October i, 1891.I 
THE TROPICA1. AQRimJl-tOniST. 
him that teas are about to lose in order to gratify 1/is 
avarice; the very next moment, in the presence of the 
buyer, he blandly .md iuuoceuMy contradicts himself. 
I I aid before that a large proportion of the season's 
crop is shipped direct to London for sale by auction 
there. The tea broker abhors this foolish system of 
business; he ha? no sympathy either with it, or with 
its promoters, and is unceasingly at pains to deatri>y it 
for his own aggrandizement. He evinces great conoero 
for a merchant's welfare, although in his heart of 
hearts be cares not a Ftraw whether a merchant fails 
or prospers. It affects him little one way or the other. 
A tea broker is a man of circumstances, better, a man 
of fine sympathetic tendencies, and in this respect 
resembles the cold chameleon. He can at a moment's 
notice sadden at a man's losses or gladden at his 
profits, and in this fashion keep changing and re chan- 
ging the colour of his feelings during his dally calls 
according to each one's needs. He believes himself 
to be over worked, bat can still find enough of time 
to indulge in golf, tennis, cricket, and football, each 
in its proper Beason. Indeed he has so much leisure 
at his disposal that by excessive practice he excels 
in all manner of pastimes. He is one of the many 
who argues that "all work and no play makes Jack 
a dull boy," In all sincerity he is heard to say that 
it is not for the sake of playing ao much as wise 
regard for his health that he ^oes play. In short, the 
tea broker is a clever, happy-go-lucky fortunate fel- 
low; and his motto ta "Live and let live." — "Quill" in 
the Indian Empire, 
GOVEEiS'MENT CINCHONA ENTERPRISE 
IN BENGAL. 
From the annual report of the Government Cin- 
I chona plantation and factory in Bengal for the year 
1890-91, it appears that the whole of the crop, with 
the esoeption of a small quantity supplied on indent 
sold to Government institutions, was sent to the Febri- 
fuge factory for disposal. The outturn of the factory 
showed a decrease in the quantity of cinchona febri- 
fuge as compared with that produced during the 
preceding year : but there was a marked increase in 
sulphate of quinine, of which 4,010 pounds were manu- 
factured, against 1,833 pounds for the year 1889-90, 
The revenue derived from the Sile of sulphate of 
quinine, cinchona, crystaline febrifuge, cinchona barks, 
and other products of the plantation was in excess of 
that derived from the same products in the previous 
year ; while the net profits of the year's working, 
^ which amounted to B17,040, are considered satisfac- 
tory. The resolution on the Report states that, in 
starting the cinchona plantations, the Government did 
not aim at a profit, its object being to secure for the 
people a cheap remedy against fever. The quinine 
manufactured at the Government factory can now be 
, sold at one rupee per ounce, and Dr. King observes 
that it would be possible still further to reduce the 
I price if all the charitable dispensaries in the country 
j were to supply themselves with the Government drug 
t instead of buying it elsewhere. It is stated that the 
; Government drug is purer, and the Inspector-General 
of civil hospitals will be asked to consider what steps 
should be taken to extend the demand for Govern- 
ment quinine, in order to bring about a further reduc- 
tion in price. Judging from the tenor of the resolution 
on the Beport, it would appear that institutions helped 
by Government may expect to be requested to draw 
their supplies of quinine from the Government factory. 
It will be interesting to know what the Inspector- 
General of Civil Hospitals will have to say on the 
subject, and how the charitable and other dispenearies 
view the enterprise.— S<a««»ja«. 
ECHOES OF SCIENCE. 
Platinum is a very useful metal in science, because 
it resists corrosion, and has a co-elficient of expansion 
nearly equal to that of glass, so that it can be 
sately fused into glats without fear of fracturing 
the htter under changes of temperature. Mr. R. A. 
Fessenden, of Koseville, ^few Jersey, U. S„ has, 
bowever, discovered an alloy of iron, niokeli oobaU, 
feilicon, and gold or silver, which can be used as 
a substitute for platinum. The co-eflBcient of expansion 
for glafs is 85, that of platiuum 95; whereas that 
ol tho new alluy can be made exactly the same 
<i8 that of the glass with which it is to be employed. 
Hence for vacuum tubes in particular it will be 
very useful, as the air will not be able to enter at 
the point where the metal penetrate the glass on 
account of any unequal shrinkage. 
To prevent the frightful accidents which happen 
on steamships through the bursting of the copper 
steam pipes, the Fairfield ShipbuilJing and En- 
gineering Company of Govan began the practice of 
lapping the pipe outside with copper wire. They 
found, however, that copper wire loses much of its 
strength on being heated, and have since tried Delta 
metal, which, at the temperature of melting tin, or 
412deg. Fahr., was found to be much superior to 
copper not only in strength but in ductility. — Globe. 
BARK AND DRUG REPORT. 
(From the Chemist and Druggist.) 
London, Aug. 29. 
CiNCHOiN'A.— The cincliona auotiODS wbich were held this 
week again of ver; moderate extent, the quantity offered for 
sale consisting of : — 
Fkgs. Pkgs. 
Oeylon bark . . ... 738 of which 713 were sold 
Eaat Indian bark ... ... 987 „ 669 „ 
Java bark ... ... 87 „ 97 „ 
South American bark ... 182 „ H „ 
Total 
3001 
1493 
Ttiere were a few parcels of fine bright druggist's barks 
from Madras and several lots o£ good ofBcinalis cinchona, 
a'so from British India ; but on the woole, the as- 
sortment offered nothiUK o£ importance the following 
are the quantities purchased by tlie priucipal buyers :— 
lb. 
Agents for the Mannheim and Amsterdam works ... 10U,08S 
„ Auerbach works ... ... 63,530 
„ Frankfort o/M and Stuttgart works.. 69,180 
., Burnswick factory ... ... 51,47S 
„ Italian and American works ... 50,884 
Messrs. Howards & Sons ... ... ... 22,2U 
Sundry druggists, &c. ... ... ... 21,290 
Total quantity of bark sold 
Bought in or withdrawn 
Total quantity offerei 
368,659 
88,587 
457,228 
The tone throughout the auctions was miserably dull, and 
about 20 per cent, uf the birk (mostly East ladiau cinchona 
from Bombay and Calicut) was bought in owing to insuffi- 
cient competition. The price paid were hardly up to the low 
standard of the last auctions, and the unit is nearer Id than 
lid per lb. 
It should be well understood that the mere weight of 
bark purchased affords no guide whatever to the quinine 
yield represented by it ; lirmj Who buy a small quantity 
of bark by weight frequently take the richest lots, and 
vice versa. 
No detailed figures about the Java shipments for the year 
ending June 30th are yet to hand, but the following maybe 
taken as approximately correct :— 
1887 1888 1889 1880 1891 
lb. lb. lb. lb. lb. 
Amsterdam 2,230,000 3,493,0000 4,416,000 4,760,000 6,000.000 
being an increase over the season preceding ot 67, 26, 8 
and 27 per cent. During the month of August of the 
last three years the shipments are given as follows i 
1889, 700,000 Amst, lb. ; 1890, 760,000 Amst. lb. ; 1891, 
1,000,000 Amst. lb. 
Oils (Essential).— Citronella, in tins, ll*16d; in bottles, 
|d per oz., on the spot ; and for delivery lOid per lb. in tins 
and Ud per lb. in drums, o. i. f. terms. 
Quinine.— The market remains very dull, and the total 
sales reported during the week only amounted to about 
35,000 oz. at lOd per oz. for (jerman bulk from spot 
until January delivery. On Wednesday night a sale of 
5,000 oz. spot was reported at 9Jil per or,, but it is 
doubtful whether that transaction actually took plaoe— 
at any rate, there are no further sellers at the figure 
today. A New York correspondent wr tes under date 
of August 18th : "Quinine is very dull with us, and we 
think will go lower. P. & W. reduced their price 2 oauts 
this week. There is praotioally no demand for any large 
quftutlties,'' 
