Nov.  2,  1896.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTUP  IS  T. 
323 
In  G.O.,  No.  2382,  Local  and  Municipal,  dated  the 
17th  November  1894,  communicated  to  this  office  under 
G.  O.,  No.  4720,  Revenue,  of  the  1st  December  1894, 
Government  ruled  that  Local  Fund  and  Municipal 
hospitals  should,  from  the  commencement  of  the 
official  year  1895^ — 96,  obtain  their  quinine  and  supplies 
of  other  medicine  independently  of  the  Madras  Medical 
Stores  Department,  and  that  the  quinine  and  febrifuge 
required  should  be  obtained  by  these  institutions 
from  the  Cinchona  Department.  This  office  there- 
fore has  practically  been  doing  the  work  hitherto 
carried  on  by  the  Medical  Stores  Department, 
Madras,  by  distributing  the  quinine  and  febrifuge 
indented  for  by  the  several  Local  Fund  and  Munici- 
pal dispensaries,  and  by  recovering  and  adjusting 
separately  the  value  of  each  indent.  This  has  added 
very  materially  to  the  work  at  the  Head  office,  for, 
in  addition  to  the  above,  the  despatch  of  quinine 
powders  to  Collectors  and  Forest  officials  and  Post 
offices,  the  sending  out  of  quinine  and  febrifuge  to  the 
Medical  Stores  Departments  of  Madras,  Bombay  and 
Calcutta,  and  the  public,  was  attended  to.  The  un- 
usual pressure  of  work  in  the  office  was  cheerfully 
borne  by  Mr.  D.  Campbell,  the  Manager  and  bis 
staff,  who  performed  their  duties  most  diligently 
during  the  year.  The  Manager  was  also  in  charge 
of  the  accounts  and  correspondence  of  the  Gardens 
during  Mr.  Jamieson's  illness  and  until  the  appoint- 
ment of  the  new  Curator  in  February. 
The  Quinologist’s  Report. — This  report  is  not 
submitted  separately  this  year;  many  of  the  results 
obtained  from  the  experiments  made  in  the  labora- 
tory will  be  found  in  other  portions  of  this  and  the 
Administration  report  of  the  Government  Gar- 
dens. 
Miscellaneous. — (a)  Purchase  of  fresh  Cinchona  seed. 
— In  last  year’s  report  it  was  pointed  out  that  cin- 
chona plants  now  raised  from  the  oldest  officinalis 
trees,  and  those  of  the  purest  type,  are  not  so 
vigorous  or  lasting  as  plants  raised  from  seed  taken 
from  those  trees  ten  or  twelve  years  ago.  A disease 
similar  to  canker  sets  in  when  the  young  plants 
are  about  two  years  old  and  just  when  they  are  ready 
for  planting  out.  For  this  reason  it  appeared  de- 
sirable that  some  fresh  seed  should  be  obtained  from 
the  home  of  the  cinchonas  in  South  America.  The 
Secretary  of  State  referred  this  question  to  the 
Director  of  the  Royal  Gardens,  Kew,  who  discour- 
aged the  idea  of  securing  seed  from  South  America,  and 
suggested  that  it  might  be  supplied  by  the  Jamaica 
Plantations  where  crown  bark  trees  are  almost 
naturalized  and  seed  freely.  The  Director  of  Public 
Gardens  and  Plantations,  Jamica,  reported  through 
the  Colonial  office,  that  he  would  do  his  utmost  to 
comply  with  the  request  for  ten  pounds  of  seed ; 
hut  considerii  g the  question  of  the  probable  supply 
from  there,  he  thought  it  not  at  all  likely  that 
quantity  could  be  supplied,  as  the  seed  to  be  of 
any  value  should  be  obtained  from  mature  trees  ; and 
it  is  extremely  light,  the  number  of  trses  that  would 
be  required  to  give  such  a large  amount  was  probably 
larger  than  they  possessed  of  that  kind.  About  two 
pounds  of  seeds  have  been  received  from  Jamaica, 
and  they  will  be  carefully  sown  in  the  glass  houses 
in  the  Government  Gardens. 
(6)  Alkaloidal  Composition  op  bark  when  kept 
IN  STORE  for  a number  OF  YEARS, — In  March  last 
the  District  and  Medical  Sanitary  officer,  Kistna, 
sent  some  powdered  cinchona  bark  which  he  had 
received  from  the  Treasury  Deputy  Collector 
of  the  ^district  in  whose  office  it  had  stored  away 
for  the  past  seventeen  years,  and  he  asked  for  an 
opinion  on  its  condition  before  using  it.  An  ana- 
lysis showed  its  composition  to  be  5'4  per  cent 
of  total  alkaloids  and  IT  per  cent  of  quinine,  a 
result  which  corresponded  with  the  composition 
of  succirubra  bark ; and  as  the  bark  did  not  appear 
to  have  deteriorated,  the  District  Medical  officer  was 
informed  that  he  could  safely  use  it  for  medical 
purposes. 
Reference  to  the  Quinologist’s  report  for  1885 — 86 
shows  that  even  mouldy  bark  in  a state  of  powder  does 
not  deteriorate  when  kept  in  a damp  situation  for 
jiearly  a year. 
(c.)  Issue  or  quinine  powders  to  the  Collecto- 
rates. — The  number  of  packets  issued  during  the  past 
year  has  been  2,638,  of  which  2,399  went  to  the  Collec- 
torates  and  239  were  sold  to  the  public,  against  1,805 
packets  disposed  of  in  the  previous  year.  These 
figures  show  an  improvement,  considering  that  the 
scheme  has  had  to  compete  with  the  sale  of  the 
powders  by  Postmasters.  In  accordance  with  para- 
graxih  2 of  G.  O.,  No.  224,  Revenue,  dated  the  7th 
March  1893,  a separate  report  on  this  matter  w'ill  be 
sent  in  on  the  receipt  of  the  necessary  information 
from  the  Collectors — vide  also  paragraph  2 of  G.  O.. 
No.  129,  dated  the  20th  March  1896. 
{d)  Supply  of  quinine  powders  to  the 
Province  op  Coorg. — In  September  last  the 
Chief  Commissioner  of  Coorg,  acting  on  the 
advice  of  the  Civil  .Surgeon  of  the  Pro- 
vince, proposed  to  Government  that  quinine  powders 
might  he  sold  at  the  different  Post  offices  in  Coorg, 
where  there  were  no  dispensaris.  The  envelopes  for 
these  powders  were  printed  in  Canarese  and  English. 
In  January  last  five  packets  of  102  powders  each  were 
sent  to  each  of  the  twenty-two  Post  office,  in  the 
Coorg  Province,  but,  so  far,  no  indents  from  the 
Postmasters  of  this  district  have  been  received. 
(e)  Issue  of  Quinine  Powders  for  Sale  by  the  Postal 
Agency. — It  having  been  finally  decided  by  Govern- 
ment that  the  permanent  advance  of  these  packets 
to  Postmasters  should  be  five  and  the  minimum 
indents  three  (G.O.,  No.  356,  Revenue,  dated  12th 
June  1895),  the  necessary  amount  of  quinine  pow- 
ders in  July  was  sent  to  the  315  Post  offices  in  the 
five  districts  selected  by  the  Board  of  Revenue,  viz., 
Ganjam,  Vazagapatam,  Cuddapah,  Kurnool  and 
Malabar.  In  G.O.,  No.  4148,  dated  the  21st  October 
1895,  Revenue  a report  was  called  for  on  the  results 
of  sales  by  the  Postmasters  up  to  the  30th  Novem- 
ber, 1895.  This  was  done  , and  in  G.O.,  No.,  11,  Reve- 
nue dated  the  11th  January  1896,  Government  con- 
sidered that  the  experiment  was  on  the  whole  a suc- 
cess, and  that  the  introduction  of  the  system  into 
the  other  districts  should  not  be  delayed.  In  con- 
junction with  the  Postmaster-General,  arrange- 
ments were  made  for  supply  of  the  quinine  powders 
to  the  remaining  fifteen  districts  in  the  Madras 
Presidency.  After  obtaining  the  necessary  printed 
covers  from  the  Government  Press,  Madras,  the 
permanent  advance  was  sent  in  March  to  334  Post 
offices  in  the  Telugu  districts  of  Anantapur,  Kistna 
Godavari  and  Nellore.  The  distribution  of  quinine 
powders  to  the  Tamil  districts  of  the  Presidency  is 
now  going  on.  It  is  estimated  that  the  number  of 
packets  issued  as  permanent  advances  to  Postmasters 
and  to  Collectors  has  been  6,053 — 
To  first  five  districts  . . 1,635 
,.  four  Telugu  districts  . . 1,670 
„ Coorg..  ..  ..  110 
Issued  to  Collectors,  &c. 
3,415 
2,638 
Total  . . 6,053 
In  addition  to  this  number,  indents  were  sent  in 
subsequently  by  Postmasters  for  664  packets,  and 
these,  if  added  to  the  above,  would  make  the  total 
number  of  packets  issued  in  the  year  to  be  6 717 
packets  or  679,858  powders.  ’ 
Distribution  of  Quinine  in  Bottles. — In  October 
last  the  Deputy  Collector,  Godavari,  addressed  this 
office  regarding  some  bottles  of  quinine  which  had 
been  sent  to  him  by  the  District  Forest-officer. 
Quinine  in  bottles  is  not  so  popular  with  the  people 
in  the  district  as  the  powders  now  being  sold  by  him, 
and  he  wished  to  know  if  it  could  be  sold  by  public 
auction.  He  was  informed  that,  rather  than  sell  it 
by  auction,  it  would  be  preferable  to  send  it  to  this 
office  for  making  up  into  powders. 
Supply  of  Quinine  to  the  Burma  Government.— 
The  issue  of  three  hundred-weight  of  quinine  made 
up  in  five-grain  powders  to  the  Burmese  Administra- 
tion  could  not  be  effected  before  the  close  of  the 
previous  official  year  1894-95,  owing  to  the  delay  of 
the  Chief  Commissioner  in  selecting  the  form  of 
envelope  to  be  adopted.  As  soon  as  the  Superin- 
tendent, Government  Press,  supplied  the  necessary 
