Oct.  I,  1895.J 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
267 
found  in  the  kola  nut  2'35  grammes  per  cent,  of 
kaffeiiie  and  •023  grammes  per  cent,  of  theobroma. 
The  original  pa  t of  the  analysis  of  Heckel  was  to 
establish  a particular  body ; the  red  colour  of  the 
kola,  which  exists  in  the  proportion  of  1‘3  per  cent, 
in  the  nut,  he  obtained  by  treating  with  water  the 
alcoholic  solution  of  the  kola,  but  did  not  succeed  in 
defining  its  chemical  constitution.  Having  seen  by 
experience  that  caffeine  alone  would  not  replace  the 
kola  nut,  and  finding  in  it  no  other  substance  than 
caffeine,  theobroma,  and  the  red  portion  of  the  nut, 
Heckel  was  led  to  suppose  that  to  thi.s  red  portion 
of  the  kola  was  due  m great  part  the  action  ot  the 
nut.  A chemist  of  Orlongen  has  maintained  that  the 
red  of  the  kola  nut  was  a glucoside,  susceptible  of 
decomposition  in  tlie  presence  of  water  into  cafieine 
and  a colouring  substance.  The  red  of  the  kola  nut, 
under  the  influence  of  mastication,  is  transformed 
in  a great  part  into  caffeine  when  it  arrives  in  the 
stomach.  Heckel  cites  in  support  of  his  experiments 
upon  man  investigations  in  the  laboratory,  which 
snow  that  the  kola  increases  and  prolongs  the  inten- 
sities of  the  muscular  contractions,  while  with  the 
caffeine  the  stimulation  is  of  very  short  duration  and 
wears  itself  out  very  rapidly.  Tor  those  who  desire 
to  make  use  of  the  kola  nut  the  advice  is  given  to 
consume  it  exactly  as  do  the  African  negroes — that 
is  to  say  by  masticating  slowly  fragments  of  the 
fresh  nuts,  and  to  reject  completely  all  other- 
preparations.  Fresh  nuts  are  to  be  taken  in 
preference  to  dried  nuts,  as  the  last  are  valued 
little  by  the  negroes  and  are  produced  from  a 
very  inferior  variety  of  the  kola.  Nothing  is  easier 
than  to  obtain  fresh  nuts  when  required,  for  medi- 
cal or  other  purposes,  from  the  coasts  of  Africa,  at 
a cost  of  two  or  three  francs  a kilogramme,  and  to 
preserve  them  in  this  condition  for  a long  time. 
They  have  been  kept  for  more  than  six  mouths  by' 
simply  covering  them  with  moist  leaves,  and  by 
rolling  them  up  in  sugar,  or  some  saccharine  pre- 
paration, they  may  be  kept  for  a much  longer  time 
than  this.  Fresh  nuts,  by  reason  of  their  charac- 
teristic appearance,  cannot  be  adulterated,  whereas 
when  they  are  dried  it  is  impossible  to  recognise 
by  their  appearance  the  true  kola  from  the  false. 
The  negroes  frequently  substitute  spurious  kolas  for 
the  true  ones,  and  the  former  belong  to  a very 
different  family,  containing  no  trace  of  alkaloids. — 
1L&  V.  Mail. 
^ 
COCONUT  AND  OTHER  CULTIVaVTION 
IN  CHILAW  AND  PUITALAM 
DISTRICTS. 
(From  a Colombo  icrifer. ) 
Rain  has  not  fallen  over  Chilaw,  for  the  last  few  months 
and  every  thing  looks  parched  up  auddiy.  Coconut 
trees  have  however  not  been  affected  and  the  hardy 
tobacco  plants  look  green  and  tioiu-ishiug,  but  to- 
bacco is  pils-nted  on  small  piatches  of  land  and  every 
shrub  is  daily  watered.  There  is  in  most  parts  of 
the  district  no  grass  at  all  and  cattle  are  fed  with 
plantain  and  coconut  leaves.  Coconut  cultivation 
13  extending  on  all  sides,  Mr.  Baitr  has  over  400 
acres  under  cultivation  and  bids  fair  to  be  one  of 
the  lai'gest  proprietors  in  the  disti'ict.  As  much  as 
11100  has  been  lately  paid  for  good  forest  land. 
There  are  yet  large  tracts  of  laud  available  for 
cultivation.  There  is  just  a little  fever  prevalent 
in  some  parts  of  the  district  but  the  people  who 
suffer  have  in  most  cases  to  thank  themselves  for  it. 
One  ‘ intelligent  native  ” especially  eschews  quinine 
and  has  built  his  bungalow  on  the  bank  of  a river  ! He 
is  a firm  believer  in  an  Indian  quack  remedy 
in  which  quinine  forms  no  part  ! The  writer  au» 
vised  him  to  try  quinine  and  run  up  an  upstair- 
bungalow  as  far  away  from  the  river  as  possible, 
and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  his  advice  will  be  taken. 
It  is  surprising  how  people  will  not  take  the  most 
ordinary  precautions.  The  climate  is  not  always 
to  blame.  The  water  is  as  a rule  always  bad,  but 
yet  very  few  think  of  boiling  it  before  drinking. 
Young  Driebei-g  who  superintends  Mr.  Baur’s  group 
of  estates  has  never  known  a illness  ail  thf  time 
Jie  b&B  been  iu  the  distcietj 
Mr.  ihorburn,  the  hard-working  Assistant  Agent, 
It  IS  expected  will  go  up  shortly  to  Kandy  as  Office 
Assistant  and  Fiscal  being  re-placcd  by  ,\Ir.  Noyes. 
Farbcrry  is  doing  good  ivork  as  Magistrate  at 
Chilaw,  and  sits  for  a week,  a month  at  Marawilla. 
Mr.  Jjovering  is  under  orders  to  proceed  toBandara- 
wella  after  a turn  in  a fever  district.  Some  portions 
of  the  road  are  a bit  cut  up  and  certainly  the  coach 
service  leaves  much  room  for  improvement.  The 
Postmasters  along  the  road  seem  to  be  a sleepy  lot, 
and  the  time  occupied  in  the  delivery  of  the  mail 
bags  seem  to  be  altogether  absurd.  Last  but  not 
least,  Chilaw  boasts  of  a club  with  a first-class  bil- 
liard table,  and  visitors  from  the  Metropolis  have  no 
reason  to  complain  of  the  warmth  of  their  reception 
in  the  land  of  coconut. 
CEYLON  .SEASON  REPORTS  FOR  AUGUST. 
The  abstract  of  season  reports  for  the  mouth 
ended  August  31st  is  published  in  the  Gazette. 
The  condition  of  paddy  crops  and  harvest  through- 
out the  island  is  generally  satisfactory,  but  Hapiti- 
gam  Korale  reports  that  some  fields  have  suffered 
from  drought.  Cattle  disease  is  reported  from  several 
districts,  while  in  some  places  the  spread  of  the 
disease  has  been  effectually  suppressed.  P^ever, 
dysentry,  chicken-pox  and  measles  have  been  pre- 
valent in  the  Galle  district  and  many  deaths  have 
occuri'ed.  Hanibantota  reports  fever  and  dysentry ; 
and  Badulla,  cholera,  dysentry  and  fever.  The  health 
of  the  inhabitants  in  other  districts  is  fair. 
• ^ 
THE  TEA  ROLLER  CASE. 
An  application  w-as  niabe  today  before  their  lord 
ships  in  the  Appeal  Court,  on  behalf  of  the  defen- 
daiits  and  appellants  to  withdr.iw  ihe  R3,000  deposited 
as  security  for  costs  that  would  be  incurred  by  the 
respondents  in  the  hearing  of  the  appeal  before  the 
Privy  Council,  The  appellants  having  been  success* 
ful  in  their  appeal,  the  application  to  draw  the 
deposit  was  allowed. 
IVORY,  SPICES,  AND  BARK. 
The  statements  about  the  African  elephant  be- 
coming extinct  must  be  all  bosh.  So  one  thinks  as 
one  enters  another  warehouse,  the  ground  floor  of 
which  IS  devoted  entirely  to  ivory.  One  of  the 
quartcidy  sales  had  just  concluded,  and  at  least  120 
tons  of  the  valuable  material  was  lying  about  in 
lots.  ^ India  aud  Africa  arc  tiio  ivory  exporting 
Countries.  The  best  quality  comes  from  Zanziba^ 
and  is  reniarkable  for  its  density  and  whiteness. 
That  which  is  sent  from  the  Soudan  has  often  been 
buried  for  years,  and  frequently  gets  damaged. 
Sometimes  when  it  “ cracks  ” in  the  warehouse  it 
goes  on  like  a gun,  and  fetches  of  course  a lower 
pnee  than  some  of  the  other  kinds.  That  from  the 
West  Coast,  also,  is  not  of  first-rate  quality,  being 
worth  about  half  that  from  Zanzibar.  Tlie  ivory 
imported  is  of  all  shapes  and  sizes.  One  big  tusk 
weighed  137  pounds,  and  w-as  considerably  over  six 
feet  m length.  Tusks  of  the  rhinoceros,  teeth  of 
the  hippopotamus,  are  also  found  here,  and  many 
other  anmials,  such  as  the  walrus,  the  narwhal,  the 
sperm  whale,  also  possess  teeth  or  tusks  which  are  im- 
ported m quantities,  and  which  can  be  used  for  pur- 
poses ill  the  arts  for  which  true  ivory  is  employed, 
A.together,  the  ivory  at  the  docks  is  an  interesting 
sight,  and  an  inspection  of  it  might  throw  some  light  on 
more  than  one  of  the  vexed  problems  of  Central  Africa. 
— Westminster  Gazette. 
North  rR.vvANcoRi-;  Pb.VNiiNu  iNnusTRv. 
Elsewliere  will  be  found  full  ana  interesting 
information  re.specting  the  condition  and  proi^ 
l>ects  of  the  North  Travancore  district,  in 
which  both  tea  and  coffee  are  likely  to  make 
a brave  show'  through  the  enterprise  of  Messi-s. 
b inlay,  Muir  & Co.’s  Syndicate  in  tlie  nc.st 
icw  yeai's. 
