44 [February, 1902.] 
IMPERIAL INSTITUTE JOURNAL. 
Vol. VIII. No. 86: 
Mr. Obalski recommends the working of the sand by means of steam shovels feeding 
cylindrical driers, from whence the ore would be taken to electro-magnetic separators and 
then shipped. The motive power could be supplied by water-power in these regions ; wood- 
fuel is abundant, or Nova Scotia coal could be landed there for $3 a ton. 
THE QUININE TREATMENT OF MALARIA. 
Until quite recently it was generally believed that malarial fever in man was caused 
by the inhalation of foul air from swamps ; but this theory is now untenable, since it 
is proved to be possible to produce the disease in a healthy person by inoculation with 
the blood taken from a malaria patient. The theory is accepted in medical circles that 
the disease is produced by the introduction into the blood of a specific germ or bacillus, 
and the peculiar liability of inhabitants of swampy districts to the disease is explained by 
the observation made by Ross and others, that the mosquitoes which occur in great 
numbers in such districts are “hosts” for the malaria germs. A person bitten by a 
mosquito infected with the germ will, therefore, be inoculated with malarial fever. 
Various observers have lived in malarial districts in Italy, in mosquito-proof houses, 
without contracting the disease, conclusively proving the part played by these insects in 
the dissemination of malaria. 
Professor Koch has recently suggested the use of quinine as a means of combating 
malaria, since he has observed that its judicious administration to malaria patients 
causes the disappearance of the specific bacillus from their blood. Pie has used quinine 
in this way for some years with successful results, and gives the following particulars of 
the dosage which he has found most suitable In ordinary cases I gram (15 ‘432 grains) 
should be taken by adults for two days in succession with intervals of nine days, for a 
period of two or three months. In obstinate cases 1 gram should be given for three days 
with intervals of seven days ; in cases of quartan malaria larger doses are required. Where 
the patient is averse to taking quinine the same dose should be subcutaneously injected. 
The author gives many examples showing the effectiveness of his quinine treatment, 
a feature of the cases being the increasing rarity of relapses. Pie ascribes the great 
decrease of malaria in Europe to the use of quinine, in spite of the existence of swamps 
and mosquitoes, and gives the following instances from his experience : — 
In the German army 30 years ago the cases amounted to 54 '5 per thousand, whilst 
at the present time the rate is only 0^45 per thousand. At Spandau, a particularly un- 
healthy place, the garrison ratio was 66 4 cases per thousand, whilst it has now' diminished 
to one per thousand ; at Pola, the chief seaport of Istria, in i860 there were 887 cases 
per thousand, while the latest returns show a fall of this ratio to 30 cases. In each of 
these examples the decrease is traceable to the use of quinine. A peculiar feature is 
shown at Pola, where the ra(io in the army has decreased, whilst it has increased amongst 
the civilian population. This is considered to be due to the medical supervision and the 
prompt measures that can be taken in the garrison. 
PLANTING AND NEW PRODUCTS IN ZANZIBAR. 
The Zanzibar Annual Report, of Mr. R. N. Lyne, Director of Agriculture, furnishes a 
few interesting notes on planting progress, etc., in that district. As a result of extensive 
experiments with Liberian and Arabian coffee plants, he recommends in future the adoption 
of the Arabian species. About 2,400 Liberian coffee plants were grown on 4 1- acres of land 
and produced an unusually good result ; although they suffered to some extent from the 
attacks of snails ; but this pest was checked by the application of lime and ashes round the 
base of each plant. The Arabian coffee was quite as successful and produced a much better 
berry, commanding a higher price. 
Tea cultivation appears to be still in an experimental stage. The soil is highly suitable, 
but there is only sufficient land to grow tea for local requirements ; at present 13 acres are 
under cultivation with tea plants reared from Cinghalese seed. 
Cacao has been tried to some extent, and has proved a delicate plant to rear. It is 
liable to attacks from insects, and suffers considerably during periods ol extreme heat and 
drought. The plants of Pitkecolobium saman and the jak tree have been adopted as a 
permanent shade for the cacao. The hois immortelle , which is extensively used for that 
purpose in Ceylon and Trinidad, does not thrive satisfactorily and has been discarded. 
The hot, dry weather which affected the cacao was equally destructive to young Para rubber 
trees. It has also been noticed that low-lying moist ground was not suited to the cultivation 
of the latter. 
Vanilla has proved successful, the plantations now containing over 3,000 vines in very 
good condition ; Some are shaded by “mbono” creeper, for the remainder the adjoining forests 
afford sufficient protection. Results show that the “ mbono” is hardly sufficient, whilst the 
forest shade is, in certain cases, too dense. 
Experiments have been made with the fibre of China grass ( Bcehmeria nivea) on a small 
scale. Considerable attention has been paid to the production of “fine” cloves, which by 
their enhanced value easily repay the extra trouble entailed. It is important that the sending 
to market of large quantities of “fine” cloves {say 400 or 500 bales) should be avoided. 
The small parcels of 25 to 35 bales, i.e. 900 to 1,200 lbs. of “fine” cloves readily command 
2d. per lb. more than the “fair” cloves, and the extra labour involved such as hand-picking, 
special drying, etc., is very slight. 
The cocoanut trees in the Dunga plantation have not yielded well, the last year having 
been bad for all kinds of fruit. 
GENERAL NOTES. 
SUGAR-REFINING IN ENGLAND. 
A paper on this subject, dealing especially with the improvements, both in processes and 
machinery, which have been introduced during the last twenty-five years, was read at a 
recent meeting in Glasgow of the local section of the Society of Chemical Industry, and is 
printed in the current number (November, 1901) of the official [ournal of the Society. 
The author, Mr. T. L. Patterson, F.I.C., describes and discusses with considerable 
detail methods for the decolourisation of brown sugar, the concentration of syrups in vacuum 
pans, and the regeneration of animal charcoal by processes which do not impair its 
decolourising qualities, and finally gives some account of the condition of this industry in 
England as compared with its position in 1S75. The consumption of sugar in this country 
in 1875 was 860,000 tons, equivalent to 60 lb. per head of the population ; in 1900 this 
amount had increased to 1,489,000 tons, equal to 81 '2 lb. per person. During the same 
period the English output of refined sugar fell from 760,000 tons to 610,000 tons, while the 
import, chiefly of German and Austrian origin, increased from 100,000 to 950,000 tons, i.e , , 
the import increased 81 '5 per cent, while the home production decreased by 20 per cent. 
During the same period the number of refineries in operation in this country has fallen 
from 42 to 11 j thus in London 20 factories were open in 1875, while only two are now at 
work, in Liverpool the figures are respectively 9 and 3, and in Greenock 13 and 5. The 
reason for this decline is, of course, the operation of the bounty system in Germany, Austria, 
Belgium, and France, and it is only by continually improving the appearance of their sugar 
that British makers have been able to obtain the enhanced prices which enable them to 
make a profit in the face of such unfair competition. 
ZEBU CATTLE IN TRINIDAD. 
In 1S79 a few young, pure-bred Zebu cattle were introduced into Trinidad, and reared on 
the Government farm, with the object of improving the stock available there : the manager, 
Mr. C. W. Meaden, has furnished a report on the herds that have resulted from that intro- 
duction. Sufficient time has now elapsed to enable comparison to be made of the utility of 
the imported cattle with that of the native breeds, with the result that the superiority of the 
imported animal has been clearly established. They are capable of long-continued exertions 
in general agricultural work and require but little attention. On the other hand, as the 
following analyses show, the Zebu cows give milk somewhat weaker than that of the native 
animal. 
Sp. Grav. 
Solids (not fat). 
Fat. 
Ash. 
Cream, 
Zebu cow 
1031 ‘0 
8-9 
372 
072 
4 ’5 
Milch cow 
10277 
9'°9 
4*55 
075 
7-0 
This defect has, 
to some extent, 
been remedied by 
crossing native cows 
with the Zebu 
bulls. 
The beef obtained from Zebu cattle is of high quality when the animals are fed. for 
slaughtering. There is already a considerable demand for pure and half-breed cattle of this 
class in the island, and their production appears to be a profitable industry, the prices obtain- 
able being from ^50 to £100 each for bulls and ^20 to £$o for heifers. 
RAFFIA FIBRE. 
This material is the well-known “ bast ” employed by gardeners for tying vines, flowers, 
and plants to supports. It is obtained from the raffia or rofia palm, indigenous to 
Madagascar, and growing to an almost unlimited extent in that island, which, at present, 
according to the Indian Agriculturist (November, I901), enjoys a complete monopoly in the 
supply of this fibre. 
The branches of this palm are of the usual character, and consist of a central stalk 
bearing from 80 to 100 long green leaves arranged in an im pari pinnate manner. The 
individual leaves contain a central midrib, which the Malagasy utilize for the manufacture of 
baskets, and a lamina from which the outer skin can be peeled, leaving an inner layer that in 
turn can be readily removed, torn into strips and dried in the sun, when it becomes the 
“bast” of commerce. 
It was at one time woven by the natives into a coarse kind of cloth, generally used for 
wrapping goods, but a somewhat finer variety is still used as clothing by certain coast tribes. 
For export to Europe the material is collected into skeins, and these again into bales, 
like those in which raw cotton is imported. Its softness and tenacity make it almost 
indispensable to horticulturists, and so it always commands a good price in the European 
markets. 
THE ALKALOIDS OF JABORANDI LEAVES. 
A short account of recent work on the characterisation of the alkaloids of this drug has 
already appeared in this JOURNAL (Vol. VI., 294), when it -was pointed out that the leaves now 
found in commerce, viz., those obtained from Pilocarpus microphylhts , contained pilocarpine 
and its isomeride isopilccarpine. Since that time further work, both in England and 
Germany, has made it possible to obtain some further insight into the constitution of the 
chief alkaloid pilocarpine, and has proved that the structure previously assigned to this 
substance by the French chemists, Ilardy and Calmels, is inaccurate. The oxidation of the 
alkaloids furnishes ammonia methylamine and a series of complicated paraffinic acids, of 
which the lowest member has been obtained artificially and its exact constitution thereby 
determined f Jo welt, Joum. Chem. Soc December , 190 1 J. The facts already ascertained do 
not seem to be in harmony with the view that pilocarpine is a comparatively simple pyridine 
derivative, as was formerly assumed. It is to be hoped that the investigation, which is still 
proceeding in England in the laboratories of a firm of alkaloid makers, will result eventually 
in the synthetic production of pilocarpine, and so reduce the price and ensure a constant 
supply of this alkaloid, which now finds a continuously increasing application in medicine. 
THE INDIGO AND COTTON CROPS. 
The general memorandum oh the indigo crops of India shows a general decrease of the 
area under cultivation ; this decline ranges from 1 1 per cent, in Bengal (last year the decrease 
was 20 per cent.), to 40 per cent, in the North-West Provinces. As the weather in Bengal 
has been consistently favourable, it is estimated that the out-turn will be S5 to 90 per cent, of 
a normal crop. In the North-West Provinces and Oudh circumstances have not been so 
favourable ; the out-turn is variably estimated at from 50 to 85 per cent, of the normal. 
In the Punjab the area under cultivation is about S6,ooo acres, as against 1x5,700 acres 
last year ; this decline is chiefly accounted for by a deficient supply of water. A slight 
increase is noticeable in Madras, the area being now 166,000 acres. In every district 
general complaint is made of the decrease in prices, which is causing many factories to close. 
Reports on cotton crops show a decrease in the Punjab of 12 per cent, on the area sowm 
last season, in the North-West Provinces the average is about the same, and in Behar an 
increase of 17 per cent, above the average is recorded. The exact state of the crops in other 
districts is not at present known. 
THE MINERAL DEPOSITS OF PALESTINE. 
Tlx is forms the subject of a communication to Kirch off’s Technische B latter from a 
German mining engineer in Palestine. 
Valuable mineral deposits have recently been discovered on both sides of the Jordan and 
the Dead Sea, consisting mostly of phosphate, the most important ingredient of artificial 
manure ; whilst investigation has shown that the bituminous chalk springs of Nebi Musa 
contain from thirty to forty per cent, of asphalt. These mineral deposits afford the necessary 
material for an important industry, but better means of communication are necessary to ensure 
their development. This may not be far distant, now that the Turkish Government is 
planning a continuation of the Jaffa-Jerusalcm railroad. 

Norwegian Wood Pulp. — Reporting upon the trade and commerce of Norway, the United 
States Consul-General Dundas states that the production of pulp, especially mechanical pulp, was 
not appreciably larger in 1900 than in the preceding year, owing to the scarcity of water, but 
prices were very high— on the average about 55s. per ton, compared with 28s. to 29s. in the 
summer of 1899, while as much as 65s. was paid for prompt delivery— and as the demand was 
very great, manufacturers were masters of the situation. But only about half of the production 
profited by the rise in prices, the rest having been sold in advance. As formerly, the United 
kingdom was the largest customer, with Germany, France, Belgium, Spain, and others in order 
of precedence. 
1899. •* - 1900. 
The quantity exported was : — Dry . . 19,768 tons. 21,54610ns. 
Wet . . 284,023 ,, 301 -545 
Of which from Christiania : — Dry . . 8,741 ,, 6,670 ,, 
Wet . . 34.265 ,, 38.052 ,, 
The same conditions applied to cellulose, or chemical pulp, added to which the high price of coal 
is said to have been felt in no small degree by those works dependent on its use, so that on the 
whole 1900 is characterised as only a fairly good year, some factories doing well, but others the 
reverse. The total export was 94(885 tons dry and 10,288 tons wet (of which 68,525 tons went to 
the United Kingdom), compared with 75,731 tons dry and 7,490 tons wet in 1899, The quantity 
exported through the port of Christiania was 31,403 tons dry and 3,948 tons wet in 1899. The 
foregoing figures include a little re-exported Swedish cellulose. 
