September i, iSpr,] Sitppkmenf to th ''Tropical /gncuHmist." 
233 
already been sold Is the best possible proof of 
the usefulness and popularity of Mr. 'Wamiig-! 
ton's manual.” j 
Panebutano is the name of the shrub, the extract I 
from the root of which has been found a good 
substitute for quinine. 
“The Rural Economy and Agriculture of 
Australia and New Zealand” is the title of Pro- 
fessor irallace's new book which is just out. The 
volume consisting of four or five hundred pages, 
is furnished with ten maps, .90 full-page plates, 
and 24 text illustrations, and is priced at one 
% guinea. The publishers are Messrs. Sampson Low, 
Slarston & Co., London. 
Following the experiments of Fetchner in 
applying electricity to vegetation, a Russian 
agriculturist, M. Spechneff, is reported to have 
made a trial of seeds, which he electrified for 
two minutes by means of a current and repeated 
the operation ten times upon peas, beans, rj-e, 
kc. lie found that, as a rule, the electri- 
lisation of seeds nearly doubled the rapidity 
of their growth. He then tried to electrilise 
the earth, and the effect of the continuous 
current upon the vegetation is said to have been 
very marked. Aradi.sh grow 17‘Sinclies in length, 
with a diameter of 5i inches, and carrot lO'G 
inches in diameter weighed 6 6 lbs. The harvest 
was in all four times superior to the ordinary for 
roots, and two or three times for plants, and the 
extra growth did not appear to affect the quality 
of the roots or plants in any way. 
Our thanks are due to the Editors of the follow- 
ing publications for copies of their latest issues:— 
St. Thomas’ College Magazine, Richmond College 
Magazine, .Taffna College Miscellany, Hindu 
Organ, Jaffna Patriot, and Catholic Messenger. 
We have also to acknowladge with thanks copies 
of the Journal of the Society of Arts, the Agri- 
cultural Gazette of New South Wales, the Agri- 
cultural Journal of Cape Colony, and Bulletin No. 
21 of the Agricultural Department of Madras, and 
Kew Bulletin No, 48. 
The husks of maize or Indian corn are now 
being used in the making of some kinds of paper in 
the United States. They are first made to yield a 
glutinous substauce by treatment with boiling 
caustic soda, and this paste is separated from the 
fibresof the husk by a hydraulic press working 
over a finely perforated bed jdate. The glutinous 
matter is passed through the machines in the 
usual way and made into paper, while tlie fibres 
are sold for use in other industries. 
