*st there has been 
an increase, however, the import rising in six 
y^ara, from 935,261 lb. to 1,588/180 lb. [Of course 
the bulk of the -Java bark goes to Holland.] In 
the case of South and Central America, Wast 
Indies, &o., we have 873,264 lb. imported theooe 
in 1885 and only 335,552 lb. in 1S9U. Ra-imports 
from the Oontinent of Europe, however, fiave increased 
from 573,120 lb. in 1885 to 1,023-344 lb. in 1890 
— ithis means of course Java bark mainly ; for 
the grand total of imports into the United Kingdom, 
■which was close on 14J million lb in 1885, and 
exceeded 16 million in each of the three suooeed- 
ing years, fall to llj again in 1889 arad to about 13 
■"-million lb. in 1890. This makes it all the stranger, 
'^'in view of the increase in consumption and the 
clearing out of bark and quinine in second hands 
in London of late years, that the market for bark 
has not improved. That it has not don3 so, must 
be chiefly due to Java, which, it will be seen, has 
more tiaan doubled its total export of high-clasj 
bark in four years. 
COAL AND OTHER COMDUSTIBLES IN 
CEYLON. 
From the letter of a Ceylon public servant now 
iu England and who ahow3 his patriotism by not 
forgetting his adopted land, we quote as follows ; — 
" I met Mr. Blanford of the Indian Meteorological 
Department lately, and in a discussion about coal 
in India he said it was not likely to ba found in 
Ceylon, as the strata lying below the mountiin 
ranges wero of too recent formation and did not 
go back to the carboniferous period. The moun- 
tains themselves were of crystalline origin and 
belong to one of the oldest systems of rocks in 
geology. A good knowledge of chemistry however 
might lead to the discovery of some substitute for 
coal, as has been done in Italy recently. A des- 
cription of this discovery will be found in the 
enoloajd slip from the Standard of the 2Sth Miy." 
'RuME, Wtidnesday Night. — An experimeiu was suo- 
ossscuily Cinidd out yosterday which will probably 
mark the commencement of a new era of prosperity 
for the mechauical iudastries of Italy, and especially 
for her carryiug companies. A traia was rua ye.st jrday 
from Rome to Fraacati, furaished with a new combus- 
tible, prepared accordiog to the iuveutioa of Siguor 
Sapor, of Siana. It is a preparation of lignite, of 
which there are immense and rich depotsits in Italy. 
Itistonod of two qualities, the xiloid* and the echisloae, 
of which the latter is the richer in combustible miterial. 
In yesterday's experiment the train ran easily and 
smoothly up one of tlie steepest gradients in Italy. 
The quantity of fuel ussd davin.^ the transit was three 
hundred and sixty-seven kilDgram.mos, as agninst three 
hundred of ordiuary Goa'. The troiu was a heavy ooe, 
of eight carriages and luggage vau ; and there were 
seventy passengers, iaclnding members of Parliament, 
engineers, &c. 
'Lunch was- served ab the Hotel Frasoati, at which 
loists wiire given. An EiuiHsh geutl^man said Eng- 
land would witness with pleasure the success of the 
experiment., and the commercial emancipation of Italy. 
A telegram wa.s sent to the King, aiinormoicg the suc- 
cess of the experiment. A very brilliaut gas is also to 
be obtaineil from lignite. 
The importanod of this new manufacture will bo seen 
when it is remembeiel that Italy now pays from a 
hundred to a hundred and twenty million francs yearly 
toother countries for coal, and that her supplies ot 
ligniteare practically uulin-jited. The smoke from the 
new combustible is very light, and not disagreeable in 
odour.' 
We should be only too well pleased if even lignite 
were found to exist in quantity iu Ceylon. Mean- 
time it is curious we have heard nothing further 
of the Si im lignite which, a few years ago, a 
mining engineer told us abounded in a locality 
whence it oould be cheaply shipped to Ceylon. 
^ . 
SALE OP TEA ESTATE PROPERTY. 
A third share of the Mipitiakande estate in the 
Kelani Valley has been purchased by Messrs. 
Kennedy & Evans for £5,000 sterling. Mipitiakande 
has 260 acres of fine tea in full bearing with 112 
acres ot reserve. The price— £ 15,000 over all — is 
a handsome one, equal to £55 per acre for the tea. 
COCONUTS AND CINNAMON. 
Kadirana, June 20th| 
After an interval of fine weather, which lasted from 
the 6th to the 13th, rain set in again steadily yester- 
day, and the previous niszhb being stormy with heavy 
r<iiu ; the gauge showing 3-46 inches in the 24 hours. 
The total for the mouth so far is 8 43 inches. With 
,^0 much ruin all veKetatiou is locking fresh and green, 
but it even would benefit by a few weeks of warm sunny 
weather. The vigour in the oimjamou bashes seems 
to be forcing out a "bud" which it is hoped will 
not ba heavy, as it would interfere much with the 
peeling which is now good. The last cinnamon sales 
in Liudon show no improvement in price or demand 
for fine spice ; this ia bad for those who cultivate 
well, for the preparaiion of lower quality cinnamon 
scarcely pays expenses. Fever I regret to say still 
prevails extensively all over the district ; fresh oases 
are common, and relapses numerous, and this last 
is the moat serions, a.% each relapse leaves the patient 
weaker. The poverty of the people v/ill not permit 
of their lying up till strength is quite restored, for 
being poor they must work to maintain themselves 
and thoir famil io, and the food they can afford ia 
not what one would proscribe for convalescent fever 
patients. Quinine is coming greatly into favour, and 
the various disponsarios and the hospitals are freely 
patronized. The people are beginning to recognise 
the f^ict that by the use of quinine fever can be 
subdued in a few days before the strength is much 
affected, while, under native treatment the patient 
as a rule is fit for nothing for vveeka after the fever 
has subsided. This is a serious matter to the poor. 
THE STORY OF A TORTOISE. 
Mr. J, H. Tuke oontributes the following very 
interesting paper to the Journal of the Hitohin 
Natural History Club for May : — 
[After recording the deaths ot animals and birds 
from cold, the writer proceeds : — ] 
But to my fa nily aud myself, the loss of an old 
friend and summer visitant, who has for more than 
a quarter of a century amused and interested ua by 
his odd ways and quaint old-world appearance, 
caused the d.?ep6st regret. He was a tortoise. I 
speak of him as a summer visitant, for with the 
regularity ot a bird of passage he took his departure, 
leaving no trace behind of the quarters he had 
selected for his winter residence. It is a curious 
fact that that the salf-burying of the tortoise is 
accomplished without any visible disturbance or 
heaping up of the earth, and we have jarely, if 
ever, been abla to discover the precise spot, until 
on some warm day in the early spring his muddy 
form was p^irtially seen at the mouth of his hole. 
This he usually confined himself to until he 
thou ght the warm weather waa fully assured to liim. 
