IMPERIAL INSTITUTE JOURNAL. 
Vol. VI 1 L No. 96. 
322 [December, 1902.] 
one another and could develop normally. In view of the high prices now obtainable for 
textile fibres, attention has been drawn to the desirability of creating new plantations and 
of submitting the fibres to systematic cultivation and exploitation. It thus becomes of 
importance to consider which plant would yield the best results. The contradictory opinions 
of fibre manufacturers with regard to the relative values of Fureraea and Agave sisalana , have 
led to a comparative investigation of the production of fibre by these two plants, an account 
of which is published in the Annual Report for 1901 of the Station Agronomiquc of 
Mauritius. The results show that the sisal would be the more profitable plant to cultivate. 
The quantity of l'urcraea fibre exported from Mauritius has varied considerably in recent 
years ; 3,100 tons were exported in 1900 at an average price of 302 rupees per ton, whilst 
in 1901 only 1,243 tons were exported at an average price of 321 rupees per ton. The 
prices obtained for this fibre are far below those obtained for sisal in countries such as 
Mexico and the Bahamas, where the Agave receives a regular cultivation. The quantity of 
fibre obtainable from Sisal amounts to about 3^ per cent, of the weight of the leaves, 
whereas Fureraea yields only about 2 \ per cent. Although the Fureraea fibre is finer and 
more supple than that of Sisal, yet for this very reason it is easier to prepare white and clean 
products from the latter plant than from the former. The vegetation of the two plants 
presents but little difference, and it may be presumed that they would yield practically the 
same number and weight of leaves per arpent. It is estimated that one arpent of land would 
yield annually from 630 to 1,050 kilos, of Sisal fibre or from 450 to 75 ° kilos, of that of 
Fureraea. Both plants are well adapted for the utilisation of dry, stony ground, unsuitable 
for the cultivation of the sugar-cane, but their composition shows that they abstract a 
considerable quantity of mineral substances from the soil ; since they yield good products on 
dry and arid ground, it is evident that they possess a great power of assimilation and can 
utilize the soil to greater advantage than other and more exacting plants. In this industry, 
however, only the insignificant quantity of mineral substance which is contained in the fibre 
is exported, whilst nearly the whole of the matter removed from the soil remains as residues 
which could be utilized as manure. Analyses have been made of the ash of the leaves of 
both Fureraea and Sisal, which show that from a practical point of view their composition 
may be considered to be identical. From the composition of the green leavs of these fibre 
plants, it is seen that they require, on an average, the same amount of phosphoric acid, but 
more potassium and a much larger quantity of calcium than an ordinary crop of sugar-cane. 
THE EXTRACTION OF ESSENTIAL OILS IN THE WEST INDIES. 
The production of essential oils has hitherto been one of the minor industries of the 
West Indies, and is one which is capable of greater development. Dominica, whose share 
in the trade is greater than any of the other islands, has exported in the last ten years 
essential oils amounting in value to ,£48,022. The various oils which have been prepared, 
and the methods of extraction adopted in Dominica, are described in the West Indian 
Bulletin, Vol. ill., No. 2, in a paper by Mr. J. H. Hart, Superintendent of the Botanic 
Gardens, Trinidad. 
The “ distillation ” method consists in distilling the material with water in an ordinary 
still, having an arrangement to keep the contents constantly stirred. The “ expression ” 
method consists in forcing out the oil from the leaves by powerful pressure. Oils are obtained 
from citrus fruits by means of a machine called an icuelle, which ruptures the oil sacs in the 
peel, causing the oil to run out. 
The following oils have been prepared from material grown on the lands of the Botanic 
Department, Trinidad, viz : — Citronella, lemon-grass, Seville orange, sweet orange, lime, lemon, 
mandarin orange, clove, pimento, bay, lemon-bay, eucalyptus, mace, nutmeg, and camphor. 
Citronella is new to the West Indies, and is more valuable than lemon-grass, being used 
largely as a perfume for soap. 
Oil of Mandarin orange has not hitherto been used to any extent, as it has been difficult 
to obtain except in small quantities, but it grows readily in Trinidad. 
Lemon-bay oil is obtained from the leaves of a variety of Pimenta acris , which is strongly 
lemon-scented ; the oil contains citral. 
Good samples of oils have been prepared from refuse mace and wormy nutmegs which 
were unsaleable. 
In view of the Japanese Government’s monopoly of the camphor trade of Formosa, there 
appears to be an opening for a very profitable trade in this substance. The camphor tree 
will grow readily in the West Indies, some which were planted three years ago at the Trinidad 
Experiment Station being now ten feet high. More camphor occurs in the wood of the tree 
than in the leaves or young branches, and is obtained from the wood by distillation, oil of 
camphor then being extracted from the solid by pressure. 
Probably the most promising oil is that obtained from the bergamot fruit, the best oil 
being yielded by graftings of selected kinds. The material for producing the oil should be 
carefully sorted, and variations in the quality result in an inferior oil. 
The lion. W, Fawcett suggests the cultivation of Cananga odorata , from which the 
perfume ylang-ylang is obtained. It is a valuable oil, and the plant grows with great facility 
in Jamaica. 

GENERAL NOTES. 
THE BANANA INDUSTRY IN JAMAICA. 
Banana cultivation seems to be one of the most promising industries of Jamaica, and an 
account of it, written by the Hon. W. Fawcett, appears in the West Indian Bulletin, 
Vol. Hi., No. 2. There were over 29,000 acres of banana trees under cultivation in Jamaica 
at the end of the year 1901, during the last nine months of which nearly nine million bunches 
were exported from the island, being about double the amount exported in 1897. Statistics 
compiled from the accounts of several large estates show that the industry is a very profit- 
able one, the receipts being, as a rule, about twice the expenditure. 
There are several varieties of bananas known, but the only one exported from Jamaica 
to any extent is that known as the Martinique or Pouyat variety, this being the best for the 
purpose, though the “ Guindy ” from Madras is also good. Some red bananas are exported 
to America, but are only used as a decorative fruit for the table, and the high price obtained 
for them is maintained by exporting them in small quantities. 
The soil of Jamaica is admirably adapted for the cultivation of the plant, the roots of 
which require a deep loam, well drained but retentive of moisture. If the ground is either too 
dry or too wet, the roots decay. If the tree is exposed to strong winds, the leaves are soon 
torn to shreds ; from this fact and the nature of the soil required, it is seen that the banana 
was originally developed in forest-land where it was protected from wind, and so the best 
situation for a banana plantation is a cleared forest with shelter belts of trees left standing. 
In planting, the trees are spaced, as a rule, to allow them about 15 feet square, but the 
space required varies with the locality. In harvesting the fruit, considerable care is necessary 
with that intended for export, in order to prevent bruising. The bunches, which weigh from 
80 to 100 lb. each, are cut down by one man, while another catches them as they fall ; they 
are then wrapped in “trash” and removed in waggons. 
The banana is sometimes attacked by a fungus ( Marasmius ), but, according to the most 
experienced planters, the disease does not appear to have any effect on healthy trees. The 
fibre of the stems is not sufficiently good for rope-making, but might be used in the 
manufacture of paper. 
TREATMENT OF ZINCIFEROUS ORES. 
In connection with the treatment of complex sulphide zinc-silver lead ores of Broken 
Hill, it is stated that the process carried out at Cockle Creek Works of the Sulphide Corpora- 
tion is one of direct smelting and is of great simplicity. It does not require the intervention of 
new plant and, while free from any of the troubles inseparable from wet methods of treatment, 
electrolysis, etc., has, up to the present, developed none of its own. It consists in the direct 
distillation of zinc-lead “ middlings ” and zinc “ concentrates,” or the ore itself, from the 
calcined material in the ordinary |zinc retort plant, by a method which prevents the de- 
struction of the retorts by the liberated lead and also precludes the volatilization of the lead 
with the attendant silver losses into the spelter. The essential feature of the process is stated 
to consist in treating the ore in the first instance as a zinc one, and using bituminous coal 
instead of anthracite, the soft coal being readily obtainable in unlimited quantity, and cheaply, 
from the collieries at Newcastle. The effect of using coking coal is the formation of a 
coherent coke in the retort which has the property of holding up in its pores all the metallic 
lead and silver contained in the charge, the resultant briquette being in an ideal state for 
further treatment, forming to a great extent its own fuel. Being thus held up in minute 
beads which entirely permeate the hard cake, the lead is completely prevented from running 
together and soaking down through the charge on to the walls of the distilling retort. 
Destruction of the retort on this account is therefore entirely obviated, while, since practically 
none of the lead passes off with the distilled zinc, the product is of remarkable quality ; the 
impurities in the zinc amount to only 1 per cent, as against 2 and 3 per cent, and over from 
the previous methods of distillation. At the inventor’s experimental works in England over 
80 per cent, of the zinc has been recovered as against up to 7 ° per cent, at Cockle Creek. 
There Is a complete recovery of the lead and silver for ordinary treatment. 
*5*. 
LECTURES AND PAPERS. 
THE ANGLO-RUSSIAN LITERARY SOCIETY. 
At a meeting of the Anglo-Russian Literary Society at the Imperial Institute on 
November 4, Mr. E. A. Cazalet, President of the Society, in the chair, the Reverend 
Mr. Arthur Thompson kindly read two papers in the unavoidable absence of their authors. 
The first one, entitled Golden Links, was by Miss Ropes, who, Mr. Cazalet explained 
in his opening remarks, had written no less than seventy tales and stories besides collaborating 
with her brother, Mr. Arthur Reed Ropes, on ;the recent novel, On Peter's Island, which 
showed an intimate knowledge of contemporary Russian life. Mr. Ropes was well known as 
a lyric writer who, under the noin de plume of Adrian Ross, had written the libretti of 
San Toy, A Greek Slave, The Messenger Boy , etc., etc. 
Miss Ropes’s short and graceful essay dwelt upon the great need fora closer acquaintance 
with one another by England and Russia. Only by this means could more friendly relations 
be really established. This closer acquaintance it was the aim of the Anglo-Russian Literary 
Society to bring about. It strove to encourage the mutual interchange of thought and opinion, 
with a view to a more complete understanding of the conditions under which the two nations 
thought and wrote, and it enabled us to show our appreciation of the great efforts put forth by 
Russian pioneers of modern literature and sometimes briefly to review their work. 
It was a wholesome and a very enlightening experience thus to look into the heart of 
another country through the windows which its own authors had made. What we saw 
through these windows was more likely to be the plain, unvarnished truth than any of the 
superficial comments of mere visitors and travellers. 
The second paper by Mr. Parker (Professor of Chinese at Owen’s College, Manchester), 
entitled Sven Hedln and Lob Nor, was of special interest, coming before the Society as it 
did just before the appearance of Dr. Sven Hedin’s book on the same subject. 
The paper, which was necessarily somewhat abstruse and not easy to grasp at one sitting, 
consisted of a careful summary of information collected by Mr. Parker from the Chinese 
dynastic histories, and bearing upon the regions visited by the great Swedish traveller. 
In the course of his paper Mr. Parker quoted the opinions of some Russian authorities on 
the subject, and also referred to the great Italian traveller, Marco Polo, whose Chinese 
wanderings took him, more than 600 years ago, into these same little-known regions. 
Marco Polo had travelled from Cotan (Khotan) through Peim Ciacian (Cherchen) to the city 
and desert of Lob. The city of Lob was placed by him at the entrance of the desert of that 
name, “ consisting of mountains and valleys of sand.” Four Chinese histories made allusions 
to these drifting sands, two specifying the particular one where old camels gave warning of 
approaching winds, as being “north-west ofTsumoh ; ” a third as “ north-west of Shen-Shen ; ” 
and a fourth as “ north-west of the ‘Tu-ICu’-hun” (who occupied part of the country in the 
fifth century). Marco Polo also described the traditions of mysterious sounds and voices in 
the desert, at the end of which was the city of “ Sacchiou ” (Sha Chou or Tun-hwang). 
After reading the paper with helpful explanations, Mr. Thompson made some remarks, 
dwelling upon the great interest which he had always felt in Marco Polo, and expressing the 
hope that Mr, Parker would some day contribute another paper to the Society, dealing more 
fully with the experiences of this thirteenth century traveller. 

PROCEEDINGS OF INSTITUTIONS. 
THE INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS. 
The 85th session of the Institution of Civil Engineers was inaugurated on the 4th ult,, 
when the President, Mr. J. C. HawkSHAW, in the course of his address, said that the 
last century would always be memorable for the birth and growth to maturity and, as some 
said, to an honourable old age of traction by steam power on railways. Ear-reaching as 
the results of this growth had been throughout the world, this country could not have reaped 
so rich a harvest from it without a corresponding growth of our dock system, which had 
also made its mark on the 19th century. Seeing how well provided our home ports 
now were with quays, alongside which vessels could be loaded and discharged in the 
shortest possible time, we might do more to give our Indian Empire similar advantages. 
The absence of such wharves on the long seaboard of 2,000 miles frem Calcutta to Bombay 
increased the cost of goods landed or shipped from the ports there, and might cause serious 
inconvenience in war time. 
The report of the Royal Commission appointed in 1900 to enquire into the administra- 
tion of the Port of London emphasized the fact that our trade was growing faster than 
our ports were being fitted to accommodate it. When existing dock companies could not 
meet the expenditure called for by the ever-growing size of ships and the demands for more 
rapid means of loading and discharge it was well that the docks they owned should pass into 
other hands, as they had already begun to do. We owed our docks to our tidal rivers ; but 
the advantage we derived from the rise of tide in our rivers ceased to be so great now that the 
time had come when not only deeper docks were required, but when such costly structures as 
locks with their gates and machinery had to be made to meet the requirements of the large 
ships of to-day. A lock entrance demanded a special site, and often limited , the extension 
of the dock which it served, and thus to some extent we were now handicapped by our 
tidal rivers, which were formerly so much to our advantage. 
The limit in the size of iron ships on many ocean lines had now been reached, being 
determined by the accommodation at the ports to which they ran. That we required 
deeper docks with deeper entrances to them was because iron had taken the place of 
