THE TRDPlCn. «aRrODl.TUmST. 
4 S 4 
[jANUiRV I, iSgi. 
BARK AND DRUG REPORT. 
Oeylon... ... 
Baut Indiaa 
Java ... ... 
South America... 
West Coast Atrican 
(From the Chemist and Dniggist.J 
Lo:«dos, Oot. 24th. 
ClKOHONi.— The fortnightly bark actiona on Tncsday 
wore rather larger than nsual, bat the average alanclard 
of the Ceylon and Indian butks olforod was eivcodlngly 
low. In foot, with the exception of two or three amall 
parcole of yellow and grey barke, the flguro of 4d i»r 
Id. woe only twice reached. The catalougoa oompriued the 
following quantltloa of the various doscriptiona of bark 
Faokagea. Packagee. 
602 of which 602 were Bold 
S2.5 „ 204 
84 .« 04 .. 
622 .. 307 1. 
295 ,. 296 „ 
l.T.'M 1.I03 
Tho unusually large quantity of Africau 'lark offered 
was nearly all of very recent import. It waa fairly well 
competed for. and brought not altogether unantiafaotory 
prioia. Much of It waa beully harveatei The South 
^erioau barks oonalaiod exotueively of OaUaayoe, partly 
of tho flat variety usually mot with at tho drug auctiona. 
and parUy of cultivated Bolivian bark. The following are 
the approximate quantitiOB purchased by the pcinciiial 
buyers 1 — 
XjDa 
Acents (or the Maonhoim and Amstordam wurkH... 
„ Bmaswiok factory... **. 47.129 
,, Frankfort o/M aud Stuttgart works 41,656 
Messrs. Howards & Sous ... ... ... 
Ageuts for the Amerlcau and Italian w^rks ... 17,911 
„ Auerbach factory ... 
Sundry druggists.. ... ... ... 43.572 
Total quantity of bark sold 
Bought In or withdrawn... 
... 25,130 
Total quantity offered... ... ... 991,616 
Itthould be well underMtood that the mere weight of 
lark purchased affords no guide whatever to tboqaiuine 
yield repreaontod by it ; Arms who buy a small quaotity 
of bark oy weight fre()aenUy take the richest lota, and 
vies versa. 
The next Amsterdam aalea will bo held on Nowmbor 
12th. The barke from private planiallono to be offered 
on that oooaeion have not yet oven got ready, but from 
the QovemmeuI plantation, ther. will he 29 tons of 
bark, including about B Ions Suecirubra, li tana Offlei- 
naUa, aud 19? tona Ledger barfci. One parcel of 42 
bslea ground Lodger stem bark analyses 9 74 per coot. 
Oils [VabioubJ.— C oconut oil rematna very atwidy, the 
Bpotfl pricoB being 248 9d for O.ylon (o i f • , 93. to 23fl 3d), 
aud 29a to 294 OJ for Cochin o. 1. 298. 
QOINIMK.— A traDSaolion between two brokers la reported 
to^y at 9d per ox for Bcoond-hand aenuan bulk. The 
quantity thus Bold woe only 2,0j« ox. This la the lowest 
price the article bag yet tonched. It is said that a good 
deal of buslnoas baa boon douo quietly lately, of which 
no particulars have been allowed to transpire, but it has 
all been done at the price quoted on the market. The 
Uuitvd Statea official returna ehow that during the first 
nine months of 1891 tho imports of quinine into the 
Btatea have been about 500,090 ox. and of cinchona bark 
200,000 lb, lea. than In the oorrcepondlng period of 1890. 
PEARLS MADE TO ORDER. 
An ingenious American has applied for a patent for 
making real peatla by artificial means. Tho material 
of which the oyeter makes its pearl is certainly cheap 
and plentiful enough. If you take the shell of a pearl 
oyster and sorape or griud oil the outer ooat you find 
a sheet of about one-oightb of an inch in tlyokiiesa 
of the precise subetanoe which the oyster deposits 
around any foreign body, as a grain of sand, &o., 
which gets caught uudet its mantle, thus produoing 
the pearl of oommeroo. Why not, says tha experimen- 
talist, take this sheet .of naore, diasolvo it in aoid, 
and then re-posit the pearl in layers about a shot or 
a pea euspendod in the solution, thna copying the 
prooosaee of Nature f Tha idea oeems to open np 
vast possibilities, for in this way pearls of any size or 
shape might be procured at tho fancy of the operator. 
Thera would be no difiioaUy in taming them out as 
large as billiard halls, or as footballs, even, for the 
matter of that. The trouble is that conotetions tbne 
obtained are mere lumps of carbonate of lime, whioli 
entirely lack the iridosceiioo wliioh in tho pearl is due 
to atriioture. Tliis little diflieulty has always stood 
in the way of the suooossral imitation of tbeoyatcr’e 
prodnotiou ; but this latest inventor claims that lie 
has entirely overcome it, eo as. to be able, not only to 
manufacture peals, but also to coat arliclea with the 
material, juat as spoons aud forks are plated with 
silver. Whether the claim will or will not be made 
good in pr.otice remains to be proved. A posiibly 
easier and more certain mode of pearl production 
is indioated by an extraordinary troaeuro which was 
lately shown at the Smitbaouisn Institute, This was 
a pearl, the eize of a pigeon’s egg, of an exquisite 
rose colour, and the reoeplaolo eonlaiuing it was the 
original freshwater muisel lu whioh it had been formed. 
The nucleus of this gem beyond oompare was nothing 
more nor less than an oval Inmp of beeswax, wbioli 
bad been placed a few years ago between the valves 
of the molluso, whiob, to protect iteelf from the irri- 
tation oaused by the preaence of the foreign body, at 
onoe proceeded laboriously to ooat it with the pini, 
nacre it secreted (or lining ite shell. The mussel w,^g 
kept in au aquarium while engaged in its lengthy tas tv* 
It baloDgs to a spaoies common in American rivers,, 
and it ie .nggeeted that the Bucoess of tho exporimont 
opens to everybody the possibility of establishing a 
small pearl factory (or himself by keeping a tank 
full of tnme mussels aud humbugging them into 
making “ great piuk pearla ” (or him. Only the iu- 
toiiding experimentalist is warned against avarioe 
the ” nnoleus ” must be introduced well under the 
mantle of the oreaturef or it will not irritate euffi- 
oieutly ; and, above all, it muet not be too large. A 
great surface takes a long time to oover, and muti- 
plioa the risks always attendant npon artificial oultiice. 
If one will be satisfied with pearls the size of peae 
the oheneea of snooesa will be so muoh the more pro- 
mising . — Colonies and India. 
THE CELEBRATED MAHWAH TREE, 
BASSIA LATIFOLIA. 
Tho Department of Agriculture haa suooessfully iu- 
troducoJ for the first time into Australia this famous 
tree. It is a heudeomu tree, attaining a height of 
from 40ft. to GOft., and a native of Bengal, in India, 
where it is carefully cooserved for the sake of its 
auuual crop of edible Hu were. It possesses tbe ad- 
vantage of ifariviug in dry atony ground, but will flourish 
in almost any kind of soil from tbe sea-level up to 3,000 
h. altitude. When tbe tree is a few years old it pro- 
ducos annual crops of flowers in great quantities. 'Those 
ooniaiu about 50 per com of sugar, aud outer largely 
into coDSUmptioD, and are considered a very nutritious 
aud wholesome food both for men aud (or cattle, pigs, 
poultry, &c, Mabwah-fed pork has a high reputation, 
A single tree will yield from 200 lb, to 40U lb. of flowers 
annually. The flowers are eaten both fresh and dried; 
In a fresh state they possess a peculiar Insoious taste. 
When dried the flavour has some resemblance to that 
of inlcrior kinds of figs. In a dried state they will 
keep a length of time, and are carried long distances 
for sale in the bazaars. 
A wholesome spirit ie distilled from the flowers, very 
similar to Irish whisky. This spirit is manufactured 
to a great extent in India, and the Government reve- 
nue from this source aloue is oousiderable. Tbo seeds 
yieU by expretsiou a largo quantity of conoreto oil 
(of the same value aa oooonut oil) which is used iu 
lamps, to adulteralo ghee, iu the manufaoturo of 
oaudles and soap, and for onliuary purposes. The oakn 
or residue is goofl feed for cattle, aud is a valuable 
fertiliser to worn-out lands. The timber of this tree is 
bard aud strong, olose and even-grained, and is used 
(or tha wheels of oartisges, railway sleepers, &o. A gum 
of some oommeroial value exudes from tbe bark. 
The oultivation of this famous tree is receiving in- 
creased attention among planters and others in various 
parts of the world, as it >6 found to be a highly profit- 
able oommeroial crop. 
