September i, i?c)t.] THg tnOPlQ^L ASRieULTURiST. x6g 
the supples hitherto hiiviug been chi Hy derived from 
the vicinity of Jeddah, in the Red Sea, The produce 
of the Jeddah fishery has grf atly diminishpd within 
the last few yearp, aijd the discovery of auy new 
sources of supply would be gladly welcomed. There 
is, Mr. Kent considfre, every i lenient in favour of the 
developmtnc of a profitable black coral finhery in Nurt'a 
Queealand waters. 
Ml. Kent reports the complete success of the 
esperime' ta ioit'ated last year at Thursday Island in 
the direction of transporting ardartifiejlly cult vating 
tlie mother-of-pearl shell. The spcoi mens brouglit in 
from the outer fishinj? grounds and laid down ou a 
selected reserve on Vivian Point, have thriven tJ a 
reinsrlnblo degi-Je, and had aided, on an average 
aijothtr inch to tlie diamet;r of their shells tinea 
their transportation to the reserve eight mouths pre- 
vionsly. Attempts have already been made at several 
of the shelling stations to biinj pearlsliellia a'ivefrom 
the fishing grounds and to lay it down in the vicinity 
of thestatijDs. These exp?rimenl.sliava beenatter.d-id 
with partial success, but are not lilrelv to be prosecuted 
in a thoroughly systematic manner until the bill recently 
drafted is pissed which wi 1 isecure to those engaged 
in the trKde the power of lakinn; up portions of reefs 
ai d f reshores for peatlsliell cuUur au\i afford thr;m 
legal protadiun for the shell laid down. I found ou 
my atr val at Thnrsdav Island that the opinion amor.g 
those engaged in the psarKhelliug industry in favour 
of legisla'iou to restrict tbe limit of the size of the 
shell taken by the divers had grc^itly increased At 
a mee' ing of the trade representing sevonty-tliree boafc^, 
he'd during iny v'sit, a resolution was U(iauimou.'ly 
passed ftdvoo.itiug the appointmei't of a defned limit. 
S nee ihe submission cf my last years repor', the 
CO omissioner has been further impressed with the 
coiiviction ttiat pearl and pearlshell fi-heries might be 
pr>'fi^ally worked or developed tlironnhoutthe S. uthern 
in au lit on to the Northern moiety of the Queensland 
seaboard. Biaok-lipped phell, of largo size, h-iving a 
mai'ke*: value of £50 or £ OOp.r ton, f.vjm which excellent 
pearls niav bo obtained, liave been collected as far south 
as Mortto:! Bay Oonfidenco in this anticipation is 
shared to su.Vn an extent by one of (he leading pioneers 
of the Toi'ixs Straits and West Australian paarlshelliiig' 
industries th t he is making arraugoinents to fully test 
the peai-1 an i pearl -hell pro Uicing pioperliea of the 
Southern coastline, and to establi'-h thereon stations 
for the purpjfe of pearlsliell cultivation so soon as tiie 
Act is passed that will accord tho necessary protection 
and faoilitiei fur the devolopment of this new induatiy. 
— Qneenslaiider, 
^ . 
THE NEW CHLOROFORM DISCOVERY. 
There is no reason, on the face of it, for doubting 
the reported discovery by M. Pictet of an improved 
method of manufacturing chloroform. The gentle- 
man is a distinguished Geneva MdVdiit, who long 
ago won his scientific spurs by hia well-known 
researches, cartieioutin 1S77 siraulianeously with 
those of M. Cailletet, on the condensation cf oxygen, 
hydrogen, and other gases. Thoae resoarohes were 
of a very important character and constituied a real 
step in our knowledge of gaseous bodies. There 
had previously been a distinction made between 
" permanent" and " non-pecmanont" gasts — that is 
to say, between those which could be convaried 
into liquids and thoso which could not. Bat IVIM. 
Cailletet and Piclet flhowod that no such d'etiaction 
really existed, anl that all gases could b-; reduced 
to the li(juid, and even to the solid fo:m. The 
method by which this is effected C3nsiFts ca eiitially 
la a combination of veiy high pressure with ^r^at 
cold, and apparently Pictet has madi- liis'ncw 
discovery by pursuing a similar line of investi^,t lion. 
He reduooH chloroform to a very low lemporature 
and IS then nhU to separate tho impurities. 
With regard to tho praotioal value of this achieve- 
ment it would 'jje rash to speak with any oerla'nty- 
The idea is that the new chloroform will be muoli 
eafar to administer than the old ; but two things 
may be said on this head. It is quite true that 
Bt present it is dilTrujU— perhaps impossiblo—lo 
obtain the drug absolutely pure, a- d the variability 
of its composition is shown by tlie differ ent specific 
gravities adopted as the standard in the pharma- 
Qopoeiaa cf different countries. Bat, in the first 
plaoe, it has yet to ba proved thit chloroform, 
as manufactured in EnrUnd — or rather, in Scotland 
—since thfj days of Simpson, is dangerous when 
properly administered. All the evid3nce, regarded 
with an unprejudiced mind, points very strongly 
to tbe conclusion that tho dinger is not in the 
drug — -oscapticg in s.t far as every powerful drug 
ia dangerous— but in the hand which administers it, 
And in the second place it has yet to ba proved 
that the danger, if it exists, is due to impurities. 
If, as IS alleged, oii'.croforra has never bean obtained 
pare, how on earth can it be known that the 
pure, which has never yet existad for practical 
purposes, is safer thati the impure ? It may ba 
precisely the other way. We have recently had a 
lesson in this direction which should not be for- 
go'ten. We have learned that in this case of spirits 
chemical purity by no means implies whoIesom°neBB. 
li has been sho'vu that tho " bsautituUy pure' 
product of the patent still gives you a violent 
headache, while the old-fashioned pot-still stuff, 
reeking with fusel-oil and oi;her eupposjd abomi. 
nations, is parfeotly innoou ms. The human interior, 
for reasons of its own, often takes a different viow 
of these matters from that of the chemist ; and 
it may be so in the present instance. At any 
rate, that has all got to be found out, and it 
would be foolish to jump to the oonolasion that 
the new and improved chloroform — supposing it 
exists — will necessarily be a perfectly safe thing to 
administer just because the advertisements say so. 
Its real value can only be ascertained by prolojged 
trial. Of course the m^didal profession knows ttiat, 
and will use the noveliy with all due care. Bat 
unfortunately, as we kmw by exparience, the public 
nowadays doe* not wait for an authorative verdict, 
but flings itself upon everything new if sufiioiently 
advertised, and patients ace quite likely to insist 
on being anm^thetized by M. Piotefc's chloroform 
before anything is kiowa abou*; it. 
The rumour that M. Pictet is negotiating with 
German manufacturers for the establiahraont of a 
monopoly should also be received with caution. 
Such a proceeding would certainly raise a tremendous 
storm in France ; though to he sure, ho may care 
nothing for that. Still it is unlikely; aid surely 
things have not come to such a pass that every 
scientific discoverer must sell his brains to specu- 
lators in Berlin. — St. James' Btulijet, 
# 
BURMA RUBY MINES CO. 
LoKDOM, July 10th. 
The report of the meeting of the Burma Kuby Mines 
Company which is enclosed with this (see page 
175 } must, in view of the kindred pursuits 
which several companies have been endeavouring to 
follow in Ceylon, be interesting rea'ling to you. The 
Company does not seem to h'lvo met with any lar^^er 
measure of success as yet than thac which has 
attended the efforts made in Ceylon. Everytbiug 
it is reported, promises fairly, but so did every- 
thing when tho undertaking in Ceylon was embarked 
upDn. There are sever-il matters which were 
touched upon by the Chairman, Sir Lepel H. Grillin, 
which must seem mysterious to general readers. 
Why, for instance, is it to be only anticipated that 
good rubies may be found ? It had always 
been our belief thai; the Burma Ruby Mines 
