THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [October i, 1891 
252 
A BOOK ox DRUGS, 
Ik is somowhst startling on opening this volume* 
tr liiicl that it oominonces with page.TOj in tlie nii lille 
of a seatoncB. Howovi r, as it is es i ntijlly a book 
for tho stuily or reforenca I brnry nn i not for the 
boudoir, this priuter’a tooentriciiy is of no moment. 
Tho labour that this single r«rt represents is something 
enormous, for ot nearly every drug dealt with tho 
botany, history and u«es, chomiusl composition aul 
therapeutic or industrial pr.)p,wties have been exbsu'- 
tivoly worked out. Most ol the matter is too techi.insl 
for quotation or comment, but tlie folhtwinff about 
the saffliwer (Cartnamu^ tinctoriua) should commend 
itself to I ffioial resdeis r ■ , 
“ In silk dyeing it affords variem shades of pink, 
rose, crimson niid sccrlet, R ugo is aDo made troni 
it According to Calvert (Ui/eiiiy ami Calico Vcintiny 
lid. 1878), thengh the futUo vor has lost much of its 
value ns a dye since the discovery of the an line 
colours, it is still n.«cd exte aiv. ly in Bancashiro for 
tho produetion cf peculiar shades of pink o( tho 
Kastecn markets. It is also uaoil for dyeing red tape, 
and there is no more stcikiiig instance of ‘r d-tnpeion’ 
than the love which is shown h r Ibis pat ticulnr colour 
by tho users of that article, ilueh ohraper pinks can 
be produced from niiilino, but notwithstanding the 
attempts which liavo inatty limes been made to introduoo 
tliero, they have failed in every iiiUaiee, because tlie 
exact sha !e has not lieen obtained. ” 
Think ot this, beads of . offiecB, and as yon seal the 
offleial document, let tho colour of the tapeteoull ticet- 
ing visions ol the rosy-oheeke 1 Diva wnoni joudis- 
tantly worshipped in ito go'deii period of yoiit'i 1 To 
return to the flora of this country, we learn that 
chicory iscnliivn-ed here and largely exported, probably 
not less than 20,000,000 Ihs. Icing niiciially coiommU 
in Europc,from which it may bo pallieiod tlial “ct ff o 
tliiit makes the politic an wise” tuny not be whiii it 
seems. This plant was held in liigh csteoiii by t';e 
ancients, who sllribut-d many virtues to it. According 
to Pliny, perao.is who mb thorns Ives with the juioa 
of tlie plant mixed with oil are suio to find inore 
favour with others ii id to obtain with g -eator facility 
anyihiiig they may desire. In later d ijs ci.ing (ihe 
palms of) those in power has prov d a surer raid to 
favour. An important sulijoct d alt «i h by thoauthors 
is datura, stramonium, which is a valuable remedy in 
spasmodic afteotioiis nf the chest, an I is at the same 
time one of the ooinmouest poi-ous used in India. A 
nlausiblo stranger falls in witli a Hindu traveller and 
finds that they are journeying tho same road. At a 
halting place ho vuluntoors to prepare the entry and 
tioc, end doctors tho chutney, with the recuh tli t tho 
unsuspecting one ialls into a divsmv slumber from 
which be may or may not aw iken. He is than r, hove l 
of any Hupoifluous rupees or articles of jewellery for 
which ho has i.o further use. 
One of the must eluborato treatises is 
that oil tho Nu.v vomica jilaiir, ivhicli now holds 
sucii an impurtant place in Wes'eru uiadioinr. We 
commend this to tho siuuoiits of eiieh 
things, but it ooutaiiis too much ph)siology f^r the 
layrtader. .Vila; iioiiaVo, or its alkil id strychnine, is 
nob much used as a p ison in India. Tlie action of 
tibncco on tbo llojd cnrpiiseles, hcsr‘, imisrl'U, 
nervous system and digestion, is (lisousiea uinlir t lo 
beading Mcotiana labacum. There seems lo Imve 
been great oppoailmn to tbe inlroJiiclioii of tho 
‘‘weed” in more oountries tliaii one. Por iuaiauoe, 
at one time a Turk wlio was caught smoking had a 
mVo thrust through his nose and was led in derieioii 
V>.?Lolithe city; atifl uP Ihe time cf 
Pc‘or tUrGrraU soult-taVing wai forhidd. n und r tl.o 
ponalty ol having the nose cut oft. Wo .re toll t.iit 
“ the ^a'uoof tobaeo '-smoking as a pi^ative in the 
'* rharmacop-aphiu InJica.-A history of t' o prl..- 
oinal drugs of vegetable origin in. t wit i i i liritieh 
Tii'its. By Hiigade-Sn g( o i William Diiii os, ret red, 
Surgeon-Major 0. I. II. Warden, and D.vid Hooper. 
Part IV. I.oudon:— Kegaii Paul, Trenoli, Taibuer and 
Co. Dd. Bombay ; — Educational Society's Press, 
Byo'uUa. Calcutta Thacker, Spink and Co. 1891. 
paroxysms of astlinm is well ostablislied, and in some 
cases its use appears to nftect a permanent cure." 
W" understand that asthma hss if Into years been 
decidedly on the increase amongst Eur. puaii ladies. 
Again, “ thrre can he no doubt ibnt the moderate use 
of t’diaeco-smoking is uit iiijiiriou.s to a great many 
p. opie,” (from wbioh wo m.ay conolu’e that the 
unthors anio'io), “but it is equally certain that on 
soma eoi B'i'nlioiis it produces inisrhievous elfrcts.” 
Wo ahoiild like t i be iiiformol how many clieroots 
of giveu I iigt'i and strength constitute *' moderate 
smoking i" but lliis intor nation is not given. We 
new come ti the dark side of tho picture and learn 
that “iho oxo'ssivo uso of the herb by smoking, 
smifliag, or oil wing. . . . IrsRens the iiaDir'd appetda 
more or less impairs digestion, . . . irritates the 
mouth aid throat, rendering it liiibilnally congested 
and impairing tiio purity oi lliavoic'. It iiidsuors a 
eonstaut s use of iiuiasinosa and iii-rvousnea witli 
eidgas ria sinking or tension, iialpitaton (irritible 
tiiari), liypnohouariisis, impaired memory, neuralgia’ 
and II while lio.st of other syiiiptuiiis. “ The mind is 
u’d to be fillrd with crude and gromidiess fiiicies 
leading to self-distiu-t and melancholy. The sleep is 
frrqu. ii'ly restless and dislurbed witli ilietrissing 
i r- ains.” Gentle smoker, ponder on this tonight, as 
you ignite year nth cigar 1 — iUulraa .ViiiY 
» -■ 
LinwiUN CoKPET! IN SEiiANOou — The Singapore 
Free PrcHS ot S ptembor 3rd aajs ; — We hoar that 
Liberian oolleo planting is extendi-ig in Selangor, 
and that Count Bernstoll is about to open np a 
new ostito near Kwala Lumpor. 
C.viiAVAN Tea in Siiieiiia. — In tlie Jllontrated 
London News ot 22nd Aug. lUaro is a tull-pago 
iilu-tration of a tea oaruvau from China on tho 
great pest roud in Siberia, by Mr, Julius M. Prioe, 
who writes ns follows on tho subject: — 
I presently saw a lvig.i oaravaii pass, which was 
but the forernniier of what wo afterwards met, day 
and night almost without iiiterniisdon, the whole way 
to Irkutsk. While m my were laden with Uiir. pern 
goo'.'s bound eaitward, more were o raiiig from tho 
Chineso tMutier with tea, so great is this trallio. The 
tea of China, iKioki d in bides of hide, is brought aorosa 
the Gobi desert l.y ox-wsgena or by camels as far as 
Kiaklita, tb • Bus, i in frontier town, wh re it is irans- 
fetr d to ale Iges or Sib. ri in curls, nco' riling t'l tho 
eea.on, and the long journey to Tomsk ii then oom- 
iiieiia. d, a j mrney tikirig over two month". Tbo sarao 
horses go tlio whole way ; hut they ace allowe.l to taka 
their own pace, and seldom do more than three miles 
HU hour. At. Tomsk the to.v is stored till tlie apriiitr, 
wbeu it is takeu by river steamer into Russia. Tea 
brought ovorlaud is eaul to rolaiii mote of its origiual 
fliviiiir tha I that wliieli, picked iu load, ha.s ni do a 
sea voygo, but the ditl'oionce is j.rt.bably so sliglit that 
ouly a . espirt could detect i'. There ate couipHr.a- 
tively Very fi-nv m. u iu chirge of ttieso iiiinieiisily 
V liiablo contignmf iit-, whiob elteii consist of as m iny 
as two liamlred and li ly sledg s — ono man to about 
ssveii horses as a ru'e— and Ihese a' night take it in 
turns to keep wafeli Eot' on too Great I'o..t R .ad a 
peculiar form of highway robbery exist- ; hales of lea 
are frequently Cut lo se U'ld stulon in tho dark hours 
by thieves, who lurk around taking alvant.-go of a 
driver iloking on hia sledg.'. The poor fe low then has 
to pay de-arly for hia “ forty winks," as he has to 
milks gjod the losa out ol hia wages, a very serious 
matter, eoasideiiiig Ih,! value of a larg.i bale of ten. 
Lust year I am iii'ormod tiicso thefts lieoamo so fro- 
qiieut and tho ihievis si daring that at last the 
drivers com' iued to l.avo their r< veiig", a.id wlio n on 
one or two occasions they managed to oa oh .a thief 
th- y iollicti d a dreadful punislimeiit upon l.i.n For, 
bmdiiig a stout birch sapliug to tbo grou d y moi s 
of a rope, they (isioiie.l ttm b..o's of tl.e victim’s 
hoad to it by tho hair, and then out t ie rope, rele.is3- 
ii.g the tree, which inimodiatoly sprang biok to its 
original position, and tho unfottuuato wretch was 
literally soalped. Ue was Iheu loft to his fate. 
