March i, 1892] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
687 
a healthy and tasteful plant. The deep valley of 
Assam, vv-here a mighty river flooded through track- 
less jungles, became a smiling garden, where hundreds 
of Europeans and thousands of Natives lived and 
worked constantly through the years, and the tea 
plant blossomed abundantly. Year by year the 
cultivation spread, until it reached even to Ceylon. 
The Coffee planters in that beautiful island looked 
on in amazement, and saw the tea trade coming 
from China to India. Then, in 1876, there came a 
failure of the coffee crop, and Ceylon figured in the 
market with its tea. 
Now come two or three hard facts. In the midst of 
the struggles of the Indian plant to get a hold in our 
market, the Chinese methods of adulteration reached 
a maximum. Some of the methods adopted were 
simply poisonous, and others were startling from 
their very audacity. One sample analysed in London 
gave the results of 40 per cent, of iron filings and 
19 per cent, of silica. The adulterations were truly 
shocking and the Customs authorities found power 
to examine all imports and to control such things 
within what might be called reasonable limits. 
Then the planters of India went to work on a 
scientific basis, and raised good tea, sending the 
unadulterated leaves to our market. But Englishmen 
are slow to change. Habits once acquired grow to the 
tenacity of religious beliefs, and the adulterated 
China products held their own in our market for 
many a day. Then came the wise men who saw 
what was required. 
It is amusing to note the manner in which Indian 
tea has stolen in on us, in spite of ourselves. Take 
L/iverpool as an example. A shrewd man saw that 
the Cninese tea could be "blended" with Indian 
tea, to make a pleasant beverage. He taught the 
grocers how to do it, and a revolution was effected — 
or is being effected — on purely evolutionary methods. 
The public liked t)ie new blend well, for the Indian 
teas are strong, and the Chinese teas are weak, and 
an ounce of Indian tea will make almost as much 
good liquor as two ounces of Chinese tea, and so 
the grocers found it to their advantage to use the 
new imports. Slowly we change ; slowly the planters 
change; slowly the trade changes. But all is 
changing. Tlie Indian tea gardeners are usine hy- 
brid plants, crosses, between Indian and Chinese. 
English people' are drinking hybrid teas, and we 
are all slowly learning to appreciate the good qualities 
of the wonderful liquor which the old woman so 
mysteriously sold in the Chinese market place so long 
ago. It would not be surprising to find a school 
opened soon, to teach the girls of the artisan class 
how to make tea. It would be worth doing, f t 
the liquor of the evergreen tree is marvellous in its 
quality, and the smell of the " tea-cans" of working 
men makes one shudder. We import good tea, but 
only the few know how to brew it. Good China tea 
conies to us, but only the rich use it. Indian tea 
is coming to us in ever increasing volume. 
To look over the returns of the tea traders today 
gives one a start of surprise. Statistics are not as 
a rule good reading, but the meaning of the stati- 
stics of the tea men lies so close to the surface, 
that they are interesting to all. The figures here 
quoted aro not for the entire year, only for the 
months between January 1 and September ,30 ; but 
they show two things, first the enormous impor- 
,tation of tea ; second, the direction of the trade. 
CHINESE IMPORTATION, IN POUNDS. 
1888. 1889. 1890. 
148,426,476 .. 133,843,124 ... 139,887,122 
INDIAN IMl'OHXATION, IN POUNDS. 
1888. 1889. 1890. 
GG,9r),';,.''.07 .. 75,369,060 .. 89,133,628 
The steady increase in the latter figures is sug- 
gestive. Ono more statement, and I must close for 
today. The amount of tea imported into Liverpool 
in ono year is about throe million pounds, and careful 
moil have calculated tliat tliis means an average 
consumption of 80 ounces per head, per annum. It 
will be found on examination, lluit most people 
consume a deal more than that ; but llie estimate 
certainly errs on the sido of moderation, and may, 
therefore, be accepted by all parties. The more tea 
people drink, the less intoxicants they will require ; 
and the sooner we have classes to teach how to use 
tea to the best advantage, the better it will be for 
us all. — Madras 'J'imc':. 
DONATIONS TO THE PHARMACEUTICAL 
SOCIETY'S MUSEUM. 
BY E. M. HOLMES, P.LS., CURATOR. 
JAVA. 
Some months since, at the time that Professor 
Dunstan was investigating some of the wood be- 
lieved to be the product of Celtis reficuhna, - a 
specimen of which had been handed to him from 
the Hanbury collection, I wi'ote to the Director 
of the Java Botanic Garden to inqure, 1st, if 
several other trees which were known to the Malays 
by the same or a similar name had the same pecu- 
liar foecal odour or were likely to contain the same 
principle, skatole ; 2nd, if it would be possible to 
send for the Society's Herbarium specimens in fruit 
of the plants yielding the various false cubebs that 
have entered into commerce; ,Srd, if anything was 
known of the trees producing the Penang and 
Palembang benzoins of commerce, which differ in 
physical characters and odour, and are probably 
obtained from different species of <S'^///n./; ; 4th, 
if the method of preparing the beautiful bright 
red dragon's blood in sticks from Pontianak 
was known. Some of the last named product 
was exhibited at the Paris Exhibition in 1878, 
and was considered by an artist to whom I 
showed it to be of sufficient value as a colour for 
inquiry to be made, if it could be regularly ob- 
tained in commerce. In reply to these inquiries 
I received, a few weeks ago, the following speci- 
mens and the accompanying letter from Dr. M. 
Treub, the Director of the Government Botanic 
Gardens in Java. 
" Dear Sir, — I have the pleasure to inform yon 
the despatch of a wooden case containing the fol- 
lowing objects for your Museum: — 
" 1. Several pounds of ki-taai or kayoe taai 
from Java. [Preanger Regencies.] (A beautiful 
drawing of tlie ('e/^t.s- rcticulosa accompanied this 
specimen.) 
" 2. Dried herbarium specimens of Cuheh^k 
moUissiiiia, C caiiiiia and C. qf)ici>ialiii, with dried 
fruits and fruits from the latter in spirit. 
" 2. Benzoin [Palembang I as sold at Java. 
"4. A piece of the wood of iSti/rax Beiiann, with 
the benzoin on the surface of the bark and a dried 
specimen of the plant. 
" Dragon's blood from Borneo. 
''(a) Djernang-koekoe, 3 pipes of dragon's blood 
with a fruit. 
"(h) Djernang-mandai, 8 fruits in a little box. 
"(c) Djernang beroewang, 3 fruits. 
"(d) Three cakes of dragon's blood wrapped in 
leaves. 
"(c) Two flat cakes of the same not wrapped in 
leaves. 
" (f) A small piece of dragon's blood said to be quite 
pme. [in a box]. 
" ((j) Dragon's blood from Sumatra. 
"The ki-taai or kayoe taai had been found to be the 
wood of deltis rcticulosa. 
" Dr. Gustroft', who made a study on the subject, 
informs me that all the other plants said to yield 
skatole {J'rcimia cori/iiihosa, I'rciana foefida, tSaiirosina 
urliorcuni] do not contain it. They are only called 
ki-taai [stinkwoodj by the Javanese because tiiey all 
smell very bad. 
" As to the origin of the false cubebs sent to m^v^ ant 
sorry to say that they are not known to me CKCf.pt the 
' keboe-cubebs,' which seems to be th?- fruit of 
Calicha iiiolli.'isiiiia, Miq. [Miquel comnievktatio de vera 
pipero cubebe Leiden, 1838— 1839]. I believe t\^ts 
others aro not from here. 
" From the benzoin enclosed in the case together with, 
the dried specimen of tho plant yielding it, you will see 
lliat there is no dift'orencc as to the botanical origin he-^ 
twccn tho Paleanbany and i'ouiui^- viuiutios. Tho euf- 
