Am-/u°nuer;Sarm-}     Sago  Cultivation  in  North  Borneo.  331 
Place  the  creosote  in  a  one  ounce  wide-mouth,  stoppered  bottle, 
add  the  soap,  and  mix  well.  Then  digest  on  a  water  bath  until  they 
combine.  Each  2  grains  of  the  mass  will  contain,  practically,  I 
minim  of  the  creosote.  This  mass  can  be  combined  with  other 
ingredients  without  decomposition,  as  occasion  requires. 
The  writer  of  this  paper  has  used  the  following  formula  : 
Creosote  12  minims. 
Powdered  licorice  root  .  .  18  grains. 
Triturate  well  until  the  licorice  root  has  absorbed  the  creosote, 
and  then  add  : 
Powdered  soap   1  grain. 
Powdered  acacia   6  grains. 
Make  up  into  a  mass  with  an  excipient  of  glycerin  and  syrupy 
glucose  (1  part  by  volume  of  the  former  to  4  parts  by  volume  of  the 
latter).    Divide  into  12  pills,  and  enclose  in  gelatin  capsules. 
The  licorice  root  absorbs  the  creosote,  the  soap — small  in 
quantity  as  it  is — softens  the  fibrous  mixture,  the  acacia  gives  ad- 
hesiveness, while  the  excipient  helps  to  form  a  plastic,  non-friable 
mass  readily  made  into  pills.  Encapsulating  in  gelatin  is  essential 
to  mask  the  creosote  odor. 
The  objection  is  sometimes  made  to  creosote  pills  that  only  small 
quantities  of  creosote  can  be  given  in  this  way.  Where  rela- 
tively large  quantities  of  creosote  are  desired  to  be  given  an  excellent 
method  is  to  admix  the  creosote  with  twice  its  volume  of  olive  oil, 
and  enclose  in  gelatin  capsules.  The  use  of  the  fixed  oil  in  this 
connection  is  not  objectionable.  In  point  of  fact,  there  are  reasons 
for  believing  that  its  presence  is  of  value  in  diminishing  the  caustic- 
ity of  creosote  upon  the  gastric  mucous  membrane  and  in  promoting 
its  absorption. 
SAGO  CULTIVATION  IN  NORTH  BORNEO.1  _ 
{Metroxylon  Sagu,  Rottb.    Metroxylon  Rumpliii,  Mart.) 
The  sago  of  commerce  is  a  kind  of  starch  prepared  from  the  soft 
internal  stems  of  certain  palms,  natives  of  the  Malay  Archipelago, 
Borneo,  New  Guinea,  and  possibly  of  Fiji.    The  word  sago  or  sagu 
is  said  to  be  Papuan  for  bread. 
There  are  two  well-recognized  species  of  sago  palms.  The  smooth 
or  spineless  sago  palm  {Metroxylon  Sagu)  is  specially  abundant  in 
1  Kew  Bulletin. 
