THE TROPICAL AQRIGULTU RIST 
June i, 1891. 
852 
The Tale [Tail ?] of a Fishing Cat.— The 
rciUtuks ui the R-v. Dr. btewart, (huw Dr. 
Mtcpherson ” came lo be imtrpo ated is n puzzle,) 
on Mr. Godfrey J. Maoleod’s Hiter on cats, (see 
Literary Register, extract from Inverness Courier ) are 
intertsting 'aod erudite as the *• Nether Loohaber ” 
contributions to the Courier as first and so^ ioog 
conducted by Oamuheis and now by Barton,* have 
been for the past forty years or so. As a 
contribution to the curious points in natural history 
discussed, — the strong aversion of the cat to w iter 
and how the animal’s penchant for fish sometimes 
overcomes this aversion, 1 may recall a case from 
my reading. It is that of a eat which, in order 
to secure a dainty dish in the shape of shrimps, ! 
regularly fished for them. She placed her tail in 
the waters of a mill-dam and when it was pretty 
well covered with crustaceans, bent on devouring 
it, w'hisked them out on the grass and ate them at 
her leisure. 
The “Kittul” Palm of Ceylon, so valuable 
to the natives of the Bouth- Western and Central 
portions of the island, from the richness of the 
juice of its flower spathea in sugar, we have always 
regarded as not only curious but remarliaoly hand- 
some in its scolloped foliage. Tho American pub- 
lication “Garden and Forest,’’ dealing with palms 
for conservatories, has the following passage ; — 
Some of the “Fish-tail Palms” or Oaryota.s sre yery 
useful and highly ornamental as small aiidmedium- 
siz.d phmtg, though they rapidly attain such prot-or- 
tious, when under suitable treatmeut, that they are 
not suited for all co’iiection?. Of tie Caryotas the 
most common and easiest to procure are G. wens aud 
O. soholifera, boih of which are good aud also easy to 
manage, as they germinate fiom teed readily and in 
a short time and make rapid growth. 
Ouryota wens throws up its handsome leaves on 
strong stems, aud in a large p^aut they sometimes 
reach a length of twelve feet or more. The leaves 
are bipinnate, which is an unusual characteristic among 
Pr.lms, and the pinnules aie more or less wedge-shaptd 
being from six to eig'nt inohes in length and about 
ball that measurement in width. The ends of the 
pinnules are erosc, this giving them an odd appear- 
ance aud readily suggesting the common appellation 
of “Fish-tail Palm,” while the culor of the loaf is 
dark green. Another peculiarity of C. amis is the 
manner in which it flowers, though this process does 
not begin uulil the plant has attained its full size. It 
beeins to flower from the centra of the top of the 
ste'm. after which the fljwer-sp kes are produced m 
succession do wnwanl neaily to the base of the trunk 
untilthevitalityol the plant is exhausted. The seed.s 
are somewhat larger than a Bush Bean, dark brown m 
color and quite hard, this description applying to the 
seed proper after the outer fleshy rind has been re- 
moved. G. soholifera is also a fire plant, and is more 
dwart in growth than the preceding. It also has 
hipinnate leaves, which are bright green in color, auc. 
as it throws up suckers at the ha e of the piant it 
naturaliy has a n.oro busby habit, than 0. vrens. Otfier 
go 1(1 I epresentatives of tbis genus are C.furfiiiacea and 
C. Ilurnpldana, both of which are go.d decorative 
Palms. Acanthorrhiza stav.racantlia, sometimes known 
a.s Chaiaarops stanracaiilha, is another fine Palm which 
will f-ucci ed in a moderato temperature. It has pal- 
mai’c b aves, deeply divided and dark green ah' ve 
wh'ilo the under side is covered with a silvery tomeu- 
tuu) A distinguishing friitiireof this pl.iiit is the mass 
ofroot-liko spines winch lurround its base, and froni 
which its generic name is durivud. It is a native of 
JSIc.'iico, and tliongh not yet very common, has been 
in cultivalion for msny yoars. 
• I was onco in ncgcoia'i ion with this g ntlcman for 
employ mi nt in CMintclicn with the Ceylon Observer, 
which was terminatfd by ii.y good Oar- 
rnlhers wisdy making ii. bolter worlb Mr. Barren s 
wnilo to remain in conuecliou with the paper of which 
he is now editor. 
Gold Mine in JAP.t.N.— The Mimpo says th t gold 
has been discovered at Naganoyaina, of Kjtomo- 
mura, in Iwate Prefecture. The vein is said to be 
about four miles in lei gib, and an analysis of the 
ore gives 0‘4, per cent, ol pure gold. Pe.'mission to 
work the mine has been applied for. It this story 
be true, a deposit of very exceptional value has 
been found. An analy.sis in the laboratory would, 
of course, give a greater percentage of gold than 
the quantity obtainable by ordinary mining machi- 
nery. But a yield of a quarter of an ounce per 
ton — or one part in every one hundred aud forty 
thousand, approximately— is considered sufficient 
now-a-days lo justify the working of a gold mine, 
and, Compared wi h this, four parts, or even one 
part, in a thousand is something altogether out of 
the common. It will be interesting to learn some 
further particulars about the Iwate vein, if, indeed, 
it has auy existence in fact. — Japan Weekly Mail- 
How THE Current Price of Silver is Fixed. — 
Bradstreet’s devotes an article in a recent is;ue to 
a description of the mschaniLm by which the trade 
in silver bullion is conducted, and the price of 
silver fixed, especially in the United States. The 
bulk of American silver comes from a number of 
large smelt ng works, some of which are associated 
with the mines. The usual practice, however, is to 
purchase the ore on an assay value. After smelting, 
the bullion comes out usually in large oblong slabs, 
with an ave,rngo weight of 1,000 oz., which are 
known as commercial cars. A silver m.uket p>^>’ 
se does nvo exist. Over 90 per cent, of the silver 
produced iu the country passes through the hands 
of a few banks and firms, which make it their 
special business, in New York and San Francicco. 
In fact, three or four houses monopolise the greater 
part of the trade, and to them the silver is con- 
Bign-?d for sale by the mining and smelting com- 
panies. They dispose of it in the market to the 
Government (whose purchases under the late silver 
law are now of great importance), ship it abroad, 
or buy it themselves. 'The stock is believed never 
to he very large, and even during the recent silver 
agitation was not much more than from 6,0ij0,0b0 
to 7 000,000 cz. Bars weighing 1,000 cz. on the 
av rage, are usually -999 fine, and all transactions 
in them are on this basis, which is the standard 
of the United States coinage, A number of bars 
go to the Assay Office to no converted into assay 
oars, which are thin bricks of silver weighing 200 
oz. each, and bearing the official stamp of weight 
and fineness. These are in demand by silversmiths 
on account of the guarantee of the stamp. The 
bullion shipped to Europe is in the form of com- 
mercial bars, which are simply carted to the steamer 
and there placed, unpacked, in the treasure-room. 
It is quite unusual to pack silver with the care 
that is bestowed on gold. The bars also form the 
bulk of the stock held in New York. The price 
of silver in the market represents the price at which 
it can actually be sold for export or commercial 
purposes, and is the selling quotation of the leading 
bullion dealers. Until recently Ihe New York price 
was fixed with relation to the price in London, 
which is fixed by a few houses and banks specially 
conversant with the business, having regard to rates 
of Indian exchange and the demand from other 
countries. But lately speculation in silver bullion 
certificates in Nrw York has caused silver thereto 
have a special and speculative pi ice which is to 
somo extent independent of the London market. 
The English standard of fineness is ‘925, so that 
American prices represent an allowance for this 
diil'erenoQ of ‘075 iu fineness, as well as fer the rate 
of exchange, which may vary from day to day. — 
O. Mail, April 3rd. 
