312 THE TROPICAL AGRIOULTURIS'T . [Novkmber 2, 1891, 
SI. Pelleafiexxiosa, Link. — In Fourniev's Mexicana- 
ritm Plantarum Eniiineratio, it is stated tliat tlie fronds 
are used as tea in Mexico.— John R. Jackson, Museum, 
£ew, — Gardeners' Chronicle. 
{To be continued.) 
THE FOREST PEODUCTS OF AIADAGASCAE. 
Among the forest products of Madagascar, caout- 
chouc is found all over the, island, but, says the 
Chancellor of the French Residency at Antananarivo, 
in those places which are easy of access, it is begin- 
ning to be scarce, and the prices have considerably 
increased, particularly on the markets of the east 
coast. On the west coast, where business is less brisk, 
and where the population is sparser, it is still low 
priced and abundant. The diminution in the supply 
IS to be attributed, among other causes, to the neg- 
ligence and indolence of the natives, who, regard- 
less of the future, cut the trees at the foot, in order 
to more easily arrive at the milk. It is prepared in 
different ways, and, in those places where there are 
Europeans, it is possible to obtain it treated with acid, 
but in many places, either because the cost of sulphuric 
acid is too great or on account of the fact that numerous 
accidents in the manipulation of this substance has ren- 
dered it unpopular, tea, salt, absinthe, citric acid, or 
an extract of tamarinds are substituted. The prices 
vary according to the locality, and also according to 
the system adopted and the care taken in its pre- 
paration. Caoutchouc enters, to a very great extent, 
into the exports of the country, and, in order to en- 
courage this industry, the Government ought, in M. 
Anthouard's opinion, to look carefully after the pre- 
servation of the forests, endeavour to prevent fires, 
and to induce the natives to abandon their habit 
of cutting down the trees bodily, in these circum- 
stances, Madagascar caoutchouc might realise high 
prices upon European markets, and successfully com- 
pete with the Para product. Gum copal is exported 
in considerable quantities from the ports on the east 
coast of Madagascar, and, up to the present, it ^ is 
only on this coast that the product has been obtain- 
ed, although there appears to be no reason why the 
west coast should not furnish its quota. A far more 
important business might, it is said, be done in this 
article if greater care were only taken by the natives 
in its preparation, and if it could be cleansed of its 
impurities ; the quality would then be : equal to the 
JTetheiiands Bast Indies. Similar reasons to those which 
haue brought about a reduction in the prices of 
caoutchouc, have carased a diminution in the volume 
of business carried on in honey and wax. This pro- 
duct, gathered without any care, and full of foreign 
substances which have the effect of deprecating 
it, is neverthless quoted on the European markets 
at the same rates as the Senegal product. The natives, 
to obtain a few pounds of honey, or wax, frequently 
destroy an entire hive, and consequently the swarms 
of bees are becoming much scarcer. It will he ne- 
cessary to introduce considerable improvements in 
the method of gathering this product in Madagascar 
before any rise in prices can reasonably be hoped 
for. There is a considerable export of rafia fibre from 
the ports of Tamatave, Vatomandry, and Majunga. 
The principal centres of production are on the east 
coast, between Tamatave and Vatomandry, and in the 
iiiterior, towards the west of the route, from An- 
tananarivo to Majunga. The exports of this article 
from the latter district, which, some few years ago, 
were almost nil, have of recent years largely increased. 
Tlie principal markets in Europe for ralia fibre are 
liondon. Haver, and Marseilles. The fibre is largely 
Used l)y wine gi-owers in tying up their vines, and it 
is also employed for many other purposes. Attempts 
have been made to weave it. Ebony, at one time, 
was exported in consideral)lc quantities from Ihe north- 
east coast, but at tlie present day the trade appeers 
to bo entirely confined to the west coast. The forests 
of Madagascar aboundwilh timber, eminently adapted 
for building pur))OHc.s, furniture and cabinet nuiking. 
—./ijunul of the Svciety of Arts. 
The Teak Teadb of Burma.— With regard to the 
teak trade of Burma during 1890-91, Rangoon Bgain 
takes the lea'l. There were exported from Rangoon 
during (he year 110,555 tons and from Moulmein 
64,167 tons, as compared with 103,459 and 80,765 
re&peotivfly the preceding Tear.— Pioneer, Sept. 15. 
The Planters in British North Borneo are loud 
in their praise of their Governor, who has just 
erranged, among other (hinge, for f-o importation 
of coolie labour to that Colony. The Governor's 
strenuous and unremitting tfforls to secure this 
boon for the planting community around Sandakan 
have now been crowned with success, and His 
Excellency's thoughtful policy is much appreciated, — 
Colonies and India. 
Dn. John Dong.all, of St Mungo's College, Glasgow, 
has a letter in a recent issue of the Glasgow Herald 
on the banana, in which he quotes from Stanley's "In 
Darkest Africa" to show that "for infants, persons 
of delicate digestion, dyspeptics, and those suffering 
from temporary derangements of the stomach, the 
flour, properly prepared, would be of universal de- 
mand.'' During Stanley's two attacks of gastritis a 
slight gruel of this flour, mixed with milk, was the 
only material that could be digested. It is odd, also, 
as pointed out in Stanley's book, that in most Banana 
lands — Cuba, Brazil, West-Indies — the valuable proper- 
ties of this fruit as ah easily digested and nourishing 
food have been much overlooked. Dr. Dougall has 
made some experiments in making banana flour. He 
concludes that it should be made from the ripe fruit 
at its place of production. In trying to make it from 
bananas purchased in Glasgow, he obtained on drying 
the piJp a tough sweet mass like toasted figs, an 
appearance probably due to the conversion of starch 
into sugar. Bananas contain only about fifty per 
cent, of jjulp, and of this about seventy-five per cent, 
is water. Ihey would yield, therefore, only one- 
eighth part of fiour. — Garden and Forest. 
In an article called the " Evolution of Patent Medi- 
cine," published in the Popular Science Hlontiih for 
May, Mr. Lee J. Vance traces that belief in the 
effiacy of such nostrums back to those ancient times 
when no distinction was drawn between the physician 
and the magician, and when all remedies were looked 
upon as charms — a condition which prevails, of course, 
among savage and half-civilized tribes in our o^vn 
times. The names of plants, Mr. Vance explains, 
shows how general was the belief in their inexplicable 
virtues. " Some plants have animal prefixes, a<s. Dog- 
elder, Dog-rose, Cat's-tail, Cow-bane, etc. Other 
plants derive their name from religious sources. Thus 
they are associated with the Virgin Mary, Saint John 
the Baptist, Saint James. Likewise the latter-day 
Saint have particular plants dedicated to their memory. 
Most of the plants with mystic names were supposed 
to have magical virtues, and so they were largely 
used in folk-medicine. The weired a^ssociations clus- 
tering arovmd many roots and herbs were enough to 
invest them with great repute," and in folk-medicine 
even at the present day, " herbs are used not so much 
for their inherent medical properties as for their re- 
puted magical virtues. . . . Another stage in the 
evolution of patent medicine is typified in the thera- 
peutics of medieval mystics and alchemists. The 
gTeat plant in their pharmacopoeia was the MandrsJie. 
Why'? Simply because the roots of this plant were 
shaped like the h^iman body. . . . The magical 
element in patent medicines actually won scientific 
repute in the 'doctrine of signatures' — a doctrine which 
held that plants and minerals, by their external char- 
acter, indicated the particular disease for which Nature 
had intended them as remedies. Thus the Euphrasia 
or Byebright, was good for the eyes ; the V/^ood-sorrel, 
being shaped like a heart, for the heart; the Liver- 
wort for tlie liver, and soon. Pettigrew, in his history 
of medical superstition, says that this fanciful and 
anagical notion 'led to serious errors in practice' and 
often to fatal results. Observe that at this stage of 
its evolution patent medicine is herb medicine, and so 
it remained for a long time. The materials of the 
healing art were all vegetable. The patent-medicine 
man was a dealer in herbs." — Garden and Forest. 
