86 
Ash  of  Cinchona  Bark. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Feb.,  1887. 
Native  Borax. — Analysis : — 
Sodium  biborate — pure   99.75 
chloride— trace  only   0.25 
100.00 
The  following  are  the  rates  of  wages  paid  for  labor  in  this  section  : 
£  s.  d. 
Blacksmiths   1    0  10  per  day. 
helpers.   0  12   6  " 
Engineers   0  16   8  " 
Teamsters   0  13   6  " 
Coopers   0  13  6 
Boilerman   0  10   6  " 
Watchman   0  10  6 
Laborers,  principally  Chinamen   0   5    3  '* 
The  Southern  Pacific  Railway  Station  is  only  about  72  miles  from 
the  lake,  where  the  borax  is  carried  by  20  mule  teams,  but  in  about 
three  years  or  less  a  railway  will  run  within  four  miles  of  this  deso- 
late country,  when  these  wonderful  natural  deposits  will  be  more 
carefully  examined  by  scientific  men. 
Before  concluding  this  article,  I  may  here  state  that  the  borax  lake  is 
not  a  very  enviable  place  to  live  in.  On  my  first  visit,  Jim  Bridgets 
shanty  (42  miles  from  the  lake)  was  the  nearest  place  from  which  we 
could  obtain  our  coffee,  sugar,  or  canned  fruits,  &c,  and  post  our 
letters.  We  had  no  drinkable  water  within  17  miles.  Always  a 
clear  blue  sky  (a  little  London  fog  would  have  been  a  great  treat). 
Not  a  tree  visible;  no  vegetable,  only  the  oleaginous  greasewood 
plant.  No  animal  life,  no  Indians,  no  clouds,  no  rain ;  and  last,  but 
not  least,  a  total  absence  of  the  fair  sex.  The  freight  alone  to  build 
our  works  cost  2Jd.  per  lb.  from  San  Francisco. 
107,  Dunster  House,  Mincing  Lane,  London,  E.  C 
—Chemical  News,  Nov.  12,  1886,  p.  245. 
ASH  OF  CINCHONA  BARK. 
By  David  Hoopee. 
Government  Quinologist. 
I  have  recently  been  engaged  in  examining  the  inorganic  constit- 
uents of  cinchona  bark,  and  the  analysis  has  been  communicated  to 
the  Government  of  Madras  for  information  of  the  cinchona  planters 
of  the  Presidency.  As  the  chemistry  of  this  drug  will  always  be  of 
interest  to  pharmacists,  I  send  some  notes  relating  to  the  amount  of 
ash  and  the  quality  of  the  ash  occurring  in  barks  cultivated  in  India. 
