January i, 1891.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 
503 
and the whole bo'lod. I have found this decoction | 
check the complaiot at once. 
A useful pi'ep iratiou for allayine: vomiting and putt- 
ing in children i^ the following. Onrry leaves, tamaiiud, 
neem, country gooseberry, morinda, of each one ounce, 
sweet flag and igwaiu, of each one drachm, watei' t n 
ouuoes. The dose of this is half an ounce twice a day. 
Thfi ijreon leaves rubbetl up to a puste a'ul inixeu wifu 
buifa' 0’3 tyre (butter-milk) have been given with sue- 
cess in adult dysenteric cases. The drie I leaves enter 
into a compound powder largely used ss an astrin 'ent. 
The seven articles are as follows, with their botanical, 
English, and Tamil names. 
lilurravd Curry leaves 
dried 
Ilango seeds 
Karuvepillai. 
Manyifava Indica 
Solauum %iuhescens 
TrigontUa Futnnm- 
yrotcuin 
Phyllcwthus Em- 
hlica 
Feronia 
turn 
Caruin 
Equal 
elejihciii- 
copticnm 
Feenugreek 
Country 
gooseberry 
Wood apple 
Manga palavirai. 
Soonilay kavathu. 
Veudayam. 
Nelli-kai. 
Velampalam. 
Omum. 
Omum 
pans of these diugs are finely powderel sepa- 
rately and then niised. 'Jhedose lor cbildri-n n 3 to 
5 griiins in honey, and for adults 15 to 30grar,s in 
buffalo’s tyre. This powder is much resorted to by 
native physicians in the treatment of dyspetic di- 
a-rheea of children attended with flatulency. It is 
very singular that native doctors, ignorant as they ore 
of the therapeutic action of medicine, never co nbine 
opium or other narcotic prep u-ation in their administra- 
tion of remedies in diseases of children. 
D". Roxburgh mentions that the bark and root of 
the plant under reference are applied externa ly to 
cure eruptions and the wounds made by the bites of 
animals. A decoction of the leaves is used i i fever 
mixtures, mixed with other aromit cs and blt’ers. 
A clear transparent yellow oil is sometimes ex'racted 
from the sc-ds and is known as Simaholee od, ^ 
A chemical examiua’iou of the leaves hi.sbeen mu’e 
by Mr. .T. G. Pr. bble, and will be found in tlie Fharma- 
cographia Jmlica, vol. i., p. 263.263. From tho analysis 
it appears that ihe loaves yield to distillations n small 
quairtity <f volatile oil resembling that obtained from 
the leaves of Mannelos. Ether extractel Tip r 
cent, of resinous m.atder, and a furthnr quantity wis 
removed by alcohol. Tho re.dn was greenish b'ack in 
colour, araoruhous, and froely solubls in chloroform, 
bisulphide of carbo'i, benzol and amylic alcohol, le.ss 
soluble ill glacial acetic acid, and petroleum etber, and 
almost insolube in ecetic ether. It gave an emerald 
green coloration with sulphuric acid, and yielded picrio 
acid when oxMized by nitric acid. The aqueous solu- 
tions of the i ihereal and alcoholic extracts contained 
an acid principle darkened by iron salts, but not 
precipitated by gelatine. The bitterness of the leay. s 
is due to a glucoside provisionally named Kmiigin, 
The crystals were sp.aringly soluble in water and 
alcobo', and the solution was precipitated by tannin 
lead acetate, and feuoso-ferrio salt, but not by alkaloidul 
reagents. — Fharmaceuticid Journal. 
RRITISH GROWN TEA. 
To THE Editor oe the “ Manchester Courier. ” 
f 5 ir, — It is said, and truly said, of a great living 
oiator, that be made stitistics eloquent. He so well 
understood and so dexterously employed the fine art of 
language that the hum hum figures of a Budget were 
bright and fresh and full of pleasant surprises. 'We 
wish we knew the secret of making attractive the 
figures which, with yonr kind permission, we would lay 
before your numerous readers. To bespeak their in- 
ten st in OUT statis 'cs wo wou'd state l>v «ay of in- 
troduction that there fi:rur. B claim attention, because 
they affect the n ader’s pockot. They alsa touch 
another equally susceptible spot— the pa'ate, and they 
a'so appeal to his patriotism. As the last remark may 
excite surprise, we at once explain, ft is the object 
of these figures to show to what a large extent tho 
British tea diitiker has already deserted China, to 
confirm him in that course, to urge him to deal 
Huothir blow at that collapsing trade; to show that 
by a continuance of this preference for Indian and 
Ceylon teas he will be immensely assisting his coiin- 
t ymen, who are tea planting and tea farming in those 
great dopeudencii s. That’s where the patriotism 
comes in. Support your colonial fellow-countrymen, 
who 01 ) the hiihides of Assam and the Chingalese 
v.illeya are bri ging science and method to bear — as 
well ns compromising their livers — in order to send you 
toa wliich, as many British housewives are fully aware, 
is not only ^^lperio^ iu flavour to China tea, but keeps 
its flavour much better. The almond-eyed Ah Sin 
does not send you his best tea. He never did. He 
has always usi d at home far better tea than he sells 
us. Thanks to our Anglo-Indian planters, John China- 
man’s b^st is now more than equalled by Indian tea 
at less momy. The China tea grower is in a bad 
way. He finds himself itr.plac.ibly thrust aside. Slung 
by the thought of a ruined industry, he promises to 
mend his w.iys. Trust him not. He will fool you 
again if you give him the chanc '. Now for the figures : — 
111 16'38, for the first time, this country received more 
tea from India and Oe.vlon than from Chira. Go 
back 35 years to 1834. Tho quantity of Cliina tea 
used in Great Britain was nearly 62,000,000 pounds, 
and the quantity' of China tea used iii 1889 in 
Great Bii'ain was just ov. r 61,000,000 lb. In 1854 
h.owe'er, the 62,000,000 lb. represented our total 
c uisuaiiitioi), as China was our so’e source of supply. 
But in 1880 wo used 185,000,000 lb., of which India 
s ipplicd 96,000,000 lb., and Ceylon 28,000,000 lb. 
Or to put I . in another form. Of this 185,000,000 lb. 
cousumod in 1889, India supplied 52 per cent, Ceylon 
15 per emt, and Clrna only 33 per cent. The first six 
mon lis of 1890, 1st January to 30th June, show a 
further dfcliu ' of Cbiua ten, a further increase in con- 
s iinp'ion of British grown te?, the figures being — 
ludibii 54 per cent, Ceylon 16 pr r cent, an 1 China only 
30 p r coot. The exports from China this season to 
OjIo or 30th are more than 25 per cent less than in 
1889. The quantity of lea used amutally per head 
of populalinu in Grtat Britain shows 'he f llowing in- 
cre.ase: 1849. 1'81; 1859, 2 67; 1869, 3 63; 1879, 4 68; 
1889, 4’9l. Note how small is the iiicre se iu total 
cousump ion during the 10 yrats 1879-89 when cora- 
parod wi'h the preceding decades. Indeed it is cal- 
lulated that during the last seven yeais the average 
CO sumption per head of populition has remained 
stationary. This fact is naturally regarded with 
lueful eyes by Chancellors of the Exchequer, but 
it a' mils of a siniplj and satishretory explanation. 
There is no decline in tbe demind for tea. This 
would be abundantly demonstrated if the number of 
gallons or cups of tea could be a'ceitained ns easily as 
the weight of tea. Indian and Ceylon being so much 
stroi ger than China tea a greater number of cups can 
he m ide from the same weight of tea. Indian tea more 
< specially possesses that quality quaintly described by 
an old Irishv Oman as “ taking a powerful grip of the 
second wathi r.” The secret then of the enormous and 
year'y increasing popularity of the Indian tea may be 
loiiiid ini's economy, in its absolute purity, and its 
exquisite flavour. It is also free from those deleterious 
<)iialities which sometimes produce so unpleasant an 
effect after drinking China tea. P,- ople find that in- 
steail of using the same ejuantity fora brew that they 
woul I of China tea, halt the quantity is sometimes 
more than suffieieiit. It has been calculated that the 
British public, while cousum'ug a larger number of 
gallons of ti a in 1888, saved iu that year £1,000,000 
tlirougli using Indian lea instead of the weaker and 
le.ss carefu l} cultivated article. In China tea culture 
has become desultory, carelers, unfcieiitific. In India 
tea is better grown, better maiiufautured, and vigilance, 
method, .science, are having Ihtir natural reward. 
It is true that having fairly distanced China as u 
competitor, some complaints have arisen that tbe 
Indian tea industry is not at the moment so promising 
