September i, 1890 O 
THE TROPICAL AtlRIcmLTUmST. 
203 
The temperature as well as the humidity of the 
atmosphere must have an important influence in in- 
creasing or retarding the chemical action set up after 
rolling. Again in regard to firing it is quite possible 
that over-firing many render a considerable portion 
of the tannin insoluble, and so reduce the propor- 
tion of available tannin in the made tea, causing it to 
have less strength than it otherwise would have had. 
I understand from Mr. Leake that reliable samples of 
Ceylon tea from well known estates could easily be 
obtained in London together with the actual market 
value of same, so that there would be no necessity 
to send samples from Ceylon more especially as such 
samples would not represent the bulk delivered this 
side, so perfectly as samples expressly drawn for 
market purposes on arrival. 
If the Association should desire to have such 
a series of determinations of tannin made 
I may mention that the expenses would not 
be great, and I should make the analyses at a spe- 
cially low rate of charge for the members of your Asso- 
ciation. — Awaiting your reply, believe me, dear sir, 
yonr’s faithfully, (Signed) John Hughes. 
THE TOMATO-CURE FOR DYSPEPSIA. 
Don’t talk to me of colocynth or famed cerulean pill. 
Don’t mention hyoscyamus or aloes when I’m ill ; 
The very word podophyllin is odious in mine ears. 
The thought of all the drugs I ’ve ta ’en calls up the blinding 
tears : 
The Demon of Dyspepsia, a sufferer writes to say. 
At sight of the Tomato-plant will vanish quite aivay. 
The Faculty will diet you till indigestion stops, 
On what have always seemed to me interminable slops : 
A dainty dish is sure to be the worst thing yon can eat ; 
The bismuth and the charcoal come like nightmares after meat. 
Away with all restrictions now. bring mutton, beef, and veal, 
As long as ripe Tomatoes come to supplement a meal. 
Hepatic action, doctors say, is very hard to start. 
Anil if you liave too much of it, that also makes you smart ; 
.And so 'the fate of many folks, especially in town, 
Is tirst to stir the liver up, and then to calm him down. 
Now he can 1 rouble us no more, although we go the pace ; 
A diet of Tomatoes keeps the tyrant in his place. 
Away with doletorions drugs, for hero’s a plant been found. 
Worth all the weird concoctions that dispensers can com))oimd: 
Get fri'sii Tomatoes, rod and ripe, and slice and oat, and then — 
Yon ’ll llnil lliat you are liver-less, and not like other men. 
Gome ye who dire dyspepsia.s's pangs impatiently endure, 
it cannot hurt, and may do good, this new Tomato-Cure. 
— Punch. 
♦ 
INSECT PESTS: THE HELOPELTIS PESTS 
OF CEYLON CACAO AND INDIAN TEA. 
Vol. 1, No. 4, Indian Museum Notes, edited 
by Mr. Cotes, possesses a painful interest, in its 
very full and copiously and carefully illustrated 
descriptions of the species of Helopeltis so des- 
tructive to cacao in Ceylon and to tea in India. 
In Ceylon, as yet, we have happily escaped the 
prevalence of “ mosquito blight ” on our tea, and 
we trust the exemption may continue, for it is 
deplorable to read of the ravages of this species 
of Helopeltis in India, where the crops of tea are 
on some estates reduced by one half or more by 
the tapping and sucking operations on leaves and 
stems of swarms of the insects. No fewer than 
.’5 pages of the number we are noticing are taken 
up with Mr. E. T. Atkinson’s paper on the genus 
Helopeltis. Leaders specially interested ought to 
obtain copies of the Calcutta publication. For the 
information of our readers we reproduce the en- 
graving of Helopeltis theivora, in its various stages, 
with the characteristic horn shewn separately. We 
also quote some of the most interesting portions 
of the Kxt: — 
Khvnciiota. Bv E. T. Atkinson, ; a., c.s., o.i.e. 
Mosquito Blight. 
In this paper, referenne is made principally to the 
species of tliu genus Helopeltis ol the family Uapeidu:, 
to the sub-order Hemiptera-Heteroptera of 
the Rbynchota. The genus comprises the insects so 
well known as the 'mosquito blight’ in .Assam and 
Sikkim, as the ‘roest’ or ‘rust’ in Java, and under similar 
names wherever the tea plant is cultivated. Species 
of this genus have been reported from the Philippine 
IslBnds, Java, the Eastern Archipelago, Ceylon and 
India, and are of considerable economical interest from 
the ravages that they commit. It was my intention 
to prepare a monograph of the entire genus, but this 
could only be done with fresh materials, and it appears 
to be desirable to summarise here what is known 
regarding the genus, and ask those interested to for- 
ward fresh specimens in weak alcohol for a fuller 
descriiition of the species. 
Genus Helopewis, SignoreU 
Ann. Soc. Ent. France ( 3 s.), vi, p. 602 (1858). 
I''*’'**! joint of the antennse as long as the head and 
the pronotum taken together, second joint longest, 
joints short : scutellum with a spine on the disc: 
side of the abdomen reaching beyond the hemelytra. 
S'gnoret placed this genus in the subdivision ‘unieel- 
lules,’ formed to contain those genera in which the 
membrane has but a single cellule the head transverse 
and truncate beyond the eyes, the antennse long and 
slender, ocelli wanting, and the pronotum narrowed 
anteriorly. The division to which apnarently 
belongs is represented in Central America by Distant’s 
Taldasaria’ (Biol. Cen. Am. Hem., p. 242). 
Then comes a notice of Helopeltis antonii, Signoret:— 
Black varied with red : head black, rostrum yello- 
wish : antennse black, yellow at the base : pronotum 
and pectus sanguineous ; scutellum red, spine yellow 
cup-shaped at the apex ! hemelytra brown-yellowish 
deeper at the base than at the apex, median portion 
transparent ; abdomen yellow, with a basal spot and 
apex, black ; feet black : femora nodulose, the first pair, 
“ .Vellow ring at the base, intermediate pair of 
a lighter colour, varied with yellow : last pair with 
g ring at the apex (Sicpi.) Long, 11 broad, 
A description by Waterhouse of specimens received 
by him from Oeylon is given, and we quote thus : — 
Reported from Cevlon. Dr. Trimen, in Nature for 
October 23rd and December 25th, 1884 (Vol. xxxi, p. 
172), remarks that this species is found on the cacao 
and is its only formidable enemy. In the same Journal 
for October 30th. 1884. Mr. W. L. Distant states that 
^ad received from Ceylon mutilated specimens of 
a Reduviid which doubtless occurred with the Capsid 
H. antonii, easily known by its nodulose femora and 
the spine on the scutellum. The Reduviid. however, 
probably feeds on the Capsid, and from its similar 
iorm_ and size may be confounded with the really 
injurious insect, so that in taking measures against 
the Reduviid should be spared. 
Next comes a description of Helopeltis bradyi, 
Waterhouse. 
Mr. Waterhouse obtained this species from Java, 
where it was reported to have done much mischief on 
the t iDcbona plantations. 
Next we get Helopeltis niger. Walker. Then 
follows Helopeltis hraconiforniis, Walker, reported 
from New Guinea. 
Helopeltis fehriculosa, Bergroth. 
This species was found amongst a number ol His- 
phiactus humeralis, Walker, sent by me to Dr. Bergroth 
for identification. All were collected on the Cinchona 
plantations at Mungphu in Sikkim by Mr, Gammie, 
where this species was found on Cinchona calisaya, 
and occasionally on Cinchona succ'irubra. It has not 
occurred yet in sufficient numbers to do much damage ; 
but as it belongs to the same genus as the destruc- 
tive ‘Mosquito pest’ of the tea, its operations should 
be carefully watched. H. fehriculosa |is allied to H. 
theveora. Waterh,, but is distinguished by the erect, 
very Iittle_ curved scutellar horn ; in H. theivora, $ , 
the horn is much curved : this difference, however, 
appears to ho merely of, varietal importance. 
