Report of Society's Meetings. 157 
the colonies of employing thoroughly competent chemists, possessing 
not merely a knowledge of applied chemistry, but a familiarity with the 
appearance and character of ordinary commercial produces, whose busi- 
ness it should be to investigate and report on the native productions in 
such papers or publications as come under the cognisance of commer- 
cial men. 
The lack of knowledge in the colonies of the requirements of the 
home markets, and the absence of information in this country concern- 
ing valuable colonial produces, indicate the necessity for a central 
building in London and other large commercial towns where samples 
of colonial produces, sufficiently large for examination and experiment, 
could be obtained, together with all published information concerning 
them. Such an institution, containing series of samples from different 
colonies, would prove doubly instructive : in the first place by showing 
whence the finest qualities of any product could be most easily and 
cheaply obtained ; and, secondly, as an educational department in com- 
mercial knowledge for intending emigrants to the colonies. 
The specimens of quassia exhibited in the Tobago and British Guiana 
Courts were derived from Quassia aniara, and not from the official 
tree, Picrcsna excelsa. 
Bitter orange peel, which was exhibited by several colonies, was 
badly dried, and consisted of quarter sections, instead of carefully dried 
strips of good colour as sold in this country. 
Pomegranate bark was shown in the Jamaica Court, of a quality 
much superior to that ordinarily met with in commerce. 
Several colonial remedies that have recently been introduced into 
Europe and America were shown in various Courts. The pretty scarlet 
and black seeds of Abrus precatorius formed a conspicuous object in 
several of the West Indian Courts, and also in that of British 
Guiana. 
With respecl: to the non-official medicinal produces of the Exhibi- 
tion it is possible to regard them from two points of view: the 
one being that of Colonial Governments, which are naturally anxious 
to obtain indigenous substitutes of equal value for expensive drugs 
imported from the mother country ; the other is that of the 
pharmacists of Europe and America who may be desirous of ascer- 
taining if any of the colonial drugs possess medicinal properties 
which are worthy of careful investigation or are superior in quality or 
value to others at present in use. The latter point of view is the only 
