184 
THE 
[September t, tS^t, 
QUININE. 
(Prom C. P. Boelinnrjev d- Sokne's Report.) 
Waldhop near Mannheim, July 1st, 1891. 
Quinine durine the last month remained stagnant, Bpecu- 
lators retired from the marker, while the conaumptlon. 
that for the fiwt five months of the present year had 
been very large, showed some abatement. Secondhand 
holders are row again selling quinine at rates lower than 
it costs to mi\uufactiire at the present price of bark. 
The London public sales of bark have considerably 
diminished in dimensions, and are litely to decrease still 
further for the nest few months, the supplies from 
India which have formed the chief item o£ late always 
fallicig' o£f iu the second half of the year, while Ceylon 
in 1891 will hardly contribute more than 6,000,000 lb. 
For (he nest Amsterdam sales of the 18th instant some 
840,000 kilos with over 460,000 ounces of sulphate of quinine 
ere catalogued. The following sales take place only on the 
Srd September, Export of Bark from Java 
Amst. lb, 
from 1st July 1890 to 13th Tune 1891 about 6,5.50.000 
„ 1889 to 81st May 1890 4,690,741 
,, 1888 to ;, 1889 3,847,845 
„ „ 1887 to „ 1888 2,639,196 
„ ., 1886 to 1887 a,054,035 
An association or trust of bark growers is again talked 
Of, This time the Java planters are going to manage it 
themselves. Whether they will succeed remains to be 
seen, the movement however, seems to indicate very clearly 
that at present rates cinchona planting hardly pays even 
in Java, and if some tew i plantations have nevertheless 
made a dividend, it has been owing to quite exceptionally 
favourable circumstances, 
Mr J. E. Oaene, mineralogist to the Department 
of Mines, Sydcey, has made a discovery of precious 
opal at a spot known as White OlifEs, about 50 
miles north of Wileannia, in the western part of 
New South Wales. The opal is found in crevices 
of sandstone and fossil wood, occurring in a forma- 
tion resembling the Dessert Sandstone beds of 
Queensland. Sometimes, too, it is found disseminated 
in a kind of cement which has iDonetrated the 
mass of body of the sandstone. — Colonics and India. 
The Palm-oil Disteicts oi Ai-eica. — At the evening 
meeting of the Eoyal Geographical Society on Monday 
Mr. A. Millson read an interesting paper on a journey 
to the Yoruba country, in which most of the palm- 
oil shipped from Lagos is produced. "Of the future 
commercial development of so rich a country," said 
Mr. Millson, "much is to be expected. During my 
visit to Ibadan and Ikirum palm-oil was selling at the 
rato of 3Z 15s a ton, and palm-kernels at 3? a ton, 
the prices in Ligcs of these staple articles of West 
African commerce varying between 172 10s and 2Zl a 
ton for oil, and Ql and 101 a ton for kernels. Small 
tusks of ivory were selling at Ikirun for M a lb. 
and large ivory could have been bought at very low 
rates had I been able to transport it in my baggage. 
The gravel ridges, which alternate with the richer 
lands, were covered with sheabutter trees, which yield 
a valuable vegetable oil, the water courses were shaded 
by gum-bearing acacias, ogea-gum trees, and camwood 
trees, while the forest-lands of Ijebu and Ijesha con- 
tain numerous valuable timber trees. In addition to 
the above products of the country, there are many 
minor articles of commerce, such as benniseed, ground- 
nut?, and dyes, while the most important considera- 
tion of all, in my opinion, is the future development 
of good qualities of cotton, coffee, cocoa, and other 
valuable plants, which are rapidly being introduced 
among the natives. When I state that over 80,000 
young plants — cocoa, coffee, kola, coconut, and other 
economio trees — have been distributed since the month 
of May, 1888, by the Botanic Centre of the colony of 
La^^os, and that over 60,000 of these were eagerly 
pnrchased by the natives, it will readily be under- 
stood that one is not in error in counting upon their 
keen iptcrfst in agriculture as a means of profit as 
well as of actual maiutennnce." The lecturer pro- 
of eded to Btato that the principal use of palm-oil was 
in the soap and tinplate making industries. The men- 
tion of the latter industry as an outlet for palm-oil 
nppeare'l to create some sceptical amusement, and in- 
qiiiriea wi re made, but could not altogether ho an- 
Hwered by Mr. Millson, concerning the use to which 
palra-oil if! put in tinplate-making. Asa mattcrof fact 
Mr. MillHon was perfectly correct. Huge (juautities 
of palm-oil aro annually consumed in tho tinplate-worka 
of South Wales and elsewhere, the heated iron being 
temporarily immersed in hot pHlm oil prior to its coat- 
ing with tin, in order to prevent it from oxidising. 
For this purpose the beat soft ' Lagos oil," which con- 
tains least impurities arising from its preparation from 
the rotten husk, &c., is, we believe, most frequently 
UEsd. In 1880, when the British Pharmaceutical Con. 
ference met at Swansea, the members ware taken over 
some large tinplate works, where they witnessed the use 
of oil in this manner, and they will probably have a 
similar opportunity of verifying the statement at their 
forthcoming reunion in Cardiff. — Chemist and Druggtts. 
Suggested Citeon-cdltivatign in Bast Afeica.— 
The island of Corsica has long been famous for the 
cellence of its " cedrats," or oitron', the superiority 
of which in size and aroma is attributed to the tichne-'s 
of the Corsicein soil in ferruginous ad other mineral 
onstituents and in certain salts. Tho dsdrat-orchards, 
to yield a good crop, require to fee situated at a low 
altitude, to be protected by hills from the cold winds, 
to be absolutely safe against frost, and to be properly 
watered twice daily during the dry seson. Cedrat- 
growing, to be remunerative, requ res extreme care, and 
tbe trees are subject to many dis^aoes which mu^l be 
guarded against ; but, if these cont'itions ai-e fulfilled 
the industry — especially that part of it which c n8i--ts 
in pickling the fruit for the market — ia extremely 
profitable, the crop of a single matured tree being 
worth as much as 101. to 12^. per annum. The fruit ia 
prepared for tho market by slicing it in halves and 
pickling it in brine — i.e., salted sea-wotcr. It is then 
sent to Leghorn to be candied in euga", wbi'e the 
best fruit is pickled whole and used as a table delifiary 
ell through the Eist. The Ilaliaa caiidji g faotoii "a 
obtain so large a drawback of duty on the sugir 
Which they use that it is equii-a'ent to a bounty. Ccn-'nl 
Malcolm Drummond, of Ajaccio, whileguirdinghimstlf 
against the expression of a definite opinion, thnks 
that it would ba well worth while to try tUo experims 1 
of acclimatising the Oorsicau cadrnt in our Kast 
African colonies, where the high lyiug v^iileys o:i the 
mountain slopes would, he thinks, form an excelle.it 
position for conductiuK aseries of experiments in c-iirat 
and lemon culture. No great outHy would bo necessary 
for the establishment of an experimental plantation. 
— Chemist and Bi utfcjist, 
Boons Coffee.— The arrest of two men at Lille 
for manufacturing oofEse has led to an investigatirn 
of their methods. Their plant, estimate.! to be 
woith 50,000f,, and a large stock, were seized The 
following ia briefly the method of manufacturing 
this coffee. The raw. materials are composed of 
chicory fiour, and sulphate of iron in powder, the 
latter giving the necessary colour. The paste made 
with the mixture of these materials is enclosed 
in a cylinder and then pressed with an hydraulic 
motor. Through five different openings it comes 
oat in pieces measuring 30 tj 35 centim^ires iu 
length by 4 millimetres m thickness and 18 centi- 
mdtres in width. These are again powdered with 
flour and immeliately placed between two metallic 
punching plates before cutting eaoii piecs in such 
a way as to give it an almost perfect resemblaneo 
to natural coffee. The two men employed in their 
manufactory eleven men and seven women, the 
latter having to separate the b:rrie9 which were 
not properly moulded from the others. These 
producers have arrived at such perfectioa in France 
that some deputies have just laid a measure on the 
table of tho French Chamber, respecting the article 
which runs as follows :— "It is forbidden to expose 
or placo on sale, to import or export any manu- 
factured product which, by its shape, colour, general 
aspect, is capable of being confounded or bought 
as coffee in green or torrefied berries." The other 
articles set forth the penalties :— 50 francs to 3,000 
francs, five and three months' to a year's imprison- 
ment ; penalties to be doubled if the product is 
recognised as baneful to health, or if it has been 
fraudulently mixed with natural coffee &o,-^Home 
(& Colonial Mail, July 3rd, 
