See 
[September i, 1891, 
345,186 
40,005 
BARK AND DRUG REPORT; 
(From the Chemist and Dmr/t/ist.) 
London, A ug. Ist. 
disrOHONA.— The periodical auctions held on Taesday 
were of very moderate extent. They coneisted of :— 
Pljgs. Pkgs. 
Oeylon cinchona ... 92G of which 890 were sold 
Bast Indian cinchona .352 do 327 do 
.Tava cinchona ... 60 do 60 do 
Siuth American cinchona 340 do 83 do 
W. C. African cinchona 60 do ^ do 
Total 1,738 do 1,428 do 
Of the Baqtern barks very little was bought In, and 
thrnaghout the sales competition was well maintained, 
beoomina- more lively towards the end. The quality of 
the bark offered was poor. The market may be described 
as firm, but without quotable advance in value. The 
unit remn-ius at lid per lb. , , , 
The following are the approximate quantities purchased 
by the principal buyers :— _, 
libs. 
Agents for the Brunswick factory !)0,.392 
Agents for the American and Italian work „ . . . . 69,643 
Agents for the Mannheim and Amsterdam works 51,789 
Agents for the Frankfort o/M. and Stuttgart works 49,521 
Messrs. Howards <fe Sons 44,834 
Agents for the Anerbach factory 
Mr. Thomas Whtfifea ^,350 
Sundry druggiata • • • • 12,977 
Total quantity sold 
Bought in or withdrawn •.. 
Total quantity offered ... ••• 385,191 
It should be well understood that the mere weight of 
bark purchased affords no •guide whatever to the quinine 
yield represented by it, firms who buy a small quantity 
of bark by weight frequently take the richest lots 
and vice ve7'sa. 
Nux Vomica. —The market remains firm. Arrivals from 
Cooonart a and Colombo this week amount to 2"° cases. 
QuiNlNK.— I'he market was dull during the early part 
of the week, and 5,000 oz. Auerbach quinine changed 
hands at 10|d per oz. Since Wednesday the market 
shows some inolinatbu towarSs a recovery, and some 
6,000 oz. German bulk (B & S or Brunswick) from 
second-hand holders have been sold at lOJd per oz. 
Howard's braud was reluced in price— Id per oz. — by 
he manufacturers on Wednesday, vials being now 
uoted at Is 3Jd to Is 41 par oz, according to quantity. 
^ 
The Tea Export from Japan in 1890 is 
thus referred to in the report of the British consul 
at Yokohama : — 
lea, —The inoraase in tho quantity of tea exported 
amounted io .3,568,0611b. over that of 1889, and was 
nbout equal to that of 1888. la conaeqaonoe of the 
mildness of the winter the tea Beason began earlier 
than uBUsl, the market opening' about the middle of 
April. The quality of the leaf was below the average, 
owing mainly to excessive moisture in the spring. The 
demand on the American Continent has run, as here- 
tofore, chiefly in the direction of low-priced gsades. The 
re-nlfc, a-t regards choice leaf, hare is that but little 
of it is prep'.rnd for export; tha prices offered do 
not pay the cost of production. The excessive fluctua- 
tions in exhange had their effect in this as in other 
departments of commerce; but the year may be oon- 
sidorr.d on the whole to have been a fairly good one 
for exporters, who had, for one thing in their favour, 
tlie low rates of freight ruling. It should be uoted 
that tffiirts are being mado to introduce Japan Oou- 
(70U-1 into Russiii, but it is questionaOlo if the quality 
of tho article will be sufficiently good to ensure sno- 
rvrss in Diis. Destinations of the tea.— The following 
.Tnalysi - of the destination of the tea export may be 
of infcorcMt :— To Chicago, 8,450,55'! lb; Canada, 
804.3 707 lb.; Now York, 6,36'^,466 lb. ; California, 
3858,861Ui.; Jiurope, 303,064 lb, ; and the bfihmoc, for 
tho mogt part probably to Ohini. The routes by which 
tlioteahai l)«en carried are :— By Pacific Mail and 
Oooi<leiit'il and Oriental steamers, 10,933,042 lb.; Suez 
ntoamcT'i to Now York, 2,897,471 lb. ; Cauada, 3,254 268 
lb.; Knropp, 333,064 lb.; Sail and lail via Tacoma, 
5,412,762 lb, ; to San Francisco, 35,532 lb.; via the Capo 
til (Janoda, 59,102 lb- There has been an increaee ia 
Oi'< Kbiprnwiti by sail to Taooma and the North Pacific 
Kf.il way, »nd by the Canadian Pacific line. Suez Caual 
Btr:amerB the sbipmenta have been about the same as in 
The Calctttta Botanic Gaudens.— We have 
yeeeived Dr. King's annual report for the year 
1890 91, and quote the resolution of the Govern- 
ment of Bengal, as follows: — 
The Report for ti'e year shows that steady progress 
has been ma^e in improving the Botanic Garden, 
not only aa a scientific centre cf the highest value 
to all botanical studentB, but also » pleasurable and 
instructive resort to the public. More than 20,000 
Bpecioaens were added to the Herbarium, illustrating 
the Flora of regions so widely removed as Central 
Asia, Australia. Assam, Perak, the Shan States, the 
Khasi Hills, the Andaman Islands, and the Great 
Ooco Island. To the contributors of those specimeng, 
Messrs. Mann, L;ce, Gamble, Curtis, Rid'ey, S. 
Peal, and L. Wray, Generals Collett and Gatacre 
and Baron von Mullcr, the thinks of Government 
are due. Arrangements were also made for continu- 
ing the work of collection in Assam, Upper Burma, 
and the Andamans. A third volume w»s added to the in- 
teresting aeries of garden annals, containin,? monographs 
by Dr. King and Dr. Prain on certain Indian and Indo- 
Malayan species. Unfortunatelv, however, owing to un- 
avoidable delays, it was found impossible to publish the 
volume within the year. Both the Superintendent and 
the Curator of the Herbarium also contributed 
valuable p»pers on botanical subjects to the Journal 
of the Asiatic Society. The Lloyd Botanic Garden in 
Darjeeling, which is under Dr. King's supervision, is 
reported to be in good order. Under recent arrangements 
the Curatorof this gardnn is charoredwith the task of 
improving the station of Darjesliag by pi in^in? and look- 
ing after young trees. In course of time it is hops'i tLat 
the dam'Jge done inp.ast years by the wanton destruction 
of fine trees may be in some measure rdpiirad. 
The thanks of the Lieutenant-Governor are due t5 
Dr. King, the Superintendent, and Dr. Prain, the 
Curator of the Herbarium, for (he snccesaful adminis- 
tration of (he garden during the year. 
The Chemistry of the Ocean.— Tiio stuiy of tli'? 
685 densities of the water of th^^ ssa mide during 
the expedition of the " Chillenger," and the report of 
108 series, of which each extended from tlie bottmi 
of the ocean to the surface, tlia discnssion c f the 
results of the deep soundings obtained by tho"Po'a"' 
in 1890, the various theories relative to the chalk 
formations by chemical action wita the necessary 
intervention of living creatures, and, fiaally, the dif- 
ferent observations of oceanic analysis with which 
M. J. Thoulet has been occupied for several years 
past, relative to the existence at tho bottom of the 
ocean of two belts of water, one in repose, and the 
other in motion are all in accordance with the following 
hypothesis: — The surface of the ocean, submitted to 
climacteric change?, is in a state of heating and 
evaporition more or less int .-nse. The Viiriations which 
result in the real deij i*y and in the chemic.il com- 
position of the waters I'ined to the mechanical action 
exercised by the wind, give in the place of horizontal 
marine currents (hoso more or less vertical, which 
cross between these whore they overlie each other, 
with extreme quickness and in different directions. 
Tliese together constitute oceanic circulation, which is 
efiected almost entirely in a very shallow belt, about 
500 fathoms in depth. The sub^tancrs, only slightly 
soluble, contained in the waters of the seas, and 
brought to the ocean by the fresh waters which are 
far more dissolvent, attain, at a certain depth, their 
limit of solubility and form precipitates. Becoming 
solid, they descend vertically, peneterate into the 
still belt, and at last reiioli the soil at the bottom. 
Surrounded by immovable water, they dissolve and 
increase the proportion of fait contained in the deepest 
stratum of tho water, and that immediately in contact 
with the soil. Tiny then spread, and with the exttme 
slowness, increase th^ saline quility of tha adjacent 
waters, and at the ranie time extend tj tlie strnt'jm 
next to the .soil which is not faturated, aod con- 
sequently contiuues to dis.iolve the new material 
which arrives without cossition. Tho submarine soil 
is then a kind of centre of chemical activity, fed by 
fresh material from the surface, and radiating slowly 
towards tho surlaae. — Eevue Scientifique> 
