4S4 
THE TRDPICIW. AtSfRftJOLTUmST. 
[January i, 1892. 
BARK AND DEUG REPORT. 
(From the Chemist and Druggist.) 
London, Oot. 24th. 
Cinchona.— The fortnightly bark actiong on Tuesday 
were rather larger than usual, but the average standard 
of the Ceylon and Indian barks offered was exceedingly 
low. In fact, with the exception of two or three small 
parcels of yellow and grey barks, the figure o£ 4d per 
lb. was only twice reached. The catalouges comprised the 
following quantities of the various descriptions of bark ;— 
Packages. Packages. 
Ceylon... ... 602 of which 602 were sold 
East Indian ... 22-5 „ 204 „ 
Java ... ... 81 „ 81 „ 
South America... 533 „ 307 „ 
West Coast African 295 „ 295 
1,738 1,492 
Ihe unusually large quantity of African bark offered 
was nearly all of very recent import. It was fairly well 
competed for, and brought not altogether unsatisfactory 
prices. Much of it was badly harvested. The South 
American barks consisted exclusively of Calisayas, partly 
of the flat variety usually met with at the drug auctions, 
and partly of cultivated Bolivian bark. The following are 
the approximate quantities purchased by the principal 
buyers ••— 
Lb. 
Agents for the Mannheim and Amsterdam works... 73,556 
„ Brunswick factory... ... 47,129 
„ Frankfort o/M and Stuttgart works 41,555 
Messrs. Howards & Sons ... ... ... 29,5.58 
Agents for the American and Italian works ... 17,211 
,, Auerbach factory ... ... 13,805 
Sundry druggists.. ... ... ... 43,572 
Total quantity of bark sold ... ... 266,38G 
Bought in or withdrawn... ... ... 25,130 
Total quantity offered... ... ... 291,516 
It should be well understood that the mere weight of 
lark 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 versa. 
The next Amsterdam sales will be held on November 
12th. The barks from private plantations to be offered 
on that occasion have not yet been got ready, but from 
the Government plantations there will be 29 tons of 
bark, including about 8 tons Buocirubra, li tons Offici- 
nalis, and 19i tons Liedger barks. One parcel of 42 
bales ground Ledger stem bark analyses 9 74 per cent. 
Oils [Vabious].— Coconut oil remains very steady, the 
spots prices being 24s 9d for Ceylon (c i f ., 23s to 23s 3d); 
and 29a to 293 Gd for Cochin c. i. f., 26s. 
Quinine. — A transaction between two brokers is reported 
today at 9d per oz for second-hand German bulk. The 
quantity thus sold was only 2,0 JO oz. This is the lowest 
price the article has yet touched. It is said that a good 
deal of business has been done quietly lately, of which 
no particulars have been allowed to transpire, but it has 
bU been done at the price quoted on Che market. The 
United States official returns show that during the first 
nine months of 1891 the imports of quinine into the 
States have been about 500,000 oz. and of cinchona bark 
300,000 lb. less than in the corresponding period of 1890. 
PEARLS MADE TO ORDER. 
An ingeniouB Amerio&n has applied for n patent for 
making real pearls by artificial means, The material 
of which the oyster makes its pearl is certainly cheap 
and plentiful enough. If jou take the shell of a pearl 
oyster and scrape or grind ofiE the outer ooat you fiud 
a sheet of about one-eighth of an inch in thiokueaa 
of the precise eubstance which the oyster deposits 
around any foreign body, as a gram of sand, &o., 
which gets canght under ita mantle, thus producing 
the pearl of commerce. Why not, says the experimen- 
taliet, take thia sheet ,of naore, dissolve it in acid, 
ind then re-posit the pearl in layers about a shot or 
a pea suspended in the solution, thns copying the 
processes of Nature ? The idea seems to open up 
vast possibilities, for in this way pearls of any size or 
shape might be procured at the fancy of the operator. 
There would be no difficulty in turning thorn out aa 
large as billiard balls, or as footballs, even, for the 
lD*tt«r of that, ThQ trouble is that oonoretiona thus 
obtained are mere lumps of carbonate of lime, which 
entirely lack the iridescence which in the pearl is due 
to structure. This little diflBaulty has always stood 
in the way of the succesBful imitation of the oyster's 
production ; but thia late.st inventor claims that he 
has entirely overcome it, so as^to be able, not only to 
manufacture peals, but also to ooat articles with the 
material, just as spoons and forks are plated with 
silver. Whether the claim will or will not be made 
good in prsctica remains to be proved. A posi-ibly 
easier and more certain mode of pearl production 
is indicated by an extraordinary treasure which waa 
lately shown at the Smithsonian Institute. Thia was 
a pearl, the size of a pigeon'a egg, of an exqniaiie 
rose colour, and the receptacle containing it was the 
original freshwater mussel in which it had been formed. 
The nucleus of thia gem beyond compare was nothing 
more nor lesa than an oval lump of beeswax, which 
had been placed a few years ago between the valves 
of the mollusc, which, to protect itself from the irri- 
tation caused by the presence of the foreign body, at 
once proceeded laboriously to coat it with the pinij 
nacre it secreted for lining ,its shell. The mussel w^g 
kept in an aquarium while engaged in its lengthy taspr 
It belongs to a species common in American riverP,. 
and it is suggested that the success of the experiment 
opens to everybody the possibility of establishing a 
small pearl factory for himself by keeping a tank 
full of tame mussels and humbugging them into 
making "great pink pearls" for him. Ooly the in- 
tending experimentalist is warned against avarioe 
the " nucleus " must be introduced well under the 
mantle of the creature; or it will not irritate anffi- 
ciently ; and, above all, it must not be too large. A 
great surface takes a long time to cover, and muti- 
pliea the risks alfvays attendant upon artificial culture. 
If one will be satisfied with pearls the size of peaa 
the chances of success will be so muoh the more pro- 
mising. — Colonies and India. 
THE CELEBRATED MAHWAH TREE, 
J3ASSIA LATIFOLIA. 
The Department of Agriculture has suoceasfully in- 
troduced for the first time into Australia this famous 
tree. It is a handsome tree, attaining a height of 
from 40ft. to 60ft., and a nitive of Bengal, in India, 
where it is carefully conserved for the sake of its 
annual crop of edible floivera. It poaaesses the ad- 
vantage of thriving in dry stony ground, but will flourish 
in almost any kind of soil from the sea-level up to 3,000 
ft, altitude. When the tree is a few years old it pro- 
duces annual crops of flowers in great quantities. These 
contain about 50 per cent of sugar, and enter largely 
into consumption, and are considered a very nutritious 
and wholesome tooil both for men and for cattle, pigs, 
poultry, &o, Mahwah-fed pork has a high reputation, 
A single tree will yield from 200 lb, to 400 lb. of flowers 
annually. The flowers are eaten both fresh and dried; 
In a fresh state they possess a peculiar luscious taste. 
When dried the flavour has some resemblance to that 
of inferior kinds of figs. In a dried state they will 
keep a length of time, and are carried long distances 
for sale in the bazaars. 
A wholeaome spirit is distilled from the flowers, very 
similar to Irish whisky. This spirit is manufactured 
to a great extent in India, and .the Government reve- 
nue from this source alone is considerable. The seeds 
yielyl by expression a large quantity of concrete oil 
(of the same value as coconut oil) which is used in 
lamps, to adulterate ghee, in the manufacture of 
candles and soap, and for oulinary purposes. The cake 
or residue is good feed for cattle, and ia a valuable 
fertiliser to worn-out lands. The timber of thia tree is 
hard and strong, close and even-grained, and is used 
for the wheels of carriages, railway aleepers, &c. A gum 
of some commercial value exudes from the bark. 
The cultivation of this famous tree is receiving in- 
creased attention among plantera and others in various 
parts of the world, as it ia found to be a highly pioflt- 
able QQmmerQial crop. 
