370  Pharmacy  and  Chemistry.  {A^|ust,  woT"' 
PHARMACY  AND  CHEMISTRY  AT  THE  WORLD'S  FAIR. 
By  Cari,  G.  Hinrichs,  Ph.C, 
St.  Louis  University. 
( Continued  from  p.  314. ) 
II.  CEYLON  THE  ISLE  OF    SPICE  THE    LAND,  THE    PEOPLE  AND  THE 
DRUGS  THEY  RAISE. 
This  large  island  lies  to  the  southward  of  both  Bombay  and  Cal- 
cutta, the  main  ports  of  India.  Like  many  tropical  lands,  such  as 
Mexico  and  Africa,  the  coast  region  is  low,  while  the  inland  region 
is  quite  elevated,  even  semi-mountainous.  Especially  in  the  north- 
ern portion  of  Ceylon  do  we  find  an  extended  low  country,  though 
not  marshy  ;  this  part  is  known  as  the  Maritime  Region.  Thus  the 
land  diversifies  the  climate  and  consequently  also  the  crops. 
Although  lying  just  at  the  foot  of  the  Indian  peninsula,  still  the 
climate  is  not  that  of  Southern  India,  for  the  ocean  tempers  the 
more  pronounced  changes  in  weather  prevailing  in  India  proper. 
Living  at  the  leading  seaport,  commercial  city  and  capital,  Colombo, 
is  thus  not  oppressive ;  if,  however,  a  change  in  climate  be  desired, 
a  trip  inland  of  a  hundred  miles  brings  one  to  the  uplands. 
Four  seasons  are  distinguished  by  the  natives,  namely,  the  N.  E., 
S.  E.,  S.  W.  and  N.  W.  monsoons.  During  the  N.  E.  monsoon  the 
wind  comes  from  the  northeast,  etc. 
The  amount  of  rainfall  here,  as  elsewhere  in  the  tropics,  deter- 
mines two  well-marked  seasons,  the  wet  and  the  dry.  But  even  in 
the  so-called  dry  season,  Ceylon  enjoys  a  moderate  rainfall ;  the 
terrors  of  the  Indian  famine  are  thus  unknown  to  the  Cingalese. 
The  Government  is  British,  as  it  has  been  for  the  last  hundred 
years.  The  Dutch  lost  both  Ceylon  and  South  Africa  to  the  Eng- 
lish during  the  Napoleonic  wars.  Both  nations  have  treated  the  na- 
tives well.  The  lesson  of  1776  has  been  well  ,  learned  by  England,, 
and  now  no  country  has  greater  success  with  its  colonies  ;  in  fact, 
England  is  the  only  great  nation  that  finds  them  not  only  self-sup- 
porting, but  even  yielding  a  profit  to  the  "  mother  country." 
To  develop  the  resources  of  the  colony,  to  teach  the  natives  the 
English  language  and  not  to  tread  on  their  customs  might  be  called 
the  three  cardinal  virtues  of  the  British. 
The  people  are  of  the  same  stock  as  the  Hindoos.  Their  features 
are  very  regular,  and  they  do  remind  one  of  the  Caucasian.  Like 
