January i, 1892.] THE TROPICAL AQRI0ULTURI3T. 
jast before reaohiug the open oonntry, I came upon a 
tree with both flowers and fruit upon it. The flowers 
were eiaotly the same as the flowers of 4 cultivated 
orange tree. The fruit, which was greeo, \.a8 about the 
size of a m»rblo. Oq cnttiug through it with a knife I 
found it had the same divisions as an ordinary orange, 
but each division waa fall of small seeds, whioh were 
very bitter and aromatio. On reaching Emir's Pro- 
vince I told him aSoutit, and he regretted very much 
that I had not brought a spaoimen with me, for he was 
a good botanist and wished to add it to hi» collection of 
dried plants. He told ma my discovery was doubly 
interesting, as many years before a Germin had pene- 
trated the forest on the west coast of Africi, and rb- 
pjrted that he had found wild orange trees. His story 
was discredited, and now our discovering the orange 
tree in the forest pointed that his report wa after 
all true. 
" I have not space to speak much sbout the flowers 
we saw in the open country, but will say a few words 
about those flowers which we found at a high altitude 
on th>- ' ipes of Ru venziri, or the Monntaina of the 
Moo li eutenaut Stairs who m ^de the a'icent of the 
raou . 'ins, givos the following^ facts in his report :— 
"• Ine barometer stood at 2110, therm imeter 70° F. 
Aheai of us and rising in one even slope stood apeak, 
in altitude 1,200 feet higher than we were. This we 
now starte ' to climb, and aft-r going up » short dis- 
tance came upon three heaths. Some of these must 
have been 20 feet high, audaswehad to cut our way 
fo )t by foot through them our progress was necessarily 
slow. Here and there were patches of inferior bam- 
bo 13, almost every stem having holes in it made by 
some boring insect, and quite destroying its usefulness 
Under foot was a th ck spongy carpet of wet moss, 
and the heaths on all sides of us we noticed were 
coverelwith 'Old Man's Beird ' {Usnea). We found 
great numbt-rs of blue violets which had no smell, and 
from this spot I ■ rought away some specimens of plants 
for Bmin Pasha to classify." The altitu ! was 8,500 
feet. We found blueberries and bUokbernes (n) at a'j 
altitndeof 10,000 feet. The following (o) are the 
generic names of the plants co'lected as namel by 
Eoiin Pasha :— 
Olematis. 
Moschosma. 
Viola. 
Iiiasoohilus. 
Hibiscus. 
Luzala. 
Irapntiens. | 
Oarez. 
Tephrosia. 
Anthisitiria. 
Glycine. 
Adiantum. 
Babus. 
Pellfflv. 
Vacciuium. 
Fteris aquilina 
Begonia. 
Asplenium, 
Peuce lanum. 
Aspidiam. 
Gnaphalium. 
Polypodium. 
Heliohrysum. 
Lycopodium. 
Seneeio. 
1 Selaginella. 
Sonchus. 
1 Marchantia. 
Erica arhorea. 
j Parmelia. 
LandoIpbiA. 
Draciena. 
Heliotropium. 
Usnea. 
Lantaua, 
1 Tree Fern.' 
from the berries of the wild ooff je-trees which abound 
on the hiifhlanda round the great lakes of Central 
Africa. The Arabian oofTee was originally supposed to 
have come from Kaffa, in Abyssinia. That which we 
found in Karagwe; Ankori, and Uganda is equal in 
flavour to the finest Arsbian coffee, and will, when 
Central Africi is opened up, be another of the chief 
articles of commerce. " I. A. M. Jfphson ." 
— Nature, Nov, 5th. 
"These were just a fe.v specimens Lieutenant 
Stairs brought down with him. But the slopes of 
Ruwenzori will, when properly explored, yield num- 
bers of unknown treasures t ) bo added to the Botanical 
Enoyclopiedia 
" For many weeks wo drank coffee whioh we made 
(n) It would b8 very interesting to have these 
identified. The two highest-known species of Rubus 
•re pinnatus and rigidii^, at 5.000-6,000 feet. 
(o) This list i» luStanley's book. The I'iola is no 
doubt (i/n/4si/a'ca, common to the m !Untaina of Muda- 
Rasoar, Abvsdiiiia. tho Cimeroons, and Fernando l*o. 
There aro thri>.) ho>iths known on the high mountains 
of Ueutr.\l Africi, viz Erica arborea, Kricinella Man- 
nil, aud Jllasria .i/iicaCa Th^ro is no Vacciuium kcorrn 
before in Tropical Atiica; thou^^h three or four are 
plon' ifiil in Madagaso ir, and thrtru is one ou the Dra- 
housbort;, so that its ocourranoo ia m )8t probablo. The 
ferns ofTiopiosl Afriea are nearly all speoios widely 
spread iu other oouiiiiouts. 
TEA. AND COFFEE FOR FAT PERSONS. 
We have received from Messrs. Chatto & 
WinduB of London a copy ot the third edition 
of " Foods for the Fat : A Treatise of Corpulence, 
and its Soientifio Dietary Cure," by Mr. N. B. 
Yorke-Davies, l.b o.p., m b.o.s., &o. The fact that 
this work is in its third edition within the course 
of a couple of years is a proof of its usefulness 
and acceptability among those troubled with 
obensity. It is written in a popular style, and 
gives valuable information as to diet, dress, ex- 
ercise, &o., for those who wish to reduce their 
weight without injury to their health. The second 
part contains a large number of menus, — soups 
fish, meats, vegetables, fruits, jellies, beverages 
and sauces. The author is a strong advocate of 
Ceylon tea. Wo quote what he says regarding tea 
and coffee : — 
TEA : ITS DSB. 
Tea is not food, and should not be taken ag such. 
Tea taken three or four hours after dinner is valuable, 
for this 13 the time that corresponds with the com- 
pletion of digestion, wheo, the food havicp; been con- 
veyed away fro n the stomich, nothing remains but 
the acid juices employed in digestion. These acid 
juicus create an uneasy sensation in the stomach, and 
a cad is made for something to relieve this uneasi- 
ness- Tea fulfils this object better than stimulants ; 
more than this, it satisties some unknown want in 
the system. This refers to Iho moderate use and 
enjoyment of tea, but there is a large class who 
drink an enormous quantity of this beverage, to the 
undoubted impairment oftheir health. 
Those who take it to excess are found principally 
among the poor.* They become pale and bloodless, 
much given to faintness, nervonsness, and depression 
of spirits, and suffer excessively from flatulence and 
loss of appetite. This is no doubt partly due to 
poisons used to colour and adulterate it. One form 
of indigestion caneed by tea deserves special notice, 
as it is commonly observed by medical men: the 
appetite is unimpaired, and no particularly unplea- 
sant seusatiuna are felt after meals ; but almost as 
807n as food is taken it seems to pass out of the 
stomach into the bowels, causing flatulent, colicky 
pains, speedily followed by diarrhcoi. Hence, there 
ii a constant craving for food, and a feeling of sink- 
ing and prostration. 
In moderate quantity, tea exerts a very decidedly 
stimulant aud restorative action on the nervous 
system, whioh is aided by the warmth of the 
infusion, and is particularly useful in over fatigued 
oouditioQS of the system, and under these circum- 
stances it is infinitely preferable to alcoholic drinke, 
Lord Wolsoley considers it is the best drink for ex- 
hausted soldiers after a long march. 
The harmful effects of tea depend a great deal on 
the way it is made. If it ia allowed to infuse too long 
the tannin and other injurious iugredients of even the 
best tea are drawn out and the infusion becomes 
bitter and astringent, and u ipleasant to the taste. 
To make tea properly, the teapot sho jld be warmed, 
and the water poured over the te» immediately it boils. 
Five teaspoonfuls ot pure Ceylon tea should be put 
to each quart of boiling water, and it should draw for 
eight raniutes. Professional teatasters are very par- 
ticular to use only water whioh is f n shly boiled. 
* Whnso sufferings, as describe 1, may bo duo to 
want of nourishing food, maialy, — Ei). T,A. 
