Acg.  I,  1895.] 
THE  TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST 
133 
we  should  recommend  tlie  |>reference  to  be  “iven 
to  tl'e  best  cements  im])orted  to  the  exclusion 
of  any  attempt  to  utilize  local  material.  At 
the  8,'ime  time  we  should  be  glad  to  bear  from 
corre.spondents  who  may  be  aware  if  the  mag- 
nesia limestone  we  have  mentioned,  and  wbicb 
some  believe,  to  be  limited  to  the  Jatfna  Peninsula, 
is  to  be  found  elsewhere  in  the  island. 
THE  AMSTERDAM  CINCHONA  TRADE  IN 
THE  FIRST  HALF  OF  1895. 
June  20. 
Daring  the  first  h.ilf  of  1893  five  public  sales  of 
cinchona-bark  have  been  held  in  Amsterdam,  the 
following  being  the  quantities  of  bark  offered  at 
them : — 
.1  an  21 
Feb  -28 
April  1 
May  9 
.Tune  13 
Bark  wliicli'  had  been 
offered  previou.sly 
(packages)  2,131 
3,282 
3,051 
1,319 
2,-2S7 
New  lots  (packages)  5,335 
1,906 
2,755 
1,563 
3,401 
Total  7,766 
8,188 
5,306 
5,903 
5,691 
Average  per  cent 
sulpnate  of  quinine  1’63 
4 '85 
1-91 
5-10 
5-00 
It  will  be  seen  that,  out  of  a 
total 
of  33,353 
pack- 
ages,  fully  one  third  has  been  offered  more  than 
once — a circumstance  which,  although  intrinsically 
of  little  importance,  has  contributed  to  intensify  the 
ah-eady  depressed  condition  of  the  market.  The  bark 
offered  consisted  of  the  following  varieties  : — 
Kilos 
C Succirubra 
C Ledgeriana 
C Schuhkraft 
C Officinalis 
Hybrids,  &c 
101,635 
2,606,560 
2,207 
29,032 
310,717 
3,0.50,187 
It  deserves  attention  that  druggists’  berks  of  really 
fine  quality  are  steadily  becoming  scarcer,  the  Go- 
vernment druggists’  barks  especially  having  fallen 
off  greatly  in  respect  to  appearance.  The  richest 
parcel  of  bark  offered  during  the  half-year  was  one 
of  1.3  bales  broken  stem-quill  of  C Ledgeriana.  It  re- 
presented 13-0.3  per  cent  of  sulphate  of  quinine.  The 
average  richness  of  the  manufacturers’  barks  was 
4'88  percent.  The  total  quantity  of  sulphate  of  quinine 
in  the  bark  at  the  five  first  auctions  of  the  last  five  years 
has  been — 
1895  1891  1893  1892  1801 
kilos  kilos  kilo.s  kilos  kilos 
143,237  96,1.58  98,809  77,819  56,609 
The  division  of  the  bark  by  weight,  according  to  the 
percentage  of  quinine  represented  by  it,  was — 
Per  cent  1-2  2-3  3-4  1-5  .5-6 
Kilos  23,985  235,612  .591,77  897,514  712,235 
Percent  6-7  7-8  8-9  O'lo  10  and  over 
Kilos  407,017  110,080  11,800  16,113  .(,230 
The  following  figures  show  the  exports  from  .Java  ui 
the  last  four  years  in  Amsterdan  lb.  (about  half-kilo 
each) ; — 
1895 
1891 
1893 
1892 
January 
657,006 
893,600 
900,000 
370,000 
February 
756,000 
158,000 
3.55,01  0 
433,000 
Jlarch 
419,000 
622,0i  0 
626,000 
360,000 
April 
615,000 
515.000 
679,000 
350,000 
May 
402,700 
900,000 
711,000 
400,00  1 
January-May 
2,879,700 
3,288,000 
3,-211,001 
2,012,000 
6,.532,0U0 
June-Decenibcr 
— 
8,917,700 
7,312,000 
Total  — 
—Chemist  and  Druijgist, 
12,205,700 
10,586,000 
8,511,000 
♦ 
AN  INVESTMENT  IN  TEA. 
Mr.  .T.  M.  Murdoch  left  for  Ratnapura  today 
after  spending  a few  days  in  Colombo.  A year  ago 
he  purchased  Carney  estate,  Ratuapui-a,  and  the 
object  of  his  visit  to  Colombo  this  week  was  to  dis- 
pose of  a three-quarter  share  of  that  property  to 
Mr.  George  Wilson,  who  came  to  the  island  on  a 
globe-trotting  trip  two  months  ago  and  has  been 
staying  with  Mr.  Murdoch,  and  wdio  leaves  tonight 
for  Bangkok  by  the  “ Oxus.”  Mr.  Wilson  hails  from 
DunVfrieshire,  and  he  was  through  Colombo  some 
years  ago.  The  price  he  has  paid  for  the  three- 
guartei;  ehtn'e  p£  Carney  is  ^6,0Wi  The  estate  com* 
prises  in  all  201  acres ; of  which  112  are  opened  in 
tea,  yielding  (iOU  lb.  to  the  acre.  Six  aci-es  of  the 
property  formerly  formed  a part  of  Mr.  W.  G. 
Sandison’s  Asoka  estate,  and  this  portion  is  there- 
fore producing  seed-bearers — a fine  paying  little  block. 
Mr.  Murdoch  will  continue  in  sole  charge  of  the 
estate. 
THE  WORK  OF  BACTERIA. 
Tlie  inve.stig<ation.s  of  b.acteriologists  diu-ing  the 
jvast  fifteen  years  have  been  of  great  beneiit  in 
tlic  treatment  of  disea.ses  and  in  explaining  many 
operations  and  |)lienomena  tliat  were  little  nil- 
derstood.  It  has  been  discovered  that  the  ma- 
jority of  the  diseases  which  afflict  man  a7id  ani- 
mals are  caused  by  bacteria.  Bacteria  are  small 
plants,  and  repre.sent  the  lowest  form  of  orga- 
nised life.  They  are  invi.sible  to  the  naked  eye, 
and  can  only  he  studied  by  the  aid  of  the  most 
powerful  microscopes.  Twenty-live  thousand  of 
them  placed  side  by  side  would  not  make  a line 
more  than  an  inch  long.  They  consist  simply  of 
a single  cell  and  multiply,  not  by  the  seed,  but 
by  each  individual  simply  dividing  itself  into  two 
or  more.  They  are  in  the  air,  in  the  earth,  on 
the  clothing  and  body,  in  the  mouth  and  no.se, 
in  fact  everywhere,  almost.  We  a.re  indebted  to 
these  little  plants  for  boils  and  abscesses,  for 
fevers  that  exhaust  our  vitality,  and  the  more 
deadly  contagious  diseases  that  decimate  our 
population.  They  cause  the  dreaded  tuberculosis 
in  our  cattle,  cholera  in  our  pigs,  and  glanders 
in  our  horses.  And  yet  their  work  is  not  at  all 
bad.  While  some  are  destroying  others  are 
building  up.  M’hile  some  are  ivorking  against 
us  others  are  working  with  us.  The  bread  We 
eat  is  made  light  and  palatable  by  the  work 
of  .some  of  tliese  little  plants  ; beer  acquires  its 
head  from  the  same  source.  The  delicate  fla- 
vour so  characteristic  of  good  butter  is  mainly 
produced  by  the  M ork  of  bacteria  in  decomposing 
the  ca.sein.  They  cause  the  souring  of  milk  and 
the  ripening  of  cream,  which  enables  us  to  avoid 
heavy  losses  of  butter-fat  in  the  buttermilk.—- 
Mark  Lane  Express. 
INDIAN  PATENTS. 
CalcnUa,  J7th,  Jane  lSO-5. 
The  foes  prescribed  have  been  paid  for  the  con- 
timianco  of  exclusive  privilege  in  respect  of  the 
undermentioned  inventions  for  the  periods  shown 
against  each  : — 
Foil  IMPnovEMENTS  IN  STOVES  Oil  Aril-IIEATINO  AP- 
PAiiATUS.— 21  of  1891.— Samuel  Clcland  Davidson  of 
Sirocco  Works,  Belfast,  Ireland,  Merchant,  for  im- 
provements in  stoves  or  air-heating  apparatus. 
(Form  15th  July  1895  to  11th  July  1895.) 
Whereas  the  inventors  of  the  undermentioned  in- 
ventions have  respectively  failed  to  pay  the  fee 
within  the  time  limited  in  that  behalf  it  is  hereby 
notified  that  the  exclusive  privilege  of  making, 
selling,  and  using  the  said  inventions  in  British 
India,  and  of  authorising  others  so  to  do,  has 
ceased 
For  improvements  in  the  means  or  apparatus 
FOR  DRIVINU  FANS  FOR  VENTILATING  AND  OTHER  I’UR- 
POSES.  218  of  188U- — Mr.  S.  C.  Davidson's  invention 
for  improvements  in  the  means  of  apparatus  for 
driving  fans  for  ventilating  and  other  purposes. 
(Spoeiheation  filed  21st  March  En* 
gineer. 
Tiik  Goffkf.  Entkffri.sf  in  Mexico  is  evi- 
dently going  to  he  an  important  one  to  judge 
by  the  intelligence  fpioted  on  our  fourth  jiage. 
Mexico  has  hitherto  given  a total  export  of  about 
200,000  cwt.  of  onr  obi  .staple ; but  we  may  ex- 
pect her  to  inn  up  to  the  half-million  and  even 
the  million  cwt  before  many  years  are  out. 
