October i, 1891.I 
the TROPIO/M. AtSTRTGtJLTOniSt- 
367 
him that teas aro about to lose iu order to gratify his 
avarice; the very next moment, in the presence of iho 
buyer, ho blauiUy aud innoceiPly contraciicta himself. 
I taid before that a large proporth-u of the season’s 
crop is shipped direct to Loudon for salo by auction 
there. The tea broker abhors this foolish system of 
business; ho ban do sympathy either with it, or with 
its promoters, and is unceasiugly at pains to destroy it 
fur his own aggraodizeinont, Ue evinces great concern 
for a merchant’s welfare, altiiough in his heart of 
hearts be cares not a rtraw whether a merchant fails 
or prospers. It affoots him little one way or the other, 
A tea broker is a man of ciroumstances, hotter, a man 
of hue sympathetic tendencies, and in this respect 
resembles the cold obameleon. He can at a moment’s 
notice sadden ut a man's losses or gladden at hie 
profits, and in this fashion keep changing and re chan- 
fiing the colour of bis feelings during his daily calls 
ttcoordiiig to each ooe’e needs. He believes himself 
to be over worked, but can gtiiV find enough of tiihe 
|o indulge iu golf, tenuis, cricket, and football, each 
in its proper eeasou. Indeed be has so much leisure 
at his disposal that by excessive practice be excels 
iu all manner of pasttmes. He is one of the many 
who argues that “all work and no play makts Jack 
u dull boy.” lu all sincerity be is beard to say that 
It la not for tbe s»ke of playing so much as wise 
'<^gard for bia health that be does play. In shorty the 
tea broker is a clever, bappy-go^luoky fortunate fel- 
low; and bis motto is “Live tt?ia fire.”— “ Quill” in 
the Indian Einpin, 
govkrxment clnchona enterprise 
IN BENGAL. 
From the annual report of the Government Gin* 
ohona plantation and factory in Bengal for the year 
1800*91, it appears that tbe whole of the crop, wi*.h 
^he exception of a email quantity supplied on indent 
Bold to Government institutions, was sent to tbe Febri- 
luge factory for diipusal. The outturn of tbe factory 
showed a docreaae in the quantity of cinchona fobri- 
■uge ns compared with that produced during the 
precediug year : but there was a marked increase in 
sulphate of quinine, of wbioh 4,U10 pounds were mauu- 
|BQtarcd, against 1,833 pounds for the year 1880-00, 
Ibe revenue derived from the a»le of sulphate of 
quinine, cinchona, orystaline febrifuge, cinobona barks, 
and other products of tbe plantation was in excess of 
^bat derived from (be aame products in the previous 
year; while the net profits of the year’s worlcing, 
which amounted to B17,040, are oonsidetod satisfaD* 
•ory. The resolution on the Report states that, in 
Btarting tbe cinchona plantations, the Government did 
aim at a profit, its object being to secure for the 
people a cheap remedy against fever. The quinine 
^ftuufactnrtd at the Government factory can now be 
Bold at one rupee per ounce, and Dr. King observes 
that it would be possible still iurther to reduce the 
price if all the charitable dispensaries in tbe country 
Were to supply themselves with tbe Government drug 
^Bteud of buying it elsewhere. It is stated that the 
tiovemmeut drug is purer, and the luspector-Geoeral 
of civil hospitals will be asked to oonsiuer what steps 
Bhould be taken to extend the demand for Govern- 
tnent quinine, in order to bring about a further reduc- 
tion in prioe. Judging from the tenor of the resolution 
On ih% Report, it would appear that institutions helped 
oy Government may expect to be requested to draw 
Jheir supplies of quinine from the Government factory. 
At will be interesting to know what the Inspector- 
general of Civil ilospitala will have to say on the 
Bhbject, and how tbe charitable and other dispensaries 
View the enterprise. — Statesman. 
ECHOES OF SCIENCE. 
Flatinum is a very useful motnl in aoionee, btcaiise 
resists corrosion, and has a oo-effioieut of expansion 
nearly equal to that of glass, so that it can be 
Baielv fused into glais without fear of fracturing 
'll© Utter under changes of temperature. Mr. R. A, 
jeseenden, of Roseville, New Jersey, 17. S,, has, 
nowever, discovered au alloy of iron, nickel, cobalt, 
silicon, and gold or silver, which can bo used as 
a substitute for platinum. The co-efficient of expansion 
for gU*s is 85, that of platinum 05; whereas that 
of Iho new all»y can be made exactly the same 
us that of the glass with which it ia to be emjdoycd. 
Hence for vacuum tubes in particular it will bo 
very useful, as the air will not be able to enter at 
the point where the metal penetrate the glass on 
aoooniit of any nuequal shrinkage. 
To provent the frightful acoideots wbioh happen 
on steamships through tbe bursting of tlie copper 
steam pipes, the Fairfield SbipbollJing and Eu- 
gineeting Company of Oovan began tbe practice of 
lappiog the pipe outside with copper wire. They 
found, however, that copper wire loses much of its 
strength on being heated, and hure since tried Delta 
metal, which, at the temperature of molting tin, or 
>^i2deg. Fahr., was found to be much superior to 
copper not only in strength but in ductility,— 
BARK AND DRUG REPORT. 
(From the Ohemiat and Druggist) 
London, Aug. 39. 
CikChona.— T he cinchona auctions which were held this 
week again of very moderate extent, the quantity offered for 
Bale consisting of i— 
Oeylon bark . . 
EaR Indian bark ... 
Java bark 
South American bark 
Total ... 
There were a few paroele of fine bright druggist's barks 
from Madras and several loti of good olfioinatis cinchona, 
also from Britieh India ; but on the wools, the as- 
sortment offered nothing of importance tbe following 
are tbe quantities purchased by tbe principal buyers 
lb 
Agents for the Mannheim and Amsterdam works ... 100,066 
„ Auerbach works ... ... 63,530 
„ Frankfort o/M end Stuttgart works.. 69,180 
., Buruswickfaciory ... .,* 61,476 
„ Italian and American works ... 50,884 
Mesare. Howards A Sons ... ... ... 33,311 
Sundry druggists, Ac. ... ... ... 31,990 
PUgl. 
Pkgs. 
„ 738 of which 
713 were 
987 
It 
m „ 
.. 97 
*1 
»7 
.. 183 
•t 
a* 
. 8001 
t» 
l.»3 „ 
Total quantity of bark sold 
Bought In or withdrawn 
868,669 
88,967 
Total quantity offered ... 467,336 
The tone throughout the auctions was miserably dull, and 
about 30 per cent, of the bark fmoetly East Indian cinchonA 
from Bombay and Callout} was bought iu owing to insuffi- 
cient competitioc. The price paid were hardly up to the low 
standard of the last auctions, aud' the unit is hearer Id than 
lid per lb. 
It should be well understood that the mere weight of 
bark porchased aflorde no guide whatever to the quinine 
yield repreeeuted by it ; firms who buy a small quantity 
of bark by weight frequently take tbe richest lots, and 
vtOff versa. 
No detailed figures about the Java ehlpmeuta for the }ear 
coding June 30th arc yet to hand, but the following maybe 
taken ae approximately correct 
1887 1888 1689 1800 1601 
lb. lb. lb. lb. lb. 
Amsterdam 2,330,000 8,493,0000 4,416,000 4,760,000 6,000,000 
being au incrcaso over the aoason ]>reecdiug of 67, 36, 8 
and 37 per cent. During the monih of August of the 
last three years the shipmenia are given as follows ; 
1889, 700,000 Amit. lb. ; 1690, 760,000 Amst. lb. ; 1691, 
1.000,000 Amst. lb. 
Oiu (Bssextial).— C itronella, in tins, ll-lBd; intottlM, 
|d per 02., ou the spot ; aud (or delivery lOid per lb. in tiua 
aud lid per lb. in diuiUH, e.i. f. torms. . ^ ^ . 
tjUlNlNE. — The niurket remaius very dull, aud the total 
sales repotted during the week only amounted to about 
36,000 oz. at lOd per o*. for Usrmoa bulk from gpot 
Until January delivery. On Wednesday night a sale of 
6,u00 C8. spot was reported at 9ld prr or., but it la 
doubtful whether that transneduu actually took place— 
at any rate, there are ho further sellers at the figure 
today. A New York oorrespondeut wr tea under date 
of August 18th : *• Quiulne is very dull with us, and wo 
think will KQ lower. F. A W. reduced their price 3 cents 
tills week. There is praotioally no demand for any la>ge 
quantiUei.’’ 
