1^8 
THP TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[September i, 1890. 
the farmers will have a bad time of it and there 
■will be very dear money before, the end of th(3 year 
to pay for corn, &c. — Yours truly, 0. S. 
P. S. — The price of silver is creeping up again. 
People are predicting a rise to 60d, which means a 
par exchange. It will be for a time a bad thing for 
the East. Capit.-il invested there during the last ten 
years will be called up and sent back, and people 
will be afraid to send out money at an exchange 
of 2s. , which they may have to get back at Is od 
when the production of silver increases or when the 
demand for American currency is satisfied. Remember 
me kindly to all inquiring friends, especially those 
at the Mount. This climate is at present simply 
detestable. C. S. 
♦ 
QUININE, & c. 
(From C. F. Boehringer <& Saline's Report.) 
Waldhof near Mannheim, July 1st, 1890. 
QUININE during the greater part of last month was very 
quiet and second hand holders accomplished the resolution to 
sell at 12§d per oz. lu course of last week however, the 
market improved. 
In 1880 Dr. Laveran of Paris reported that in Algiers 
he had constantly observed peculiar protozoeio organisms 
(Plasmodium malariae) in the blood of patients suffering 
from malaria fever. This discovery that was much dis- 
puted at the time has recently been confirmed by Dr. F. 
Plehn at the Moabit Hospital in Berlin, who in proof of 
it adduces the treatment of patients with quinine, the 
organisms in question gradually disappearing from the 
blood, and the patients therewith becoming convalescent. 
COCAINE,— Just as In civilised lands general pro.sperity 
is accompanied by increased consumption of spirituous 
drinks, so in Bolivia and Peru the natives under such 
circumstances indulge more largely in coca showing. Such 
has been the case this year. Having got much better 
prices for their wool, the natives have consumed coca 
very freely, and the surplus of leaves for manufacturing 
purposes has consequently been small, and commanded 
high prices. Haw cocaine and cocaine hydrochlorate have 
neverthelss fallen. In lace of the fact referred to, this 
decline cannot be expected to last, and either coca- 
leaves, must become cheaper, or cocaine quotations must 
he and of the former eventuality there is no prespeet 
thatever at present. 
A report in the Revue Chir. ThOr. recommends in case of 
croup the followiug solution 
Cocaine hydrochlorate .. ... 1 part 
Solution of Perchloride of Iron ... 8 „ 
Water ... ... ... 1000 ,, 
A tablespoonful to be taken every two hours. For 
children the quantity of cocaine should be reduced by two 
fifths, and a teaspoonful administered every two hours 
with ice. This remedy removes ihe membranes and renders 
any operation (cauterisation,) unnecessary. — . 
In course of the series of articles summing up the 
observations of European and American physicians con- 
cerning the subsidiary effects of the new remedies, and 
to hich we referred in our April report. Dr. Falk of 
Berlin has since dealt with Antifebriue, Phenacetine and 
Met^acetine. 
ANTIFEBKINE (Acetanilid) the most frequent effectis cya- 
nosis tliat occurs sometimes even after the smallest dose. 
The fall of temperature is often unexpectedly great pro- 
ducing even collapse, especially in typhus patients and 
children. Antifebrine frequently causes violent perspira- 
tion, and in many cases shivering fits. Dnliko autipyrine 
it does not often affect the digestive organs, but on 
the other hand with children produces diarrhoea and in- 
clination to vomit. Dr. Falk notices eleven eases of 
ucuto antifebrine poisoning the symptom.s of which are 
faintness, giddiness, dread of death, palpitation of the heart, 
abdominal jjains, vomiting, shivering fits, unconciousne.ss and 
In some cases delirium. 
PHENACETINE. — Judging by the comparatively few re 
corded observations, the occasional sub.-idiary effects of 
phenacetine are rare and unimportant. The most frequent 
appears to he excessive perspinuimi sometimes accompanied 
by shivering. Cyanosis ami exantliemo also often occur. By 
prolonged treatment witli phenaccliiie, the patient grows so 
far accustomed to it that largo doses become ncialful, and tliese 
are by no loetuis free from ilanger. 
.VIET)I ACEITNE is closely related to I’heiiac.efiiie, hat 
its subsidiary effects are iiiucli ii ore d is isreeablo. It 
occasions most violent perspiration, aid as ol'leii remarked 
at till; -sine time also collapse and cyanosis, and great 
caution should thereloro be obeerved iu pioscril lag it. 
THE NEW JAPANESE MINISTER OF 
AGRICULTURE AND THE TEA-MEN. 
Mr. Mutsu has made it very plain to the tea- 
men who were so fortunate as to obtain a subsidy 
of 200,000 yen from the late Minister of Agri- 
culture and Commerce, that he is not at all dis- 
posed to pursue the policy of official interference 
with trade. These gentlemen, probably feeling 
doubtful about the permanency of such a favour, 
sought an interview with Mr. Mutsu and asked 
what opinions he entertained on the subject, where- 
upon, according to the J//i Shimpo, the new Minis- 
ter told them that he was entirely opposed to 
official meddling with tradal concerns, and that, 
entertaining such views, he proposed, if not to 
cancel, certainly to greatly alter the Tea Company’s 
charter. Subsidies and bounties were all very well, 
he explained, as means of giving a vigorous impulse 
to some particular enterprise and putting money 
into the pockets of favoured persons. But the 
impulse could only be temporary, while the inevitable 
consequence of such a system was to interfere with 
and check the sound development of trade, since 
the enjoyment of official assistance and protection 
by one set of traders effectually strangled compe- 
tition on the part of men not similarly favoured, 
and thus, instead of encouraging private enterprise, 
official aid was ultimately fatal to it. With respect 
to the sum of two hundred thousand yen which 
bad been granted to the Company and lodged for 
the uses of their business in the Bank of Japan, 
Mr. Mutsu explained that of course no question 
could be raised. But he told them that he should 
not disapprove of their placing the money with 
some sound bank where good interest was procura- 
ble. The tea-men have accordingly decided, we read, 
to transfer the money to the First and Third National 
Banks, where 7 per cent, is given on fixed deposits. 
They will thus be in receipt of an income of 
14,000 yen annually, which, they expect, will meet 
their requirements.— /apaa Weekly Mail. 
ME. A. SCUTT BLACKLAW ON BRAZIL. 
Eao Paulo Eevisited. 
DOM PEDRO SEGUNDO RAILWAV STATION — FASHIONABLE 
DRESSES — EMANCIPATION— DEPARTURE OP TRAIN : 
LEAVE-TAKING— COPFEE — BEAUTIFUL P.EBIDENCEB — 
WANT OF CULTIVATION— GRAND SCENERY OP THE 
SERBE DO M.AR PASS — A 100 MILE NAVIGABLE EIVER — 
COFFEE DISEASE IN THE CAMPOS DIBTEICT — METRE 
GAUGE LINES — LEOPOLDINO RAILWAY COMPANY — EX- 
PRESS TRAIN— Eao PAULO TRAIN — MINAS AND BIO 
RAILWAY COMPANY — IN CACHOEIBA— CANE AND COFFEE 
-FROM BROAD TO NARROW GAUGE — COMFORTABLE RAIL- 
WAY CARRIAGES — BROAD AND NARROW GAUGE LINES — 
ABANDONED COFFEE ESTATES — A CENTRAL SUGAR FAC- 
TORY- JAWBBEAKING NAMES OF STATIONS — A CONCES- 
SION FOR A RAILWAY LINE — BITUMINOUS SHALE — SaO 
PAULO STATION — HOTEL DE PRANCE — CONVERSATION ON 
"GOOD OLD TIMES.’’ 
One reason of my long silence is that I have been 
for some time almost out of the bounds of civiliza- 
tion in the interior of Minas Geraes. 
I started from Eio one cool September morning 
— the day just breaking when I got on to a tram- 
way car which was to convey its load of passen- 
gers to the Dom Pedro Segundo railway station, 
for a train which was to leave for the Capital of 
the Province of S- Paulo at 6 a.m. 
Arriving some half-an hour before the time for 
tho train leaving, one had time to enjoy a cup of 
warm black coffee, made with a strength which 
one only finds in Brazil — milk there was in abun- 
