THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[July i, i89j, 
l8 
hydroxyl equivalent present in the secondary regeanta 
employed. The reaction was, therefore, aueh o 
one UB! — 
0,.H,,NaN,OJ + CH,I + U,O=,,H„N,O,Cn,I 
+ NaHO. 
A little juggling on paper makes the product 
OjoUj^NjOj', Hi (quinine hydriodide), 
bnt this does not happen in practice. The iodine 
atoms behave aa if it were linkod with all the rest 
of the Htoma in the mo oculo aa a whole, that ia. as 
if it w.re 0,„n,,N,0,t. It will be Been from this 
wherein lay Uriiu.iux and An aud’s opportunity. They 
take a methylene compound, produoe C, 5 H,,N, 0 ,, 
CHjCI, or, Hubetantially, C,oHj^N,0,Gi, out away 
the ohloriue from it, and quinine is lult. 
As a chemical aohievoment this buocofm is note- 
worthy, but it comus flvo years too late to be of much 
oouimercial importanco. Ouprea bark aa a member of 
the materia medica ia almost dead. It does not pay 
to go into the primeval forests in the centre of South 
America, fell giant trees, strip the bark and bring it 
on mules' backs to the coast, thence to be shipped to 
Loiidou to compete with oinchona. 'I’he influence of 
the diaoov ry upon the quiiiino market may tiierelore, 
apart altogether from the cost of production, bo set 
down at present as nil. But it ia certainly gratifying 
to know that quinine has been made artificially, and 
oven if Orimaux aud Ariiand’- article tun ed out In 
be the isotneride quinidiue, that would be no lus' 
intereHting. Of course the acLievemeiii throws i,o 
light on the ouostitutiou of quinii.e, which atanda aa 
Bkraup baa left it — viz,, that it ia a derivative of 
paramethoxy-quiuolino. Iscmeridca of quinine have 
been prepared. The first was about five years ago by 
Ur. 0. A. Kohu, its empirical formula being the aamo 
a.s quinine, but conatitutioually it was by hydroxy- 
hydreetbylonequiuolinH,* There ia little in common 
between thia aud quinine. Another iHometio substanco 
was made fully a year ago by ■\VoIlnch aud Otto. It 
ia Binolenitrol-icfa-naphtbylamine, and its solutions, 
as well as solutioua of its salts, are highly fluorescent. 
This substance was referred to at the time as an 
iaomeride of camphor, which obviously ia a mistake, 
seeing that it contains nitrogen snd has an empirical 
formula the same as quiniue . — Chemist and Druggist. 
REVOLUTION IN JEWELLERY, 
The disoovery of a now " dry digging '' in South 
Africa follows hard on the announcement of M. M, 
Promy and Verneuil'a ancoeaa in maimfactnring rubies. 
The civilised world was discussing that event a few 
weeks ago, and tradesmen iutcroated found it iiooes.sary 
to send reasanring circulars to the press. Their in- 
geimity will be taxed to fumiah comfort under this 
latter blow, if rnmonra prove exact. The peaition of 
the new field and the oircumslancea of ita identifica- 
tion are not yet olear. But we learn that the Oom- 
pauy has bought it for iTOO,Ofi(), th.t a multitude of 
diggers have “ rushed ” the spot, aud that the finds, 
so far, promise another Oulesborg Kopje. It is bad 
news for owners of diamonds, and, in fact, for every- 
body elao except the few who will make money out uf 
their claima. Even the revenue of Capo Colony will 
not benefit— quite otherwise. Th.' histotio hoii-owife 
who killed the gooae with tho golden eggs aupplies a 
precedent. 
Supposing these reports prove true, as seems likely, 
and also that M M.Prdniy and Veruonil achieve all that 
they confidently expect, an seems more likely still, n 
revolution must follow. W.ll informcd persona who 
exact value for their money have long bo' u ruhictaut 
tu buy diainonda. They looked for the news whicli 
has now arrived ; and if it rhould turn out false this 
time, tbiir expectation will r. al sr fi. in ever. That 
there are dry flelda in South A frion--fir Ids, that is, 
where gems are found in situ, where they were crys- 
tallized — ia as certain as facts uudemouBtratc d esn 
bo. If only one of them fall into the handa of inde- 
pendent diggers, the market will be upset ; the lively 
old times will return when a caansl fellow-paaseugot 
by 'bus may have a pookotful of diamonds consigned 
to him by a lucky friend or brother at the Fields. 
Under such conditions already the great merchants 
have been driven to despair, aud the confusion would 
be vastly worse now. As for the triumph of tho 
French chemists, it ia olear that if they can make rubius 
hard enongh to be employed as pivots in watchea, aud 
‘‘ much larger,’ the time is near when they will pro- 
ilnco atones of any size to order. Thirty years those 
gentlemen have worked, aud their progress has been 
so slow that it is likely to be sure. Within tho last 
few months only, as they toll ns, the seoret of mak- 
ing large gems has been traced out. But if rabies 
can be inauufaoturid, all the great class of oryetala 
tu which they belong can bo inanufaotured also. It 
IS simply a quostioii of tho colouring matorisl. The 
same process, with blue substituted, will yield sapphirea 
with orange-yellow tho graud Oriental topaz, and ao 
forth. Pearls, emeralds, and opals, in fact, among 
gems of tho firat rlaaa, will defy MM. Ftdmy and 
Verncnil for tlic present, 
It is a very uncomfortable prqapoot for holders of 
family jewels, but tho vncwis tintor who ia a msn of 
taste docs not lack consolation. F’lashiug diauiqnda 
aud gleaming rnliice are vastly pretty but oaseulially 
harbario. That term ia used now lor Oriental jewellery, 
vliioh to a Oiilturcd and (hmighlfnl eye is the per- 
foelinn of art in ita style. What is meant by the word 
“ barbaric " used in teforenco to such matters 'i Most 
people would answer, an eslentatioua display of costly 
material unrefined by art. It is properly employed 
in deaoribing the paraphernalia of an Asbautce chief, 
whose arms are so loaded with nuggets of pure gold 
that he has to rest them, outstretched, upon the 
shoulders of a slave preoediug him. It is properly 
employed in speaking of the old Turkish ornaments 
— a confused medley of precious stones which one used 
to find in the Bzemtau at Stambonl but few re- 
main at this day. Not improptitly also it may ba 
applied to tbo massive rings, braoslets, and such artistes, 
which are especial favonritoa with our countryiueu 
" neat but not gaudy,” as they ssy, massive gold of 
twenty-two sarats, with a great flaming diamond or 
group of gems solidly set therein, with no “ gimerack ” 
about them ; nothing but honest gold worth so ruuob 
and stonoa worth a much more. 'The value is obvious 
— an expert can oaloulato it at a glanoe. Money ia 
not wasted on design or charm of Isncy. Ao idiot 
who bad the use of his hands and had served an ap- 
prenticeship t" a good craftsman could make the thing 
as well as the best Paris artist. This represents a step 
beyond the Aabanteo oabooeea ; but it is tho same in 
principle; adisplsy of mere wealth. But the term 
‘'barbaric ” could never be used, by a thinking poraoii 
who has an eye for beauty, towards the jewel work of 
Onshmere, for instniice, or Jejporo. Fur its value lies 
in tbo art alone. The gold may be beaten as thin 
as tissue-paper, the gems may be mere Bcales aud cliipa 
which an Bogliah artisan won1d not pick up. These things 
are simply vehicles need by the artist to produce his 
effects of oolour. Sir George Birdwood says, speak- 
ing of the b' Bt Indian goldsmiths, ” by their oousum- 
mate skill and thorough knowledge and appreoiatiou 
they oontiive to give to the least possible weight of 
metal, and to gems absolutely valnless, the highest 
possible artistic v«tue, nrver even in their excessive 
elaboration of detail, violating tbo fuudomonial prin. 
oiplea of ornamental dosigii nor ailing to please, even 
thongh it be an i ftVcl ot harbario rirhni ss aud super- 
lluity.”\Ye may well sslt where the “barbarism” comes 
in if the work bo of *' the highest poasible artistic 
value ” ? 
Such ideas must needs he eradicated when gems cease 
to represent a gnat sum in monny. They will then 
fall to their proper use, that to whioh tlie Indian arti- 
ficer has always put them. Ho will make jewellery 
to tho Rajah’s order us expensive as may be desired 
set with great stonoa ; but bis taste prefers to work 
up these chips aud scales, using them as points of lumi- 
nous colour in a thoughtful composition. Therefore 
Quito 60 ! — ^Bd, T, a. 
