In India, the Surat, Bilsah, and Sandowa_The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom Considered in Their Various Uses to Man and in Their Relation to the Arts and Manufactures; Forming a Practical Treatise & Handbook of Reference for the Colonist, Manufacturer, Merchant, and Consumer, on the Cultivation, Preparation for Shipment, and Commercial Value, &c. of the Various Substances Obtained From Trees and Plants, Entering into the Husbandry of Tropical and Sub-tropical Regions, &c.

tobacco are the most celebrated. The two first are found to be good

for cultivation in the district about Calcutta, but the Cabool is

still more to be preferred. Tobacco requires in the East, for its

growth, a soil as fertile and as well manured as for the production of

the poppy or opium. It is, therefore, often planted in the spaces

enriched by animal and vegetable exuviæ, among the huts of the

natives. I have tried seed in different soils, says Capt. C.

Cowles,--namely a light garden mould with a large portion of old house

rubbish, dug to a good depth, which had a top dressing of the

sweepings of the farm-yard and cow-houses; a rather heavy loam, highly

manured with burnt and decayed vegetables, and old cow dung; the third

was a patch of ground, which was originally an unwholesome swamp, from

being eighteen inches to two feet, lower than the surrounding land;

the soil appeared to be a hard sterile clay, and covered with long

coarse grass and rushes. As there was a tank near it, I cut away one

side of it, and threw the soil over the ground, bringing it rather

above the level. Such was its appearance, (a hard compost marly clay,)

that I expected no other good from it than that of raising the land so

as to throw the water off; contrary, however, to my expectations, it

produced a much finer crop of tobacco than either of the other soils,

and with somewhat less manure. The agricultural process is limited to

some practical laws founded on experience, and these are subject to

two principal agents; viz., the soil and climate. With respect to the

former, it is the practice amongst the growers in tobacco countries,

such as Cuba, the States of Virginia, North and South Carolina, and

the Philippine Islands, to select a high and dry piece of land, of a

siliceous nature, and combined with iron, if possible; and with

respect to the latter, there are seasons of the year too well known

to the planters to need any explanation. The only difference (if there

is any) depends on the geographical situation of the place, with

respect to its temperature, or in the backwardness or advancement of

seasons, and even on the duration of the same--in which circumstances

the planter takes advantage of the one for the other.

The influence of a burning climate may be modified by choosing the

coolest month of the year, whereas the soil cannot be altered without

incurring great expense. I have seen tobacco lose its natural quality

and degenerate by transplanting from one soil to another, although of

the same temperature, and _vice versa_.

Mr. Piddington has analysed several Indian soils, distinguished for

the production of superior tobacco. These are the table soils from

Arracan, (Sandoway,) a soil from Singour, in Burdwan, near

Chandernagore, the tobacco of which, though of the same species as

that of the surrounding country, sells at the price of the Arracan

sort; and the soil of the best Bengal tobacco, which is grown at, and

about Hingalee, in the Kishnagur district.

The best tobacco soils of Cuba and Manila, are for the most part red

soils. Now, the red and reddish soils contain most of their iron in

the state of peroxide, or the reddish brown oxide of iron; while the

lighter grey soils contain it only in the state of protoxide, or the

black oxide of iron. Mr. Piddington believes the quality of the

tobacco to depend mainly on the state and quantity of the iron of the

soil, while it is indifferent about the lime, which is so essential to

cotton. None of the tobacco soils contain any lime. Their analysis

show them to contain:--

Arracan soil. Singour soil. Hingalee soil.

Oxide or iron, (peroxide) 15,65 10,60 6,00

Water and saline matter 1,10 75 1,50

Vegetable matter and fibre 3,75 1,10 75

Silex 76,90 80,65 87,25

Alumina 2,00 4,50 1,50

------- ------- -------

99,40 97,60 97,00

Water and loss 60 2,40 3,00

------- ------- -------

100 100 100

From which it will be seen that the best tobacco soil hitherto found

in India contains about sixteen per cent., or nearly one-sixth, of

iron, which is mostly in a state of peroxide; and that the inferior

sort of tobacco grows in a soil containing only six per cent., or

one-sixteenth of iron, which is, moreover, mostly in the state of

protoxide, or black oxide. Mr. Piddington thought it worth examining

what the quantity of iron in the different sorts of tobacco would be,

and found that while the ashes of one ounce, or 480 grains of Havana

and Sandoway cheroots gave exactly 1.94 grains, or 0.40 per cent., of

peroxide of iron the ashes of the same quantity of the Hingalee, or

best Bengal tobacco, only gave 1.50 grains, or 0.32 per cent.; and it

appears to exist in the first two in a state of peroxide, and in the

last as a protoxide of iron; rendering it highly probable that the

flavor of the tobacco to the smoker depends on the state and quantity

of the iron it contains! Green copperas water, which is a solution of

sulphate of iron, is often used by the American and English

tobacconists and planters, to colour and flavor their tobacco; and

this would be decomposed by the potass of the tobacco, and sulphate of

potass and carbonate of iron is formed. Carbonate of iron is of an

ochre-yellow color. Mr. Piddington says he took care to ascertain that

this process had not been performed with the tobacco used for this

experiment; and adds that Bengal cheroot makers do not know of this

method. Mr. Laidley, of Gonitea, dissents from the idea suggested by

Mr. Piddington that ferruginous matter in the soil is essential to the

successful growth of tobacco. He observes that if we attend only to

the iron contained, why every plant will be found to require a

ferruginous soil; but tobacco contains a notable quantity of nitrate

of potass and muriate of ammonia (the latter a most rare ingredient in

plants), and these two salts are infinitely more likely to affect the

flavor of the leaf than a small portion of oxide of iron, an inert

body. Now as neither of these can be supplied by the atmosphere, we

must search for them in the soil, and accordingly he imagined that a

compost similar to the saltpetre beds which Napoleon employed so

extensively in France, would be a good manure for tobacco lands;

namely, calcareous matter, such as old mortar, dung, and the ashes of

weeds or wood. He was aware that good tobacco might be grown in

Beerbhoom, having raised some himself several years ago from American

seed. The plants grew most vigorously, and he further observed, in

confirmation of his opinion about the proper manure, that in other

districts in which he had resided the natives always grew the tobacco

(each for his own use) upon the heap of rubbish at his door,

consisting of ashes, cow-dung, and offal of all kinds. While the soil

of the Gangetic diluvium almost always contains carbonate of lime, the

Beerbhoom soil does not, as far at least as Mr. Laidley had examined

it.

The following is the mode of culture pursued about the city of

Coimbetore. Between the middle of August and the same time in

September, a plot of ground is hoed and embanked into small squares;

in these the seed is sown, and covered by hand three times at

intervals of ten days. To secure a succession of seedlings water is

then given, and the sun's rays moderated by a covering of bushes.

Watering is repeated every day for a month, and then only every fifth

day. The field in which the seedlings are transplanted, is manured and

ploughed at the end of August. Cattle are also folded upon the ground.

Four or five ploughings are given between mid September and the middle

of October, when the field is divided as above into small squares.

These are watered until the soil is rendered a mud. Plants of the

first sowing are then inserted at the end of September, about a cubit

apart, the transplanting being done in the afternoon. At intervals of

ten days the seedlings of the other two sowings are removed. A month

after being transplanted the field is hoed, and after another month

the leading shoot of each plant is pinched off, so as to leave them

not more than a cubit high. Three times during the next month all side

shoots thrown out are removed. When four months old, the crop is ready

for cutting. To render the leaves sweet the field is watered, and the

plants cut down close to the surface, being allowed to remain when cut

until next morning. Their roots are tied to a rope and suspended round

the hedges. In fine weather the leaves are dry in ten days, but if

cloudy they require five more days. They are then heaped up under a

roof, which is covered with bushes and pressed with stones for five

days. After this the leaves are removed from the stems, tied in

bunches, heaped again, and pressed for four days longer. They are now

tied in bundles, partly of the small leaf and partly of the large leaf

bundles, and again put in heaps for ten days--once during the time the

heaps being opened and piled afresh. This completes the drying. A

thousand bundles, weighing about 570 lbs., is a good produce for an

acre.

In 1760, Ceylon produced a considerable quantity of tobacco,

principally about Jaffna, a demand having sprung up for it in

Travancore, and on the Malay coast. The cultivation spread to other

districts of the island, Negombo, Chilaw, and Matura. Not long after

the possession of the island by the British, a monopoly was created by

an import duty of 25 per cent., _ad valorem_, and in 1811 the growers

were compelled to deliver their tobacco into the Government stores at

certain fixed rates. The culture and demand thereupon decreased. In

1853, the duty on the exports of tobacco from this island amounted to

£8,386, and in 1836 to £9,514.

Ceylon now exports a considerable quantity of tobacco. The value of

that exported in 1844 was nearly £18,000: it went exclusively to

British colonies. The shipments since have been as follows:--

1848 £17,992 ----

1849 22,300 ----

1850 20,721 22,184 cwts.

1851 21,422 22,523 "

1852 20,531 21,955 "

About 96,000 piculs of cigars, of five different qualities, are

exported annually from Siam. A good deal of very fine tobacco is grown

in the Philippines, and the Manila cheroots are celebrated all over

the globe. The quantity of raw tobacco shipped from Manila in 1847 was

92,106 arrobas (each about a quarter of a cwt.); manufactured tobacco,

12,054 arrobas; and 1,933 cases of cigars. 5,220 boxes of cigars were

shipped from Manila in 1844. 73,439 millions of cigars were shipped in

1850, and 42,629 quintals of leaf tobacco.

The manufacture of cigars in Manila is a monopoly of the government,

and not only is this the case, but it is a monopoly of the closest

description, and any infringement of the assumed rights of the Spanish

Indian government is visited by the most severe penalties. Public

enterprise, however little of that commodity there now exists in the

Spanish character, is thus kept down; and this is not only detrimental

to the nation itself, but is also unjust towards those persons who are

the purchasers of the article, enhanced in price, as is always the

case, by monopoly. The cheroot, which now costs, free of duty, about

one halfpenny, could be rendered for half that sum, according to

well-authenticated opinions. To protect itself from illicit

manufacturers, or smuggling of any kind in connection with cigars, the

government is compelled to maintain an army of gendarmes, in order to

adopt the most stringent means which despotic states alone tolerate.

No person is, therefore, permitted to have even the tobacco leaf in

its raw state on his premises, and gendarmes pay, at stated intervals,

domiciliary visits to the habitations of the people, in search of any

contraband materials. There are several extensive manufactories of

cigars and cheroots belonging to the government in and near Manila.

Mr. Mac Micking, in his recent work on the Philippines, thus describes

the mode of manufacture by those employed by the government:--

In making cheroots women only are employed, the number of those so

engaged in the factory at Manila being generally about 4,000. Beside

these, a large body of men are employed at another place in the

composition of cigarillos, or small cigars, kept together by an

envelope of white paper in place of tobacco; these being the

description most smoked by the Indians. The flavor of Manila

cheroots is peculiar to themselves, being quite different from that

made of any other sort of tobacco; the greatest characteristic

probably being its slightly soporific tendency, which has caused

many persons in the habit of using it to imagine that opium is

employed in the preparatory treatment of the tobacco, which,

however, is not the case.

The cigars are made up by the hands of women in large rooms of the

factory, each of them containing from 800 to 1,000 souls. These are

all seated, or squatted, Indian like, on their haunches, upon the

floor, round tables, at each of which there is an old woman

presiding to keep the young ones in order, about a dozen of them

being the complement of a table. All of them are supplied with a

certain weight of tobacco, of the first, second, or third qualities

used in composing a cigar, and are obliged to account for a

proportionate number of cheroots, the weight and size of which are

by these means kept equal. As they use stones for beating out the

leaf on the wooden tables before which they are seated, the noise

produced by them while making them up is deafening, and generally

sufficient to make no one desirous of protracting a visit to the

place. The workers are well recompensed by the government, as very

many of them earn from six to ten dollars a month for their labor;

and as that amount is amply sufficient to provide them with all

their comforts, and to leave a large balance for their expenses in

dress, &c., they are seldom very constant laborers, and never enter

the factory on Sundays, or, at least, on as great an annual number

of feast days as there are Sundays in a year.

The Japanese grow a good deal of tobacco for their own consumption,

which is very considerable. They consider that from Sasma as the best,

then that from Nangasakay, Sinday, &c. The worst comes from the

province of Tzyngaru; it is strong, of a black color, and has a

disgusting taste and smell. The tobacco from Sasma is, indeed, also

strong, but it has an agreeable taste and smell, and is of a bright

yellow color. The tobacco from Nangasakay is very weak, in taste and

smell perhaps the best, and of a bright brown color. The tobacco from

Sinday is very good. The Japanese manufacture the tobacco so well,

says Capt. Golownin, (Recollections of Japan,) that though I was

before no friend to smoking, and even when I was at Jamaica could but

seldom persuade myself to smoke an Havana cigar, yet I smoked the

Japanese tobacco very frequently, and with great pleasure.

The culture of tobacco is a very profitable article for the laborers,

seeing that the produce is obtained from grounds which have already

given the first crop. The qualities of Java tobacco are more and more

prized in the European markets, the preparation and assortment are not

yet all that could be desired, but they have progressed in this

branch, and the contracts made with the new adventurers assure them of

a considerable benefit. But before the Java tobaccos can find an

assured opening in the European markets, it is necessary that the

cultivators should make use of seed from the Havana or Manila. The

residencies of Rembang, Sourabaya, Samarang, Chinbou, and Tagal,

present districts suited for its culture; it has been carried on with

success for a good many years in the residencies of Treanger,

Pakalongan, and Kedu, but only for the consumption of the interior,

and of the Archipelago.

Tobacco is cultivated in Celebes, but merely in sufficient quantity

for local consumption. It is exclusively grown by the Bantik

population--the mode of preparation is the same as in Java; it is

chopped very fine and mostly flavored with arrack. When bought in

large quantities, it may be had for thirty cents the pound; but in

smaller quantities it costs double that price.

Tobacco is cultivated in New South Wales with much success. Australia

produces a leaf equal to Virginia, or the most fertile parts of

Kentucky, but the great difficulty is to extract the superabundant

"nitre." The first crop in New South Wales exceeds one ton per acre,

and the second crop off the same plants, yields about half the weight

of the first. In 1844 there were about 871 acres in cultivation in New

South Wales with tobacco, and the produce was returned at 6,382 cwts.

In New England, New South Wales, as fine a "fig" as could be wished

for is manufactured under the superintendence of a thorough-bred

Virginia tobacco manufacturer--but the impossibility of extracting the

nitre by the heating, or any other process, renders the flavor rank

and disagreeable. Perhaps cheroots, or the lower numbers of cigars,

manufactured from the Australian leaf, might prove more successful.

In Sydney the time for sowing tobacco seed is September, but in Van

Diemen's Land it should be a month later, as tobacco plants cannot

stand the frost. The ground should be made fine, and in narrow beds

three feet wide from path to path, to allow for weeding without

stepping on the beds. The seed, being small, should not be raked in;

but after the ground is raked fine, and perfectly clean, and well

pulverised, mix the seed with wood ashes, and sow over the beds, and

pat in with the spade, or tread in with the naked feet, which is

preferable. The ground should be moist, but not much watered, or it

moulds the plants. When about as large as moderate sized cabbage

plants, they should be put out--three feet or three feet six in the

rows, and five feet apart between the rows. When the plant rises to

about two feet high, it will throw out suckers at each leaf, which

must be carefully taken off with the finger and thumb, and all bottom

and decayed leaves that touch the ground taken off. When the tobacco

plant throws out flower, it must be topped off, leaving about twelve

leaves in the stalk to ripen and come to maturity. When the leaves

feel thick between the finger and thumb, and assume a mottled

appearance, they are fit to cut.

In "Tegg's New South Wales Almanac" it is stated that the end of July

is the usual time for sowing the seed. In order, however, to prevent

the plants from being subsequently destroyed by frost, care must be

taken not to sow the seed until the frost has ceased in any respective

locality (unless raised in a frame). Tobacco requires a rich light

soil, and well manured.

By the instructions for cultivating it, the plant must be three feet

apart each way, which would give 4,840 plants to an acre; assuming

that each plant would yield half a pound for the first crop, this

would give 2,420 lbs. to an acre, which is only 180 lbs. in excess of

a ton. In New South Wales several parties use the tobacco stems for

sheep wash. One pound of tobacco is sufficient to wash five sheep on

an average (one washing), which would give 12,100 sheep to one acre.

Assuming that only one crop was grown in New Zealand in one year, of

2,420 lbs. to an acre, at 3d. per pound, (which is about half the

market price of a fair sample of tobacco in bond,) it would amount to

£30 5s. per acre.

Three rows of Indian corn are planted outside the tobacco plants to

shelter them from the wind. In order to save seed, a few plants are

allowed to flower. The Virginian tobacco is the largest; it is known

by a pink flower; the _Nicotiana rustica_ (common green) has a yellow

flower.

A planter in Northern Australia furnishes the following directions:--

The land selected for the growth of tobacco ought to be of the most

fertile description, of a friable description, and upon which no

water can rest within eighteen inches of the surface. Newly cleared

brush lands of this nature are the most prolific; upon such, after

good tillage, put the plants about four feet or more apart, in rows,

and five feet six inches asunder. In interior or old ground, plant

proportionately closer. Before topping or nipping off the head, all

the lower leaves (that is such as may touch the ground) ought to be

broken off, leaving only from five to seven for the crop, which will

yield a greater weight and be of a superior quality than if double

that number were left. When ripe, a dry and cloudy day should be

selected to cut it, as the sun destroys its quality after cutting.

It ought then to lie sufficiently long upon the ground so as to welt

before carting to the sheds, hanging up each stalk next morning so

as not to touch its fellow.

The drying sheds ought to be built upon an elevated or dry spot,

with a hoarded flour of rough split stuff, fifteen or eighteen

inches from the ground, with apertures as windows to admit or to

exclude the external atmosphere. In damp weather close all the doors

and windows, also every night; in contrary weather open all.

In these drying houses the stalks should remain suspended until the

vegetable moisture is entirely evaporated, so that on a dry day the

stems of the leaves will break like a glass pipe, and the finer

parts crumble into snuff upon compression; after which, in humid

weather, they will become quite pliable; then strip the leaves off

the stems, make them up into hands, and pack them tightly into a

close bin: when full, cover it with boards and old bagged stuff,

upon which place heavy weights. In this state it undergoes the

sweating process, which, in this colony, is little understood or not

properly attended to, and yet, upon the skill displayed thereon, the

quality of the tobacco greatly depends. I will therefore give some

general directions upon this portion of the planter's office. If the

tobacco happen to be too damp when put into the bin, it will attain

either an injurious or a destructive degree of heat; it must

therefore he watched for some days after it is packed. To an

experienced operator I would say, if the heat exceed 80 degrees of

temperature, immediately unpack and re-hang the whole, waiting its

condition as before explained, before it is again put into the

sweating bin. Should the degree of heat be below that stated, it may

remain for weeks or until the heat has subsided. I have generally

removed it from the sweating process in about fourteen or twenty

days, sometimes considerably longer, regulating that act by the odor

and color of the leaf. If, however, it appears to be attaining a

very dark brown color and its heat not subsided, it should be taken

out and closely pressed into large cases or casks, when it will

again attain a gentle heat called the "second sweating," as is

invariably the case with the hogsheads of the American leaf tobacco:

this again improves its quality. Here the grower's operations

terminate.

It may be necessary to remark, that how skilful and experienced

soever the grower may be, it is hardly possible for him to produce a

good article upon a small scale; for with a less quantity than one

ton to place in the sweating bin at a time, the requisite heat to

insure success will not be generated. I would further observe, that

the practice of the colonists in growing what they term a "second

crop" is most injurious to their interests, their lands, and the

quality and character of the colonial tobacco. The American planter

never attempts it. I would therefore strongly recommend its

discontinuance, and also never to crop one piece of land with

tobacco more than two or three years in succession. The Americans

rarely take more than two crops unless the land be new; after which

they sow it down with grasses, in which state it remains for two or

three years until it is again planted with tobacco. I would

recommend this plan to the growers.

The character of the American tobacco has been greatly advanced in

the mercantile world by an ordinance regulating that source of

national wealth. The planters are thereby obligated to deposit their

crops in warehouses, over which sworn inspectors preside, who

rigidly examine every hogshead, and if found to be of mercantile

quality, grant the owner a certificate, by which instrument only he

sells his produce. The purchaser is hereby safe in buying these

certificates. The tobacco to which they refer is delivered to the

holder on presentation to the inspector. I mention this not as

applicable here at present, but it most probably may hereafter.

When the colony is suffering severely for the want of labor, it may

by some be deemed inopportune in offering remarks upon this article

of commerce. To such dissentients I will remark, that a great

portion of the work can be performed by women and children. A moiety

of our anticipated increase of population will be available for this

hitherto mismanaged source of wealth. At present the quantity grown

in the colony is equal to three-fourths of its consumption, and

which production is of a very inferior quality to the imported.

These facts tend to show that my notice of the subject is not

inopportune, and particularly so when the object is to point out

those errors so generally adopted by the tobacco growers here. Years

of practical experience, of personal observation upon the

plantations of North America, and my having been, I believe, the

grower of the greatest quantity of tobacco in the colony, qualify me

to afford instructions thereon; whereby, if attended to, our tobacco

will become fully equal to the American, as was proved to be the

case by the crops I grew here (upwards of 40 tons),[56] which were

sold in Sydney by the Commissariat Department at public auction, at

an advance of twenty per cent. more than the imported leaf. As the

duty on tobacco is about to be reduced, the present production may

fall off, unless an immediate improvement in its quality take place.

Instead of being importers of tobacco, we should, if it was grown

here to perfection, be exporters of it to all our sister colonies;

and in its raw state, also to the European markets. At present, for

home consumption, there is a greater profit to be made by its

cultivation, if skilfully managed, than in any part of the world;

for the duty upon imported is a positive bonus to the grower.

In 1849-50 there were fifteen manufactories of tobacco on a small

scale in New South Wales, but these were reduced in 1851 to six.

Many samples of tobacco grown in the colony have been pronounced by

competent judges equal to Virginian, but a very considerable prejudice

exists against it. There is, however, no doubt that the dealers

dispose of a great deal as American tobacco, and get a best price for

it. The reduction of the import duties on foreign tobacco, recently

made by the Legislative Council, will probably retard the progress of

the colonial production and manufacture of this article; but with an

abundance of labor there is no question that this branch of industry

will be again profitably resorted to. The quantity of tobacco

manufactured in New South Wales, in 1847, was 1,321 cwt.; in 1848, 714

cwt.; in 1849, 2,758 cwt.; in 1850, 3,833 cwt.; in 1851, 4,841 cwt.

A correspondent of the _Adelaide Observer_ recommends its culture in

South Australia, and supplies the following useful information:--

Without entering into botanical details, I will simply state that

the plant is of a shrubby nature, about five feet high, and ought

not to be planted nearer than four feet from each other, in rows

five feet apart--thus allowing for each plant a space of ground four

feet by five, or 20 square feet. An acre will consequently furnish

sufficient room for 2,178 plants.

The tobacco plant will thrive in almost any climate, from the torrid

zone to the temperature of Great Britain. It luxuriates in rich

alluvial valleys, where the soil is either of a _loamy_ or a _peaty_

nature.

Maiden soil is not recommended. The ground should be trenched,

worked as fine as possible, and well manured. Tobacco will not

answer unless the subsoil is thoroughly broken. The best manure is

that obtained from the bullock-yard, and bark from the tan yard; and

by two or three ploughings the earth can be brought to a proper

consistency, and fit for the reception of the plants.

The usual method adopted in New South Wales, is to raise the plants

in a warm, sheltered bed, neither exposed to wind nor to the sun's

rays; but if the weather is dry, they should be well watered night

and morning. The time of sowing is the end of August or the

beginning of September in the latitude of Sydney, according to the

state of the weather; and they may be transplanted when they have

attained their sixth leaf, which is generally about a month or five

weeks after they are up.

The period is rather later in this colony, and care should be taken

that the plants have gained sufficient strength in the ground after

transplanting to withstand the effect of the hot winds, and, if

practicable, the aspect should be either N.E. or N.W., and the rows

should incline towards either of these points.

The most suitable spots in this colony for the cultivation of

tobacco, are Lyndoch Valley and the districts round the town of

Willunga and Morphett Vale.

The greatest care is required from the cultivator to prevent the

destruction of the plant from its greatest enemy, the black grub.

Daily search should be made for it, and not a plant should be left

unexamined; they make their appearance about the beginning of

November, when the plants have scarcely had time to take root. The

soil between the rows should be kept constantly stirred with a

three-pronged fork, that air and the sun's rays may be admitted,

which latter are as indispensable to the growing plant as injurious

to the seedling. The labor is great, and from first to last requires

the constant attention of one man throughout the year, with an

additional hand for about six weeks during the process of curing.

The profits even in bad seasons are considerable; but when the

season and soil are favorable, they average upwards of 100 per cent.

The consumption of tobacco is great in this colony, not only for

personal use, but for sheep-wash; and the profits may be

considerably greater for the lower leaves, which, owing to their

gritty nature, cannot be manufactured, but may be advantageously

cured for wash.

It is not my office to argue the point as to the advantages which

may accrue from a free trade in tobacco; but this I know, and

confidently assert it, from actual experiments made in this

province, that a more lucrative article cannot be grown.

The consumption in South America, in 1850, was 147,178 lbs.; and the

annual increase since 1840 has been a higher percentage than the

increase of population, chiefly owing to extension in sheep-farming.

The probable expense of cultivation per acre may be as under:--

£ s. d.

Rent 0 10 0

Labor, 12 months 52 0 0

Ditto, 2 months 8 10 0

Ploughing three times 2 2 0

Harrowing twice 1 0 0

Manure, say 2 10 0

Seed, say 0 10 0

----------

£67 2 0

The Sydney average quantity is said to be 11-1/3 cwt. per acre,

say 10 cwt.; and the cost price per lb. will be 14½d., or £6 15s.

4d. per cwt. The profit will at once be seen on this article of

consumption.

* * * * *

Miscellaneous Drugs.--The blood tree (_Croton gossypifolia_), an

evergreen shrub, native of the Trinidad mountains, is remarkable for

yielding, when wounded, a thick juice resembling blood in color, which

is one of the most powerful astringents I know of, and as such would

be valuable to medical science. The bark of _Croton Cascarilla_ is, as

we have seen in a former section, aromatic, and the seeds of _C.

Tiglium_, the physic nut, are purgative; so are those of the purging

nut (_Jatropha multifida_), and another species (_J. gossypifolia_).

The pods of cow-itch (_Mucuna pruriens_) act as a vermifuge; the roots

of the _Ruellia tuberosa_, or manyroot, and the bulbs of the white

lily (_Pancratium Carribæum_ and _maritimum_), are emetic. The Indian

root or bastard ipecacuan (_Asclepias curassavica_) has medicinal

properties. _A. tuberosa_ is used as a mild cathartic, and a remedy

for a variety of disorders. _Hydrastis canadensis_, or Canadian yellow

root, is a valuable bitter, and furnishes a useful yellow dye.

_Knowltonia vesicatoria_ is used commonly as a blister in the Cape

Colony. _Ranunculus saleratus_ (the _R. indicus_ of Roxburgh, and _B.

camosus_ of Wallich), common in India, is also used by the natives for

blistering purposes.

A kind of sedge rush, common in swampy places in the West India

islands, the _Adme cyperus_, enjoys a reputation for the cure of

yellow fever. It is also stated to be cordial, diuretic and cephalic,

serviceable in the first stages of the dropsy, good in vomitings,

fluxes, &c.

Dr. Impey, the residentiary surgeon of Malwa, has just confidence in

the indigenous drugs in use by the natives of the East, many of which

are quite unknown in European practice. He believes that, in the

Indian bazaars and the jungle, drugs having precisely the same effect

as those of Europe may be discovered, and has recently drawn up a list

of ninety substances, which are perfect substitutes for an equal

number of European medicines. The class of tonics, in particular, is

most amply supplied, and the Englishman is not the only animal who

suffers from disorders of the digestive organs.

My friend Dr. Hamilton, of Plymouth, recently brought under the notice

of the profession the medical properties of the prickly poppy or

Mexican thistle (_Argemone Mexicana_). It is indigenous to and grows

wild in the greatest profusion throughout the whole of the Caribbean

islands, and may be found at every season of the year covered with its

bright golden blossoms, and bearing its prickly capsules in all their

several stages of maturity. It is an annual plant, attaining a height

of about two feet, growing abundantly in low and hot uncultivated

spots. Its stem is round and prickly, furnished with alternate

branches and thorny leaves. The seeds possess an emetic quality. The

whole plant abounds in a yellow milky juice, resembling gamboge in

color, and not improbably possessing properties similar to the seeds.

In Nevis the oil is obtained from the bruised seeds by boiling, and

sold by the negroes in small phials, containing about an ounce each,

under the name of "thistle oil," at the price of a quarter of a dollar

each. The usual dose for dry bellyache is thirty drops upon a lump of

sugar, and its effect is perfectly magical, relieving the pain

instantaneously, throwing the patient into a profound and refreshing

sleep, and in a few hours relieving the bowels gently of the contents.

This oil seems fitted to compete in utility with the far more costly

and less agreeable oil of the croton.

The seeds of the sandbox (_Hura crepitans_) when bruised, operate

powerfully as emetico-cathartic. It is probable that an oil might be

obtained from them similar in its operation to the thistle oil.

A cucurbitaceous fruit, one of the Luffas (called by Von Martius

_Luffa purgans_), a tribe closely allied to the colocynth and

mornordicas, growing in South America, is a powerful purgative, and is

used in the province of Pernambuco, where it is called Cabacinha. The

fruit is about the size of a small pear and resembles the wild

cucumber. An infusion of a fourth part of one of these fruits is

administered chiefly in the form of an injection.

Another species (_Luffa drastica_, of Martius) is also employed for

the same purpose.

The _Luffa purgans_ grows spontaneously in the suburbs of Recieffe,

the capital of the province of Pernambuco, and flowers in November and

December. The fruit is a drastic purgative, and an infusion of it is

used either internally or in the form of clyster. The tincture is

prepared by macerating, for twenty-eight hours or more, four of the

fruit deprived of the seeds in a bottle of spirit 21 degrees. The dose

is three or four ounces daily, which occasions much sickness.

* * * * *

Poisons.--The vegetable kingdom (observes Mr. Simple), to which man is

largely indebted for the materials of food, clothing, and shelter,

produces also some of the most deadly poisons with which science,

experience, or accident, has made him acquainted. In examining the

poisonous productions of the vegetable kingdom, we find that their

properties are generally due to the presence of some acid or alkali

contained in the plant from which they are derived. Oil of bitter

almonds and cherry laurel water are poisonous in consequence of

containing prussic acid. Opium owes its activity to the alkaloid

morphia. The Upas-tiente derives its energetic powers from the

alkaloid strychnia; conia is the active principle of hemlock; veratria

of hellebore; aconita of monk's hood; and although there are several

poisonous plants in which the active principle has not yet been

detected, there can be little doubt that such a principle exists,

although it has hitherto eluded the researches of the

chemist.--("Pharmaceutical Journal," vol. 2, p. 17.)

The bark taken from the roots of the Jamaica dogwood (_Piscidia

erythrina_), which is extensively distributed throughout the

Archipelago of the Antilles, is used for stupefying fish. The pounded

root is mixed with slaked lime and the low wines or lees of the

distillery, and the mixture is put into small baskets or sacks, and so

suffered to wash out gradually, coloring the water to a reddish hue.

The fish rise to the surface in a few minutes, when they float as if

dead.

The expressed juice of the root of _Maranta Arundinacea_ is stated to

be a valuable antidote to some vegetable poisons, and also serviceable

in cases of bites or stings of venomous insects or reptiles. One of

the most popular remedies for the bites of snakes is a decoction of

the leaves of the Guaco, or snake plant, of South America, a species

of willow which flourishes along the banks of the streams in the

sultry regions shaded by other trees. It is said to be both a

preventive and cure.

Mr. Edward Otto, writing from Cuba to the "Gardener's Magazine" for

May, 1842, p. 286, describes the guaco as a tree growing from four to

eight feet in height, with beautiful dark green leaves, having a brown

tinge round the margin. The blossoms are small, of a bluish brown, and

hang like loose bunches of grapes at the points of the shoots, or even

on the stem itself, as it has seldom branches. The milky sap is said

to have poisonous effects. "I was told (he adds) that this plant is

used efficiently in cholera and yellow fever." This tree is said to be

the _Camæladia ilicifolia_ of Swartz, common in Antigua and Hayti,

being known in Antigua by the popular name of the holly-leaved maiden

plum.

* * * * *

ALOES.--The drug called aloes is the bitter, resinous, inspissated

juice of the leaves of various species of an arborescent plant of the

lily family, with a developed stem and large succulent leaves, growing

principally in tropical and sub-tropical regions, and having a wide

extent of range, being produced in Borneo and the East, Africa,

Arabia, and the West Indies; many are also natives of the Cape of Good

Hope. The plant will thrive in almost any soil, and, when once

established, it is extremely difficult to eradicate.

The cultivation and manufacture are of the most simple kind. The usual

mode of propagating the plants is by suckers; and all the care

required is to keep them free from weeds.

From the high price which the best Barbados aloes fetches in the

market, £7 per cwt., its culture might be profitably extended to many

of the other islands. The aloes plant is indigenous to the soil of

Jamaica, and although handled by thousands of the peasantry and

others, there is not perhaps one in five thousand who understands its

properties or the value of the plant. With the Jamaicans it is

commonly used in fever cases, by slicing the leaves, permitting the

juice to escape partially, and then applying them to the head with

bandages;--this is the only generally known property which it

possesses there.

A series of trials made recently in Paris proved that cordage

manufactured from the fibre of this plant grown in Algiers, was far

preferable in comparative strength to that manufactured from hemp.

Cables, of equal size, showed that that made of the aloe raised a

weight of one-fifth more than that of hemp.

The drug is imported into this country under the names of Socotrine,

East Indian or Hepatic, Barbados, Cape and Caballine aloes. It

contains a substance called Aloetine, which some regard as its active

principle. The various species now defined are--_Aloe spicata_,

_vulgaris_, _Socotrina_, _Indica_, _rubescens_, _Arabica_,

_linguæ-formis_ and _Commelina_. The average imports in 1841 and 1842

were only about 170,780 cwts.; it is now much larger, and a great

portion of the supply is drawn from the Cape colony.

The mode of preparing the drug, which I have myself seen in the West

Indies, is exceedingly simple. When the plant has arrived at proper

maturity, the laborers go into the field with tubs and knives, and cut

the largest and most succulent leaves close to the stalk; these are

placed upright in the tubs, side by side, so that the sap may flow out

of the wound. Sometimes a longitudinal incision is made from top to

bottom of the leaf, to facilitate the discharge. The crude juice thus

obtained is placed in shallow flat-bottomed receivers, and exposed to

the sun until it has acquired sufficient consistency to be packed in

gourds for exportation. In preparing the coarser kind, or horse aloes,

the leaves are cut into junks and thrown into the tubs, there to lie

till the juice is pretty well drained out; they are then squeezed by

the hand, and water, in the proportion of one quart to ten of juice,

is added, after which it is boiled to a due consistence and emptied

into large shallow coolers.

The following analysis by M. Edmond Robiquet of a specimen of

Socotrine aloes, obtained from M. Chevallier, is given in the sixth

volume of the "Pharmaceutical Journal," p. 277. The constituents in

100 parts were:--

Pure aloes (Aloetine) 85.00

Ulmate of potash 2.00

Sulphate of lime 2.00

Carbonate of potash }

-------------lime } traces.

Phosphate of lime }

Gallic acid .25

Albumen 8.

The true Socotrine aloes is the produce of _A. Socotrina_, which grows

abundantly in the island of Socotra in the Indian Ocean. Lieutenant

Wellstead says, the hills on the west side of the island are covered

for an extent of miles with aloe plants. The aloe grows spontaneously

on the limestone mountains of Socotra, from 500 to 3,000 feet above

the level of the sea. The produce is brought to Tamarida and

Colliseah, the principal town and harbor for exports. In 1833, the

best quality sold for 2s. a pound, while for the more indifferent the

price was 13d. The value is much impaired by the careless manner in

which the aloes is gathered and packed. Aloes once formed the staple

of its traffic, for which it was chiefly resorted to; but only small

quantities are now exported. It was formerly shipped by the way of

Smyrna and Alexandria, but is usually now brought by the way of

Bombay; Melinda, on the Zanzibar coast, and Maccula on the Arabian

shore, furnish the greater part of that sold in Europe as Socotrine

aloes. It comes home in chests or packages of 150 to 200 lbs. wrapt in

skins of the gazelle, sometimes in casks holding half a ton or more.

It is somewhat transparent, of a garnet or yellowish red color. The

smell is not very unpleasant, approaching to myrrh. Socotrine aloes,

although long considered the best kind, is now below Barbados aloes in

commercial value.

About two tons were imported from Socotra in 1833, but a much larger

quantity could be obtained if required.

The price of Socotrine aloes in the Liverpool market, in the early

part of 1853, was 30s. to £6 the cwt.; of Cape, 30s. to 32s.

_East Indian_, or _Hepatic aloes_.-- The real hepatic aloes, so called

from its liver color, is believed to be the produce of _A. Arabica_,

or _perfoliala_, which grows in Yemen in Arabia, from whence it is

exported by the way of Bombay to Europe. According to Dr. Thomson and

the "Materia Medica," it is duller in its color than the other kinds,

is bitterer, and has a less pleasant aroma than the Socotrine aloes.

It should not be liquid, which deteriorates the quality.

_A. Indica_--a species with reddish flowers, common in dry situations,

in the north-west provinces of India, is that from which an inferior

sort of the drug is produced. It is obtained in Guzerat, Salem, and

Trichinopoly, and fetches a local price of 2d. to 3d. a pound. In the

Bombay market, Socotrine aloes fetches wholesale 16s. to 20s. the

Surat maund of 41 lbs., and Maccula aloes only 9s.

_Barbados aloes_, is the produce of _A. vulgaris_, or _A.

barbadensis_, a native of the Cape colony, and is often passed off for

the Hepatic. It is brought home in calabashes, or large gourd shells,

containing from 60 to 70 lbs. each, or more. It is duskier in hue than

the East Indian species, being a darkish brown or black, and the taste

is more nauseous and intensely bitter.

In 1786 one hogshead and 409 gourds of aloes were exported from

Barbados. In 1827, there were about 96,000 packages shipped from the

island. In 1844, there were 4,600 packages exported. The exports have

fallen off considerably, only about 850 gourds having been shipped in

the season of 1849-50; but in 1851 it increased to 2,505 gourds.

_Caballine_, or _Horse-aloes_, is the coarsest species or refuse of

the Barbados aloes, and from its rank fetid smell is only useful for

veterinary medicine. It is also obtained from Spain and Senegal.

A very good description of the mode of cultivating and preparing the

aloes in Barbados is given in the 8th vol. of the "London Medical

Journal":--

The lands in the vicinity of the sea, that is from two to three

miles, which are rather subject to drought than otherwise, and are

so strong and shallow as not to admit of the planting of sugar-canes

with any prospect of success, are generally found to answer best for

the aloe-plant. The stones, at least the larger ones, are first

picked up, and either packed in heaps upon the most shallow barren

spots, or laid round the field as a dry wall. The land is then

lightly ploughed and very carefully cleared of all noxious weeds,

lined at one foot distance from row to row, and the young plants set

like cabbages, at about five or six inches from each other. This

regular mode of lining and setting the plants is practised only by

the most exact planters, in order to facilitate the frequent weeding

by hand; because if the ground be not kept perfectly clean and free

from weeds, the produce will be very small. Aloes will bear being

planted in any season of the year, even in the dryest, as they will

live on the surface of the earth for many weeks without a drop of

rain. The most general time of planting them, however, is from April

to June.

In the March following, the laborers carry a parcel of tubs and jars

into the field, and each takes a slip or breadth of it, and begins

by laying hold of a bunch of the blades, as much as he can

conveniently grasp with one hand, whilst with the other he cuts it

just above the surface of the earth as quickly as possible (that the

juice may not be wasted), and then places the branches in the tub

bunch by bunch or handful by handful. When the first tub is thus

packed quite full, a second is begun (each laborer having two); and

by the time the second is filled, all the juice is generally drained

out of the blades in the first tub. The blades are then lightly

taken out and thrown over the land by way of manure, and the juice

is poured out into a jar. The tub is then filled again with blades,

and so alternately, till the laborer has produced his jar full, or

about four gallons and a half of juice, which is often done in six

or seven hours, and he has then the remainder of the day to himself,

it being his employer's interest to get each day's operation as

quickly done as possible. It may be observed that although aloes are

often cut in nine, ten, or twelve months after being planted, they

are not in perfection till the second or third year, and that they

will be productive for a length of time, say ten or twelve years, or

even for a longer time, if good dung or manure of any kind is

stirred over the field once in three or four years, or oftener if

convenient.

The aloe juice will keep for several weeks without injury. It is

therefore not boiled till a sufficient quantity is procured to make

it an object for the boiling house. In the large way, three boilers,

or coppers are placed to one fire, though some have but two, and the

small planters only one boiler. The boilers are filled with the

juice, and as it ripens or becomes more inspissated by a constant

but regular fire, it is ladled from boiler to boiler, and fresh

juice is added to that farthest from the fire, till the juice in

that nearest the fire (by much the smallest of the three) becomes of

a proper consistency, to be skipped or ladled out into gourds or

other small vessels used for its final reception. The proper time to

skip or ladle it out of the last boiler is when it has arrived at

what is termed a resin height, or when it cuts freely or in thin

flakes from the edges of a small wooden slice that is dipped from

time to time into the boiler for that purpose. A little lime water

is used by some aloe boilers during the process, when the ebullition

is too great.

CAPE ALOES is the produce chiefly of _A. spicata_, and _A. Commelini_,

which are found growing wild in great abundance in the interior of the

Cape Colony. It has not the dark opaque appearance of the other

species. About fifty miles from Cape Town is a mountainous tract,

almost entirely covered with numerous species and varieties of the

plant, and some of the extensive arid plains in the interior of the

colony are crowded with it. The settlers go forth and pitch their

waggous and campa on these spots to obtain the produce. The shipments

from Table Bay and the eastern port of Algoa Bay are very

considerable. The odor of the Cape aloes is stronger and more

disagreeable than that of the Socotrine or Barbados, and the color is

more like gamboge. It is brought over in chests and skins, the latter

being preferred.

Mr. George Dunsterville, surgeon of Algoa Bay, gives the following

description of the manufacture of Cape aloes:--

A shallow pit is dug, in which is spread a bullock's hide or sheep's

skin. The leaves of the aloe plants in the immediate vicinity of

this pit are stripped off and piled up on the skin to variable

heights. These are left for a few days. The juice exudes from the

leaves, and is received by the skin beneath. The Hottentot then

collects in a basket or other convenient article the produce of many

heaps, which is then put into an iron pot capable of holding

eighteen or twenty gallons. Fire is applied to effect evaporation,

during which the contents of the pot are constantly stirred to

prevent burning. The cooled liquor is then poured into wooden cases

of about three feet square by one foot deep, or into goat or sheep

skins, and thus is filled for the market. In the colony aloes

realises about 2¼ d. to 3½ d. per pound. The Hottentots and Dutch

boors employ indiscriminately different species of aloe in the

preparation of the drug.

The Cape aloes, which _is_ usually prized the highest in the English

market, is that made at the Missionary institution of Bethelsdorp (a

small village about nine miles from Algoa Bay, and chiefly inhabited

by Hottentots and their missionary teachers). Its superiority arises

not from the employment of a particular species of aloe, for all

species are used, but from the greater care and attention paid to

what is technically called the cooking of the aloes; that is, the

evaporation, and to the absence of all adulterating substances

(fragments of limestone, sand, earth, &c.), often introduced by

manufacturers.

Mr. Moodie, in his "Ten Years' Residence in Southern Africa," gives a

somewhat similar account.

Mr. Bunbury states that, about the neighbourhood of Graham's Town,

three large kinds of aloe are very abundant, which form striking and

characteristic features of the scenery; they grow irregularly

scattered over the parched and naked faces of the hills, but most

abundantly among the low broken ledges and knolls of sandstone rock,

and are often seen spiring up above the evergreen bushes in the

ravines, and crowning the cliffs. One kind grows to the height of a

man. They are plants of a strange, rigid, and ungraceful appearance,

but with very handsome flowers, which form tall and dense spikes, of a

fine coral-red color in two of the species _(A. arborescens_ and

_lineata?_), and of an orange scarlet in the third _(A.

glaucescens?_). When in blossom they are conspicuous at a great

distance, and might easily be mistaken, when seen from far off, for

soldiers in red uniforms.

The importance of this indigenous plant to the Cape Colony, may be

estimated from the following figures:--

AMOUNT OF ALOES, THE PRODUCE OF THE COLONY, AND VALUE THEREOF,

EXPORTED IN THE YEARS ENDING 5TH JANUARY 1841, 1842, AND 1846.

lbs £

1841 485,574 8,821

1842 602,620 11,877

1846 266,725 3,018

EXPORTS AND VALUE FROM THE EASTERN PROVINCE.

lbs. £

1835 68,042 474

1836 30,808 285

1837 13,400 115

1838 28,867 306

1839 75,500 918

1840 82,478 1,145

1841 220,214 4,271

1842 283,305 5,003

1844 318,035 3,225

EXPORTS AND VALUE FROM THE WESTERN PROVINCE.

lbs. £

1841 242,860 4,175

1842 379,315 6,874

1844 506,796 6,586

ASAFOETIDA.---This drug of commerce is procured from the milky juice

of _Ferula asafoetida_, a plant recently described by Dr. Falconer,

under the name of _Narthex asafoetida_. It is found in Persia, the

mountains of Chorasan, the central table land of Affghanistan, and

some seeds of it, sent to this country by Dr. Falconer, germinated in

the Botanical Garden at Edinburgh, and are now vigorous thriving

plants of six years growth. Its leaves have a resemblance to those of

a pæony; the fruit is distinguished by divided and interrupted vittae,

which form a network on the surface. The perennial roots grow to a

very large size, and are seldom of any use until after four or five

years' growth. The asafoetida is procured by taking successive slices

off the top of the root and collecting the milky juice., which is

allowed to concrete into masses of a fetid resinous gummy matter, with

a sulphur oil, similar to that of garlic, which is probably its active

ingredient.

An inferior sort is obtained from _F. persica_, another species with

very much divided leaves, growing chiefly in the southern provinces of

Persia. It comes over usually in casks and cases. The British

consumption of the drug is about 10,000 lbs. a year. A little is

procured from Scinde. In 1825 the quantity imported was 106,770 lbs.,

in 1839 only 24 cwts.

The wholesale price in the Liverpool market, in January 1853, was £1

to £3 10s. the cwt.

CAMPHOR.--The Camphor tree (_Camphora officinarum_, _Laurus Camphora_)

is a native of China, Japan, and Cochin China, of the laurel tribe,

with black and purple veins. Camphor is procured from all parts of the

tree, but it is obtained principally from the wood by distillation,

and subsequent sublimation.

Many plants, such as the cinnamon tree, supply a kind of camphor, but

the common camphor of the shops is the produce chiefly of _C.

officinarum._

Two kinds of unrefined camphor are known in commerce.--1. The Dutch,

which is brought from Batavia, and is said to be the produce of Japan.

This is imported in tubs covered by matting and each surrounded by a

second tub, secured on the outside by hoops of twisted cane. Each tub

contains about one cwt. Most of this goes to the continent. 2.

Ordinary crude camphor is imported from Singapore and Bombay, in

square chests lined with lead-foil, and containing 1¼ to 1½ cwts. It

is chiefly produced in the island of Formosa, and is brought by the

Chin Chew junks in very large quantities to Canton, whence foreign

markets get supplied.--("Pereira's Materia Medica.")

In the southern part of Japan the tree grows in such abundance that,

notwithstanding the great consumption of it in the country, large

quantities are exported. Koempfer says, that the Japanese camphor is

made by a simple decoction of the wood and roots, but bears no

proportion in value to that of Borneo. There is also an imitation of

camphor in Japan, but every body can distinguish it from the genuine.

The camphor of Sumatra is procured from the stem of a large tree,

_Dryobalanops Camphora_, Colebrook; _D. aromatica_, Graertner. It is

secreted in crystalline masses naturally into cavities of the wood. It

supplies this camphor only after attaining a considerable age. In its

young state it yields, however, by incision, a pale yellow liquid,

called the liquid camphor of Borneo and Sumatra, which consists of

resin and a volatile oil having a camphorated odor.

An account of this tree, and of the mode of procuring the peculiar and

high-priced camphor which it yields, is given by Dr. Junghuhn, who has

travelled lately in Sumatra, and Prof. De Vriese, of Leyden, in the

"Nederlandsch Kruidkundig Archief" for 1851. An abstract of the

memoir, translated into English by Miss De Vriese, is published in

"Hooker's Journal of Botany " for February and March 1852:--

The Dryobalanops is a gigantic tree, rising for fifty or even a

hundred feet above those which compose the chief mass of the forests

where they grow, just as the steeples of the churches appear above

the roofs of the houses in a town. The trunks of the full-grown

trees are from 7 to 10 feet in diameter at the very base, and from 5

to 8 feet higher up; they rise to the height of 100 or 130 feet, and

their ample crown is from 50 to 70 feet in diameter. The tree has a

limited range, being confined to the seaward slope of the mountains

of southwestern Sumatra, most abundant on the lower slopes and the

outlying hills of the alluvial plain, and extending in latitude from

1deg. 10m. to 2deg. 20m. N., and perhaps further to the north.

Camphor oil occurs in all the trees, and is most abundant in the

younger branches and leaves. The solid camphor is found only on the

trunks of older trees, especially in fissures of the wood, and in

smaller quantity than is generally supposed. Colebrooke, and authors

who have copied from him, assert that camphor is found in the heart

of the tree in such a quantity as to fill a cavity of the thickness

of a man's arm, and that a single tree yields about eleven pounds.

The price of this camphor, which at Padang sells for about 340

dollars per hundred weight, suffices to show that the account is

much exaggerated. The camphor occurs only in small fissures, from

which the natives, having felled the trees and split up the wood,

scrape it off with small splinters or with their nails. From the

oldest and richest trees they rarely collect more than two ounces.

After a long stay in the woods, frequently of three months, during

which they may fell a hundred trees, a party of thirty persons

rarely bring away more than 15 or 20 pounds of solid camphor, worth

from 200 to 250 dollars. The variety and price of this costly

substance are enhanced by a custom which has immemorially prevailed

among the Battas, of delaying the burial of every person who during

his life had a claim to the title of Rajah (of which each village

has one) until some rice, sown on the day of his death, has sprung

up, grown and borne fruit. The corpse, till then kept above ground

among the living, is now, with these ears of rice, committed to the

earth, like the grain six months before; and thus the hope is

emblematically expressed that, as a new life arises from the seed,

so another life shall begin for man after his death. During this

time the corpse is kept in the house, enclosed in a coffin made of

the hollowed trunk of a Durion, and the whole space between the

coffin and the body is filled with pounded camphor, for the purchase

of which the family of the deceased Rajah frequently impoverish

themselves. The camphor oil is collected by incisions at the base of

the trunk, from which the clear balsamic juice is very slowly

discharged.

In Sumatra the best camphor is obtained in a district called Barus,

and all good camphor bears that local name. It appears that the tree

is cut down to obtain the gum and that not in one tenth of the trees

is it found. Barus camphor is getting scarce, as the tree must be

destroyed before it is ascertained whether it is productive or not.

About 800 piculs are annually sent to China. The proportion between

Malay and Chinese camphor is as eighteen to one; the former is more

fragrant and not so pungent as the latter.

Nine hundred and eighty-three tubs of camphor were exported from Java

in 1843; 625 bales were imported in 1843, the produce of the Japanese

empire; and 559 piculs exported from Canton in 1844.

The price of unrefined camphor in the Liverpool market in July, 1853,

was £4 to £4 10s. the cwt. There have been no imports there direct in

the last two years.

Camphor (says Dr. Ure) is found in a great many plants and is

secreted in parity by several laurels; it occurs combined with the

essential oils of many of the _labiacæ_; but it is extracted for

manufacturing purposes only from the _Laurus Camphora_, which

abounds in China and Japan, as well as from a tree which grows in

Sumatra and Borneo, called in the country _kapur barus_, from the

name of the place where it is most common. The camphor exists, ready

formed, in these vegetables between the wood and the bark; but it

does not exude spontaneously. On cleaving the tree _Laurus

Sumatrensis (Qy. Dryobalanops Camphora)_, masses of camphor are

found in the pith. The wood of the Laurus is cut into small pieces

and put, with plenty of water, into large iron boilers, which are

covered with an earthen capital or dome, lined within with rice

straw. As the water boils, the camphor rises with the steam, and

attaches itself as a sublimate to the stalks, under the form of

granulations of a grey color. In this state it is picked off the

straw and packed up for exportation to Europe."--(" Dictionary of

Arts and Manufactures.")

The price of camphor at Canton in July, 1850, was from fourteen to

fifteen dollars per picul.

Cinchona.--Peruvian or Jesuit's Bark--One of the most valuable and

powerful astringents and tonics used in medicine, is the produce of

several species of cinchona, natives of the Andes, from 11 north

latitude to 20 south latitude, at elevations varying from 1,200 to

10,000 feet above the level of the sea, and in a dry rocky soil. There

are at least twelve trees which are supposed to furnish the barks of

commerce, and great obscurity prevails as to the species whence the

various kinds of cinchona bark are derived. The names of yellow, red,

and pale bark have been very vaguely applied, and are by no means well

defined. Dr. Lindley mentions twenty-six varieties; of which

twenty-one are well known. The barks are met with either in thick,

large, flat pieces, or in thinner pieces, which curl inwards during

drying, and are called quilled.

Quinine is one of the most important of the vegetable alkaline

bitters. It was first discovered by Vauquelin, in 1811, and its

preparation on a large scale pointed out by Pelletier and Caventon in

1820. It is obtained by boiling the yellow bark (_Cinchona_) in water

and sulphuric acid, and then treating it with lime and alcohol, when

the quinine is precipitated in the form of a white powder. Upwards of

120,000 ounces are made annually in Paris.

Cinchona, or the Peruvian bark, was gathered to the amount of two

million dollars in one year recently, and the demand is constantly

increasing.

Peruvian bark is cut in the eastern Provinces of Bolivia, skirting the

river Paraguay, and now conveyed an immense distance by mules over a

mountainous region to El Puerto, the only port of Bolivia on the

Pacific. It is thence brought by Cape Horn to the cities of the United

States and Europe. Now that Government has been successful in opening

the South American rivers, this important article of commerce will be

furnished in market by the Paraguay and La Plata rivers, at a much

reduced price.

A species of bark from Colombia, known as Malambo or Matias bark, has

been frequently administered by Dr. Alexander Ure as a substitute for

cinchona with good effect. It offers the useful combination of a tonic

and aromatic. It is supposed to be the produce of a species of

_Drimys_. It is stated that in New Granada, and other districts of

Central America, where the tree is indigenous, incisions are made in

the bark, and there exudes an aromatic oil which sinks in water.

Cinchona bark contains two alkaloids, cinchonia and quina, to which

its active properties are due; the former is best obtained from gray

bark, the latter from yellow bark. In combination with these there

exists an acid called kinic acid.

The imports of cinchona bark to this country are from 225,000 to

556,000 lbs. annually, and about 120,000 lbs. are retained for home

consumption. It comes over in chests and serons, or ox-hides, varying

from 90 to 200 lbs. We imported from France, in 1850, 489 cwt. of

Peruvian bark, of the value of £6,840; and in 1851, 1,128 cwt., of the

value of £15,787; also the following quantities of sulphate of

quinine, on which there is a duty of 6d. and 3-10ths per ounce.

oz. £

1848 3,856 5,898

1849 1,114 1,560

1850 8,976 12,566

1851 7,605 10,647

The following is the arrangement of these barks adopted by Pereira,

who has gone very fully into the subject:--

A. True cinchonas, with a brown epidermis.

I. Pale barks 1. Crown or Loxa bark. _C. Condaminea_. 2. Gray or

silver or Huanuco bark. _C. micrantha_. 3. Ash or Jaen bark. _C.

ovata_. 4. Rusty or Huamalies bark. _C. pubescens_.

II. Yellow barks. 5. Royal, yellow or Calisaya bark. _C. sp ?_

III. Red barks. 6. Red bark. _C. sp ?_

B. True cinchonas, with a white epidermis.

I. Pale barks. 7. White Loxa bark.

II. Yellow barks. 8. Hard Carthagena bark. _C. cordifolia_. 9.

Fibrous ditto. Perhaps _C. cordifolia_. 10. Cuzco bark. _C. sp.?_

11. Orange bark of Santa Fe. _C. lancifolia_.

III. Red barks. 12. Bed bark of Santa Fe. _C. oblongifolia_.

The genus Exostemma yields various kinds of false cinchona bark, which

do not contain the cinchona alkalies. The following are some of the

kinds noticed by Pereira:--

1. St. Lucia or Piton bark. _Exostemma floribundum_.

2. Jamaica bark. _E. caribaeum_.

3. Pitaya bark. _E. sp?_

4. False Peruvian bark. _E. peruvianum_.

5. Brazilian bark. _E. souzianum_.

The mode adopted by the bark-peelers of obtaining cinchona varies

somewhat in different districts. The Indians (says Mr. Stevenson,

"Twenty Years' Residence in South America") discover from the

eminences where a cluster of trees grow in the woods, for they are

easily discernable by the rose-colored tinge of their leaves, which

appear at a distance like bunches of flowers amid the deep-green

foliage of other trees. They then hunt for the spot, and having found

it out, cut down all the trees, and take the bark from the branches,

and after they have stripped off the bark, they carry it in bundles

out of the wood, for the purpose of drying it. The peelers commence

their operation about May, when the dry season sets in. Some writers

state that the trees are barked without felling.

In a letter published in one of the Calcutta papers not long ago, from

the pen, I believe, of Mr. Piddington, he strongly urged the

introduction of the cinchona tree into British India:--

There is (he observes) one tree, the introduction and the copious

distribution of which within certain appropriate points of the

sub-Himalayan range, "would confer a greater blessing on the great

body of natives, than any effort the Government has made or can

make, and that is the cinchona bark tree.

Without any reference to the greater or less force of medical

theories as to the efficacy of cinchona bark, I now only take an

experienced and practical view, well knowing that the sufferings of

many millions of poor and rich natives, especially in the jungle

districts, are yearly very great, and the mortality quite enormous

from remittent and intermittent fevers, by far the greater part of

which would be immensely relieved, or wholly cured, by the free use

of cinchona bark.

If by abundance the price be once brought within the poor native's

reach, he will readily take to it, having no objection whatever on

account of caste to anything of the nature of the bark of a tree.

If the cinchona tree were once growing in abundance, quinine could

be easily prepared in India, from the facility of procuring, and

cheapness of spirits of wine used in the process of its elimination.

I take it that every hundred Sepahees sick of fevers remaining in

hospital off duty for thirty days, drawing an average pay of eight

rupees each, form a full monthly loss to Government of eight hundred

rupees; while a free use of quinine and bark would cure them in ten

days on the average, costing at present about forty rupees; thus by

the twenty days' services gained, Government would save nearly five

hundred rupees.

But the cinchona tree once glowing abundantly, quinine would of

course become infinitely cheaper.

Under a proper system of culture, quill bark only need be taken

without destroying the trees, and an earlier return be obtained.

There never yet has been a substitute found for cinchona bark and

its salts, as an antiperiodic and tonic.

It yet remains for some one to find an equally efficacious

substitute, and thus make a fortune. In the mean time the importance

of the cinchona is paramount.

The cinchona tree, like the pimento, deteriorates under cultivation,

and in moist, warm, rich valleys the bark becomes inert. The best

bark is from trees growing on mountain tops or steep declivities.

From the full accounts of Condamine, Mutis, and Humboldt, a soil and

climate like that of the north west sub-Himalayan range is admirably

adapted to the planting and prospering of cinchona trees.

In Lord W. Bentinck's time, before there were steamers in or to

India, seeing the immense benefit to be derived, I sent in a

proposition to procure young cinchona plants from Vera Cruz, begging

to be then permitted to proceed there on that account, and my

proposition was civilly and even favorably received; but these were

not the days to act on it.

Of about the twenty species of cinchona trees the following would of

course be the best to bring--the _Cinchona bineifolia_, the

_cinchona cordifolia_, the _cinchona oblongifolia_, the _cinchona

micrantha_, and the _cinchona condaminea_.

The Calumba plant (_Cocculus palmatus_, Decandolle, or _Minispermum

palmatum_) furnishes the medicinal Colombo root, which is one of the

most useful stomachics and tonics in cases of dyspepsia. It is

scarcely ever cultivated, the spontaneous produce of thick forests on

the shores of Oibo and Mozambique and many miles inland on the eastern

shores of Africa, Madagascar and Bombay, proving sufficient. The

supplies principally go to Ceylon. The roots are perennial, and

consist of several fasciculated, fusiform, branched, fleshy, curved

and descending tubers, from one to two inches thick, with a brown

warty epidermis; internally deep yellow, odorless, very bitter.

The main roots are dug up by the natives in March (the hot season).

The offsets are cut in slices and hung up on cords to dry in the

shade. It is deemed fit to ship when, on exposure to the sun, it

breaks short, and of a bad quality when it is soft and

black.--("Pereira's Materia Medica.")

It contains a bitter crystallizable principle called Calumbin.

The commercial parcels are often adulterated with the roots of _Costus

indicus, C. speciosus_, and _C. Arabicus_ (Kusmus, Putckuk, &c.). It

is imported into this country in bags and chests of from one to three

cwt., and ranges in price from £1 to £2 the cwt. The imports in 1846

to London were 82 packages, and in 1850, 214 packages, but the stock

held in London is always large, being nearly 2,500 packages.

Colocynth, furnished by _Cucumis colocynthis_ and _C.

pseudocolocynthis_, is the dried medullary part of a wild species of

gourd which is cultivated in Spain. It also grows wild in Japan, the

sandy lands of Coromandel, Cape of Good Hope, Syria, Nubia, Egypt,

Turkey, and the islands of the Grecian Archipelago. It may be obtained

in the jungles of India in cart loads. The fruit, which is about the

size of an orange, with a thin but solid rind, is gathered in autumn,

when ripe and yellow, and in most countries is peeled and dried either

in the sun or by stoves. It comes over from Cadiz, Trieste, Mogadore,

&c., in cases, casks, &c., and duty was paid on about 11,000 lbs. in

1839.

CUBEBS.--The dried unripe fruit of _P. Cubebi_, or _Cubeba

qfficinalia_, a climbing plant of the pepper tribe, native of Prince

of Wales' Island, Java, and the Indian islands furnishes the medicinal

cubebs, which is used extensively in arresting discharges from mucous

membranes. In appearance cubebs resemble black pepper, except that

they are higher colored and are each furnished with a stalk two or

three lines long. Dr. Blume says, that the cubebs of the shops are the

fruit of _P. caninum_. This species of pepper, when fresh and good,

contains nearly 10 per cent. of essential oil.

In 1842 the quantity entered for home consumption was 67,093 lbs. The

average imports are about 40 to 50 tons annually. 3 cases were

imported into Liverpool in 1851. The price in the Liverpool market, in

January 1853, was £3 10s. to £4 10s. the cwt.

GAMBOGE.--This resinous juice, which is a most important article of

commerce, is furnished by some of the plants of Gambogia, natives

principally of South America. It is a powerful irritant, and is

employed medicinally as a drastic and hydragogue cathartic. From its

bright yellow color it is also used as a pigment.

Gamboge fetches in the London market from £5 to £11 per cwt.

Some of the species of _Stalagmites_ (Murray), natives of Ceylon and

the East, yield a similar yellow viscid juice, hardly distinguishable

from gamboge, and used for the same purpose by painters. They are a

genus of fine ornamental trees, thriving well in soils partaking of a

mixture of loam and peat.

According to Koenig, the juice is collected by breaking off the leaves

or young branches. From the fracture the gamboge exudes in drops, and

is therefore called _gum gutta_. It is received on leaves, coco-nut

shells, earthen pots, or in bamboos; it gradually hardens by age, and

is then wrapped up in leaves prior to sale.

The common gamboge of Ceylon is produced by a plant which Dr. Graham

was led to view as a species of a new genus under the name of

_Hebradendron Gambogoides_. A very different species, the _Garcinia

Gambogia_, of Roxburgh, once supposed to produce gamboge, and indeed

actually confounded by Linnæus with the true gamboge tree of Ceylon,

he has proved not to produce gamboge at all.

This substance is also obtained from several other plants, as the

_Mangostana Gambogia_ (Gaertner), _Hypericwm bacciferum_ and

_Cayanense_, natives of the East Indies, Siam and Ceylon, whence it is

imported in small cakes and rolls or cylindrical twisted masses. Its

composition is as follows: number 1 being an analysis by Professor

Christison of a commercial specimen from Ceylon; number 2 of a fine

sample of common ditto:--

1 2

Resin, or fatty acid 78.84 74.8

Coloring matter 4.03 3.5

Gum 12.59 16.5

Residue 4.54 5.2

----- -----

100. 100.

The average imports of gamboge into the port of London, during the

past five or six years, have been from 400 to 500 chests of one to two

cwt. each.

Gentian.--The yellow gentian root (_Gentiana lutea_) is the officinal

species, and a native of the Alps of Austria and Switzerland.

The stems and roots of _G. amarella_ and _campestris_, British

species, and _G. cruciata, purpurea, punctata_, &c., are similar in

their effects, having tonic, stomachic, and febrifugal properties. So

has _G. kurroo_ of the Himalayas. The root is generally taken up in

autumn, when the plant is a year old. It is cut longitudinally into

pieces of a foot or a foot and a half long. They are imported into

this country in bales from Havre, Marseilles, &c., and a good deal

comes from Germany. In 1839, 470 cwts. were entered for home

consumption.

Chiretta is the herb and root of _Agathotes Chirayta_, Don; _Gentiana

Chirayta_, Fleming; or _Ophelia chirayta_, a herbaceous plant, growing

in the Himalaya mountains about Nepaul and the Morungs.

Ipecacuan.-- _Cephælis Ipecacuanhæ_, Richard, yields the ipecacuan of

the shops. The plant is met with in the woods of several Brazilian

provinces, as Pernambuco, Bahia and Rio Janeiro. It is found growing

in moist shady situations, from 8 to 20 degs. south latitude. The

roots, which are the officinal part, are contorted, knotty and

annulated, and about the thickness of a goose quill.

Besides this brown or gray annulated ipecacuan, there are spurious

kinds, such as the striated or black Peruvian, the produce of

_Pyschotria elliptica_, and other species; and white or amylaceous

ipecacuan, furnished by _Richardsonia scabra_, an herbaceous

perennial, native of the provinces of Rio Janeiro and Minas Geraes.

_Manettia glabra_ or _cordifolia_, also furnishes ipecacuan in Buenos

Ayres. It is imported into this country from Rio in bales, barrels,

bags, and serons, and the average annual imports in the eight years

ending in 1841 were 10,000 lbs. In 1840, the shipments from Rio were

as much as 20,000 lbs.

Castelnau states, that one expert hand can gather 15 lbs. of the

ipecacuan root in a day, which will fetch in Rio one dollar per pound.

He estimates that, from 1830 to 1837, not less than 800,000 lbs. of

this drug were exported from the province of Matto Grosso to Rio.

Jalap.--This drug is obtained from the dried tubers or root-stock of

_Ipomoea Jalapa_ or _Convolvulus Jalapa_, a perennial plant, native of

America. Some suppose it takes its specific name from Xalapa, in

Mexico, whence we chiefly import it. It grows in the woods near

Chicanquiaco, at an altitude of 6,000 feet above the level of the sea.

Large quantities might be gathered and exported in Jamaica. The root

is of a roundish tuberous form, black externally, and of a deep,

yellowish grey within, and varies in size from that of a walnut to

that of a moderate sized turnip. It contains a resin in which its

active properties reside. It is brought to this country in thin

transverse slices, and the amount entered for home consumption is

about 45,000 lbs. a year. It is imported in bales, from Vera Cruz

direct, or indirectly by way of New York, and other places.

Two sorts of jalap root occur in commerce. The one which was first

introduced into the market, and which is even at the present day most

frequently met with, is obtained from the _Ipomoea Schiedeana_ of

Zuccarini, a plant growing on the eastern declivity of the Mexican

Andes, and discovered by Von Schiedes. The root, as met with in

commerce, consists of pieces varying from the size of a nut to that of

the fist, sometimes whole, sometimes cut into disks, and at other

times divided into two or three portions. The external surface is of a

more or less dark gray brown color, corrugated and rough. It is very

hard, presents a shining resinous even surface when broken, and is

difficult to reduce to powder. The powder is of a brownish color, has

a faint peculiar odor and irritant taste.

The second quality, which was introduced into commerce is great

quantities a few years ago, by the name of stalk jalap, is now more

scarce, and obtained from the _Ipomoea orazabensis_ of Pelletan, a

plant growing without cultivation in the neighbourhood of the Mexican

town of Orizaba. The root, as met with in the trade, consists of

pieces varying from one to three inches in length, and 1½ to two

inches in diameter. They are of a higher color than the first-named

root, and of decidedly fibrous structure. The chief constituents of

both varieties is a peculiar resin, of which they contain about 10 per

cent.

Scammony.--The root of _Convolvulus Scammonia_, another plant of the

same family, affords, when cut, a gummy resinous exudation or milky

juice, which soon concretes and forms scammony. The plant grows

abundantly in Greece, the Grecian Islands, and various parts of the

Levant. It is imported from Aleppo in drums, weighing from 75 to 125

lbs. each, and from Smyrna in compact cakes like wax packed in chests.

In 1839, the quantity on which duty (2s. 6d. per lb.) was paid

amounted to 8,581 lbs. The duty received for scammony, in 1842, was

£607. A spurious kind is prepared from _Calystegia (Convolvulus)

sepium_, a native of Australia, and several plants of the Asclepiadacæ

order.

Dr. Russell ("Med. Obs. and Inqui.") thus describes the mode of

procuring scammony:--

Having cleared away the earth from the upper part of the root, the

peasants cut off the top in an oblique direction, about two inches

below where the stalks spring from it. Under the most depending part

of the slope they affix a shell, or some other convenient

receptacle, into which the milky juice flows. It is then left about

twelve hours, which time is sufficient for the drawing off of the

whole juice; this, however, is in small quantities, each root

affording but a few drachms. This milky juice from the several roots

is put together, often into the leg of an old boot, for want of some

more proper vessel, when in a little time it grows hard, and is the

genuine scammony. Various substances are often added to scammony

while yet soft. Those with which it is most usually adulterated are

wheat flour, ashes, or fine sand and chalk.

Liquorice.--The plant which yields the liquorice root of commerce is

_Glycirrhiza glabra_ or _Liquiritia officinalis_. It is a native of

Italy and the southern parts of Europe, but has been occasionally

cultivated with success in Britain, especially at Pontefract, in

Yorkshire, and at Mitcham, in Surrey. The plant is a perennial, with

pale blue flowers. It grows well in a deep, light, sandy loam, and is

readily increased by slips from the roots with eyes. The root, which

is the only valuable part, is long, slender, fibrous, of a yellow

color, and when grown in England is fit for use at the end of three

years. The sweet, subacid, mucilaginous juice is much esteemed as a

pectoral. It owes its sweetness to a peculiar principle called glycrin

or glycirrhiza, which appears also to be present in the root and

leaves of other papilionaceous plants, as _G. echinata_ and

_glandulifera, Trifoliwm alpinum_, and the wild liquorice of the West

Indies, _Abrus precatorius_, a pretty climber.

The greatest portion of our supplies of the extract, which amount to

7,000 or 8,000 cwts. a year, are obtained from Spain and Sicily. The

juice, obtained by crushing the roots in a mill, and subjecting them

to the press, is slowly boiled, till it becomes of a proper

consistency, when it is formed into rolls of a considerable thickness,

which are usually covered with bay leaves. It is afterwards usually

re-dissolved, purified, and, when formed into small quills, is known

as refined liquorice.

In 1839, 1,166 tons of liquorice paste were exported from Naples,

valued at £45 per ton. Mr. Poole, in his Statistics of Commerce,

states that the consumption of liquorice root and paste in this

country averages 500 tons per annum. 110 cwt. of the juice and 100

cwt. of the root are annually brought into Hull from the continent.

Matico--the Peruvian styptic, a powerful vegetable astringent, was

first made known to the medical profession of England by Dr. Jeffreys,

of Liverpool, in the _Lancet_, as far back as January 5th, 1839. A

paper on its history and power was published in May, 1843, in the

"Transactions of the Provincial Medical and Surgical Association,"

vol. 10. It is stated to be the _Piper angustifolium_ of Ruiz and

Parsons. Dr. Martin believes it to be a species of _Phlomis_. The

leaves are covered with a fine hair.

The powdered leaves of the _Eupatorium glutinosum_, under the name of

Matico, are used about Quito for stanching blood and healing wounds. A

good article on the pharmaceutical and chemical character of matico,

by Dr. J.F. Hodges, appeared in the "Proceedings of the Chemical

Society of London," in 1845. It is stated, by Dr. Martin, that, like

the gunjah, which the East Indians prepare, from the _Cannabis

Indica_, the leaves and flowers of the matico have been long employed

by the sensual Indians of the interior of Peru to prepare a drink

which they administer to produce a state of aphrodisia. The leaves and

flowering tops of the plant are the parts imported and introduced to

notice as a styptic, which property seems to depend on their structure

and not on their chemical composition.

Quassia.--The quassia wood of the pharmacopoeia was originally the

product of _Quassia amara_, a tall shrub, never above fifteen feet

high, native of Guiana, but also inhabiting Surinam and Colombia. It

is a very ornamental plant, and has remarkable pinnate leaves with

winged petioles. This wood is well known as one of the most intense

bitters, and is considered an effectual remedy in any disorder where

pure bitters are required. Surinam quassia is not, however, to be met

with now. That sold in the shops is the tough, fibrous, bitter bark of

the root of _Simaruba (Quassia) excelsa_ and _officinalis_, very large

forest trees, growing in Cayenne, Jamaica, and other parts of the West

India Islands, where they bear the local name of bitter-wood. Its

infusion is used as a tonic. 23 tons of bitter-wood were shipped from

Montego Bay, Jamaica, in 1851. Quassia acts as a narcotic poison on

flies and other insects. Although prohibited by law, it is frequently

employed by brewers as a substitute for hops. The duty of £8 17s. 6d.

per cwt., levied on quassia, is intended to restrict its use for such

a purpose.

Rhubarb.--This most important plant belongs to the genus Rheum. The

officinal rhubarb is the root of an undetermined species. There are

about thirteen different kinds which are said to yield rhubarb.

Lindley enumerates fifteen. I however take Professor Balfour's

classification:--

1. _Rheum palmatum_, native of Bucharia, which has perhaps the best

title to be considered the true rhubarb-plant, grows spontaneously

in the Mongolian empire on the confines of China.

2. _R. undulatum_, native of China, which yields much of the French

rhubarb.

3. _R. compactum_, native of Tartary, another species yielding

French rhubarb, and often cultivated in Britain for its acid

petioles.

4. _R. Emodi_ (Wallich). This species yields a kind of Himalayan

rhubarb. Its petioles are much used for their acid properties.

5. _R. Rhaponticum_, native of Asia. Used in France and Britain in

the same way as the third species. It is much cultivated in the

department of Morbihan.

6. _R. hybridum_ (Murr). Much cultivated in Germany for its root and

in Britain for its stalks.

7. _R. Webbianum_ (Royle). 8. _R. Spiceformi_ (Royle). 9. _R.

Moorcroftianum_ (Royle). Himalayan species or varieties.

10. _R. crassinervium_ (Fisch), a Russian species.

11. _R. leucorhizum_ (Pall), a Siberian and Altai species, said to

yield imperial or white rhubarb. It has striped flowers, while all

others are whitish green.

12. _R. Caspicum_ (Fisch), a Russian and Altai species.

13. _R. Ribes_, native of the Levant, but some say an Afghanistan or

Persian species.

All these grow in the cold parts of the world, as on the Altai

mountains, in Siberia, Thibet, North of China, and on the Himalayan

range. The rhubarb procured from one or more of these species is known

in commerce under the names of Russian or Turkey, Chinese or East

Indian, and English rhubarb.

The plants all thrive well in a rich loamy soil, or light sandy soil,

and are increased by divisions of the roots or by seed.

The extent of country from which rhubarb of one kind or another is

actually collected, according to Christison, stretches from Ludall, in

77½ east longitude, to the Chinese province of Shen-si, 29 degrees

further east, and from the Sue-chan mountains, in north latitude 26

degrees, nearly to the frontiers of Siberia, 24 degrees northward. The

best rhubarb is said to come from the very heart of Thibet, within 95

degrees east longitude and 35 degrees north latitude, 500 or 600 miles

north of Assam.

The Chinese rhubarb is inferior to that of Russia and Turkey. The

price varies in China from 38 dollars per picul upwards, and about

1,500 piculs are annually exported, on an average at 50 dollars per

picul. In 1844, 2,077 piculs were shipped from Canton for Great

Britain; and of 95,701 lbs. imported in 1841, 43,640 lbs. were brought

from China, 8,349 lbs. from the Philippines, 7,290 lbs. from the East

Indies, and 33,710 lbs. from the United States; only 1,462 lbs. were

brought from Russia. The imports from the East Indies have decreased

more than 70 per cent. in the last twelve years, as compared with the

preceding. The wholesale prices are, for round rhubarb, 8d. to 3s. per

lb.; flat, 6d. to 3s. 3d. per lb.; Dutch trimmed, 6s. to 7s. per lb.;

Russian, 13s. to 13s. 6d. per lb.

In 1831, we imported 133,462 lbs. from the East India Company's

possessions, and 6,901 lbs. from Russia. In 1843, only 71,298 lbs.

came from the East. From China we received, in 1843, 172,882 lbs.

The quantities of rhubarb on which duty of 1s. per lb. was paid in the

six years ending 1840, were as follows;--

East Indian. Foreign.

lbs. lbs.

1835 32,515 10,647

1836 36,836 7,752

1837 44,669 5,946

1838 37,026 7,402

1839 22,575 12,525

1840 16,745 22,203

The imports and consumption of rhubarb are thus stated in the

_Pharmaceutical Journal_:--

Imports. Consumption.

lbs. lbs.

1826 102,624 32,936

1831 140,395 40,124

1836 122,142 44,468

1841 95,701 67,877

1846 427,694 --

1847 305,736 --

1848 116,005 --

1849 94,914 --

The rhubarb brought into Siberia grows wild in Chinese Tartary,

especially in the province Gansun, on hills, heaths, and meadows, and

is generally gathered in summer from plants of six years of age. "When

the root is dug up, it is washed to free it from earthy particles;

peeled, bored through the centre, strung on a thread, and dried in the

sun. In autumn all the dried rhubarb collected in the province is

brought in horsehair sacks, containing about 200 lbs., to Sinin (the

residence of the dealers), loaded on camels, and sent over Mongolia to

Kiachta, and the ports and capital of China.

Sarsaparilla.--The root of various species of _Smilax_ constitutes the

sarsaparilla of the shops. It is an evergreen climbing undershrub,

having whitish green flowers, and grows readily from suckers. It is a

native of the temperate and tropical regions of Asia and America. The

officinal part is the bark, which comes off from the rhizomes. They

are mucilaginous, bitter, and slightly acid. Sarsaparilla is used in

decoction and infusion as a tonic and alterative. The following are

enumerated as sources whence sarsaparilla of various kinds is derived.

_Smilax China_ and _sagittæfolia_, yielding the Chinese root, are said

to come from the province of Onansi in China.

_S. pseudo China, S. Sarsaparilla, S. rubens_, and _S. Watsoni,_

furnish the drug of North America.

The sarsaparilla distinguished in commerce as the Lisbon or Brazilian

is the root of _S. papyracea_ of Poiret. It is an undershrub, the stem

of which is compressed and angular below, and armed with prickles at

the angles. The leaves are elliptic, acuminate, and marked with three

longitudinal nerves. This species grows principally in the regions

bordering the river Amazon, and on the banks of most of its tributary

streams. It is generally brought from the provinces of Para and

Maranham. It is in large cylindrical bundles, long and straight, and

the flexible stem of the plant is bound round the bundles, so as to

entirely cover them. Its fibres are very long, cylindrical, wrinkled

longitudinally, and furnished with some lateral fibrils. Its color is

of a fawn brown, or sometimes of a dark grey, approaching to black.

The color internally is nearly white. Besides this species there are

others indigenous, such as _S. officinalis_, which grows in the

province of Mina; _S. syphilitica_, which grows in the northern

regions, and three new species, _S. japicanga, S. Brasiliensis_, and

_S_. _syringioides_. There is also met with in Brazil another plant,

_Herreria sarsaparilla_, belonging to the same natural order, which

abounds in the provinces of Rio, Bahia, and Mina, and the roots of

which receive the name of wild sarsaparilla.

From Mexico, Honduras, and Angostura very good qualities are imported.

_S. zeylanica, glabra_, and _perfoliata_ furnish sarsaparilla from

Asia, and _S. excelsa_ and _aspera_ are used as substitutes for the

officinal drug in Europe.

_Smilax officinalis_, found in woods near the Rio Magdalena in New

Granada, furnishes the best in the market, which is commonly known as

Jamaica Sarza. It differs from the other kinds in having a deep red

cuticle of a close texture, and the color is more generally diffused

through the ligneous part. It is shipped in bales, formed either of

the spirally formed roots, as in the Jamaica and Lima varieties, or of

unfolded parallel roots, as in the Brazilian varieties. The roots are

usually several feet long, about the thickness of a quill, more or

less wrinkled, and the whole quantity retained for home consumption,

in 1840, was 143,000 lbs. In 1844, 184,748 lbs., and in 1845 111,775

lbs. were shipped from Honduras.

The prices in the London market, at the close of 1853, were --Brazil,

1s. 3d. per lb.; Honduras, 1s. 3d. to 1s. 8d. per lb.; Vera Cruz, 6d.

to 11d. per lb.; Jamaica, 1s. 8d. to 3s. 4d. per lb. The duty received

on sarsaparilla in 1842 was £1,536.

The average annual quantity of sarsaparilla obtained from Mexico and

South America, exclusive of Brazil, and taken for home consumption, in

the twelve years ending with 1843 was 37,826 lbs.

IMPORTS OF BRAZILIAN SARSAPARILLA.

lbs.

1827 28,155

1828 49,280

1829 52,772

1830 19,842

1831 31,972

1832 91,238

1833 13,077

1834 28,803

1835 22,387

1836 1,718

1837 12,842

1838 --

1839 9,484

1840 4,141

1841 1,399

1842 5,572

The total imports in 1849 were 118,934 lbs.

Sarsaparilla has been found growing in the Port Phillip district of

Australia, and has been shipped thence in small quantities. It seems

to be indigenous to the Bahamas, and is to be found on many of the out

islands. Mr. Wm. Dalzell, of Abaco, collected some considerable

quantity at a place called Marsh Harbor, which was found to be of a

superior quality.

Some thousands of pounds of sarsaparilla were brought to Falmouth,

Jamaica, last year, and bought by merchants for export. It came from

the parish of St. Elizabeth, and there are whole forests covered with

this weed, for such in reality it is. It is too the real black Jamaica

sarsaparilla, that is so much valued in the European and American

markets. It is also found in other parts of the island.

In 1798 3,674 lbs. of sarsaparilla were shipped from La Guayra; 2,394

lbs. in 1801 from Puerto Cabella, and 400 quintals from Costa Rica, in

1845, valued at eight dollars a quintal.

SENNA.--Several varieties of Cassia, natives of the East, are grown

for the production of this drug. The dried leaves of C. _lanceolata_

or _orientalis_, grown in Egypt, Syria, and Arabia, the true Mecca

senna, are considered the best. In Egypt the leaves of _Cynanchum

Arghel_ are used for adulterating senna, _Cassia obovata_ or _C.

senna_, also a native of Egypt, cultivated in the East Indies, as well

as in Spain, Italy, and Jamaica. It is a perennial herb, one or two

feet high. In the East Indies there is a variety (_C. elongata_)

common about Tinnivelly, Coimbatore, Bombay, and Agra, &c. Several of

this species are common in the West India islands. The plants, which

are for the most part evergreens, grow from two to fifteen feet high;

they delight in a loamy soil, or mixture of loam or peat.

The seed is drilled in the ground, and the only attention required by

the plant is loosening the ground and weeding two or three times when

it is young.

The senna leaves imported from India are not generally so clean and

free from rubbish as those from Alexandria. They are worth from 20s.

to 27s. per cwt. in the Bombay market.

The prices are--Alexandria, l½d. to 6d. per lb.; East Indian, 2d. to

3d. per lb.; Tinnevelly, 7d. to 9½d. per lb.

Senna is collected in various parts of Africa by the Arabs, who make

two crops annually; one, the most productive, after the rains in

August and September, the other about the middle of March. It is

brought to Boulack, the port of Cairo, by the caravans, &c., from

Abyssinia, Nubia, and Sennaar, also by the way of Cossier, the Red

Sea, and Suez. The different leaves are mixed, and adulterated with

arghel leaves. The whole shipments from Boulack to Alexandria, whence

it finds it way to Europe, is 14,000 to 15,500 quintals.

The quantities imported for home consumption were--

From the East Indies. Other places. Total.

lbs. lbs. lbs.

1838 72,576 69,538 142,114

1839 110,409 63,766 174,175

In 1840, 211,400 lbs. paid duty, which is now only 1d. per lb.

In 1848, we imported 800,000 lbs. from India; in 1849, the total

imports were 541,143 lbs. The imports into the United Kingdom were, in

1847, 246 tons; 1848, 402 tons; 1849, 240 tons.

Alexandrian senna (_Cassia acutifolia_). This species is said by some

to constitute the bulk of the senna consumed for medical purposes in

Europe. It is much adulterated with the leaves of _Cynanchum Arghel,

Tiphrosia apollinea_, and _Coriaria myrtifolia_.

_C. lanceolata_ and _C. ethiopica_ furnish other species of the same

article, the greater part of the produce of which find its way to

India, through the Red Sea, Surat, Bombay and Calcutta, the imports

into Calcutta, in 1849, having been 79,212 lbs. _C. obovata_ furnishes

the Aleppo and Italian drug.

At least eight varieties of senna leaf are known in commerce in

Europe--1. the Senna palthe; 2. Senna of Sennaar or Alexandria; 3. of

Tripoli; 4. of Aleppo; 5. of Moka; 6. of Senegambia; 7. the false or

Arghel; 8. the Tinnevelly.

In Egypt the senna harvest takes place twice annually, in April and

September; the stalks are cut off with the leaves, dried before the

sun, and then packed with date leaves. At Boulka, the drug is sorted,

mixed, and adulterated, and passed into commerce through Alexandria.

Alexandrian senna, according to Mr. Jacob Bell ("Pharmaceutical

Journal," vol. 2, p. 63), contains a mixture of two or more species of

true senna. It consists principally of _Cassia obovata_ and _C.

obtusata_, and according to some authorities it occasionally contains

_C. acutifolia_. This mixture is unimportant, but the _Cynanchum

Arghel_, which generally constitutes a fifth of the weight on an

average, possesses properties differing in some respects from true

senna, and which render it particularly objectionable. The Tinnevelly

senna, that most esteemed by the profession, is known by the size of

the leaflets, which are much larger than those of any other variety;

they are also less brittle, thinner and larger, and are generally

found in a very perfect state, while the other varieties, especially

the Alexandrian, are more or less broken. The leaves of the Cynanchum

are similar in form to those of the lanceolate senna, but they are

thicker and stiffer, the veins are scarcely visible, they are not

oblique at the base, their surface is rugose, and the color grey or

greenish drab; their taste is bitter and disagreeable, and they are

often spotted with a yellow, intensely bitter gummo-resinous

incrustation. Being less fragile than the leaflets of the true senna,

they are more often found entire, and are very easily distinguishable

from the varieties which constitute true Alexandrian senna.

In their botanical character they are essentially different, being

distinct leaves, not leaflets, which is the case with true senna.

The SUMBUL root, which has recently been introduced into the French

market, is the root of an umbelliferous plant, which is characterised

by a strong odor of musk. The pilgrims, on their return from Mecca,

generally import to Salonika, Constantinople, &c., among other

articles of trade, various plants with a musk-like odor. The

preparation of these vegetable substances is said to be effected by

smearing them over with musk-balsam.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 1: Ure's Dictionary of Arts and Manufactures.]

[Footnote 2: Fractional parts are not necessary to include.]

[Footnote 3: Dr. Lindley is in error as to the discriminating

duties--British cacao pays 9s., and foreign 18s.]

[Footnote 4: According to Breen's History of St. Lucia up to 1844.]

[Footnote 5: Caffeine (the principle of coffee) and theobromine (the

principle of cacao) are the most highly nitrogenised products in

nature, as the following analysis will show:--

_Caffeine_, according to Pfaff and Liebig, contains--

Carbon 49.77

Hydrogen 5.33

_Nitrogen_ 28.78

Oxygen 16.12

_Theobromine_, according to Woskreseusky, contains--

Carbon 47.21

Hydrogen 4.53

_Nitrogen_ 35.38

Oxygen 12.80

Of the two, cacao contains the larger quantity of nitrogen; and this

chemical fact explains why cacao should be so much more nutritive than

tea, though the principle of tea (theine) is nearly identical with the

principle of cacoa--tea containing in 100 parts 29.009 of nitrogen. On

this subject Liebig has made an observation which I cannot avoid

noticing. He says, "We shall never certainly be able to discover how

men were led to the use of the hot infusion of the leaves of a certain

shrub (tea), or of a decoction of certain roasted seeds (coffee). Some

cause there must be, which would explain how the practice has become a

necessary of life to whole nations. But it is surely still more

remarkable that the beneficial effects of both plants on the health

must be ascribed to one and the same substance, the presence of which

in two vegetables, belonging to different natural families, and the

produce of different quarters of the globe, could hardly have

presented itself to the boldest imagination. Yet recent researches

have shown, in such a manner as to exclude all doubt, that caffeine,

the peculiar principle of coffee, and theine, that of tea, are in all

respects identical."--_(Anim. Chem.,_ pp. 178-9.) We really can see

nothing in all this but the manifestation of that instinct which,

implanted in us by the Almighty, led the untutored Indian (as we are

pleased to call him) to breathe into the nostril of the buffalo or the

wild horse, and by that single act to subdue his angry rage, or that

impelled the first discoverer of combustion to extract fire from the

attrition of two pieces of wood. The American Indian, living entirely

on flesh, "discovered for himself in tobacco smoke a means of

retarding the change of matter in the tissues of the body, and thereby

of making hunger more endurable."--(P. 179.) But the wonder ceases,

when we reflect that man was endued with certain properties by his

Maker which must have been at some remote period, of which we can form

no idea, active and manifest the moment he breathed the breath of

life. To inquire how he lost this property is not our business at

present, but it is only by supposing the _quondam_ existence of such a

property, active and manifest, that can in any way explain a first

knowledge of the therapeutic, or threptic, qualities of plants and

shrubs. With regard to the identity of theine, caffeine, theobromine,

&c., it would be as well that the reader should keep in mind that it

is so chemically _only_, for in appearance, taste, weight, odor, &c.,

no substances can differ more. Does the palate exert some peculiar

action on the ingesta, so as to give to each a distinct sapor? Or

_vice versa_?]

[Footnote 6: In the West Indies, from my own experience, I have found

this to be one of the worst descriptions of soil. _P.L.S._]

[Footnote 7: Correspondent of the Singapore _Free Press_, December,

1852.]

[Footnote 8: It is important, in considering what tea may be had from

China, to consider the manner of its production. It is grown over an

immense district, in small farms, or rather gardens, no farm producing

more that 600 chests. "The tea merchant goes himself, or sends his

agents to all the small towns, villages, and temples in the district,

to purchase tea from the priests and small farmers; the large

merchant, into whose hands the tea thus comes, _has to refire it and

pack it for the foreign market."--(Fortune's Tea Districts.)_ This

refiring is the only additional process of manufacture for our market.

Mr. Fortune elsewhere, in his valuable work, giving an account of the

cost of tea from the farmers, the conveyance to market, and the

merchant's profit, states that " the small farmer and manipulator is

not overpaid, but that the great profits are received by the

middlemen." No doubt these men do their utmost to keep the farmers in

complete ignorance of the state of the tea-market, that they may

monopolise the advantages, but it is pretty certain that the news of a

bold reduction of duty, and the promise of an immensely increased

consumption, would reach even the Chinese farmers, and make them pick

their trees more closely--a little of which amongst so many would make

a vast difference in the total supply.]

[Footnote 9: See article Thea, by Dr. Royle, in "Penny Cyclopædia,"

vol xxiv., p. 286.]

[Footnote 10: Hooker's "Bot. Mag.," 1.3148. It is the Assam tea

plant.]

[Footnote 11: Report on Tea Cultivation submitted to House of Commons.

See Blue Book, 1839, p. 1-3.]

[Footnote 12: In a short time rain gauges will be established at

Bheemtal, Huwalbaugh, Paoree, and Kaolagir, in order to measure the

quantity of rain that falls annually, for the purpose of ascertaining

how much the quantity and quality of the produce of tea is affected by

the weather.]

[Footnote 13: In China this process, according to the statement of tea

manufacturers, is carried on to a great extent.]

[Footnote 14: Dr. Jameson, in a late communication, remarks--"From the

accounts I have received of that place (Darjeeling), I doubt not but

that the plants there grown will yield tea of a superior

description."]

[Footnote 15: The crops of this district, such as rice, mundooa, and

other grains, are so plentiful and cheap as scarcely to pay the

carriage to the nearest market town, much less to the plains. In

Almorah a maund of rice or mundooa sells for something less than a

rupee; barley for eight annas; and wheat for a rupee.]

[Footnote 16: There is frequently a discrepancy in the figures in the

Parliamentary papers, which will account for a want of agreement in

some of these returns.]

[Footnote 17: See the "Pharmaceutical Journal" for June, 1849, p. 15,

et seq.]

[Footnote 18: Reports of Dr. Roxburgh, Mr. Touchet of Radanagore, and

Mr. Cardin of Mirzapore, Cutna. Papers on East India Sugar, page 258.]

[Footnote 19: Many are of opinion, that although the juice of this

cane is larger in quantity, yet that it contains less sugar. There is

some sense in the reason they assign, which is, that in the Mauritius

and elsewhere it has the full time of twelve or fourteen months

allowed for its coming to maturity--whereas the agriculture of India,

and especially in Bengal, only allows it eight or nine months, which,

though ample to mature the smaller country canes, is not sufficient

for the Otaheite.]

[Footnote 20: Roxburgh on the Culture of Sugar and Jaggary in the

Rajahmundry Circar; Third Ap. to Report on East India Sugar, p. 2.]

[Footnote 21: L'Exploitation de Sucreries. Porter on the Sugar Cane,

53,321.]

[Footnote 22: That the above application would be beneficial, is

rendered still more worthy of credit from the following

experience:--In the Dhoon, the white ant is a most formidable enemy to

the sugar planter, owing to the destruction it causes to the sets when

first planted. Mr. G.H. Smith says, that there is a wood very common

there, called by the natives _Butch_, through, which, they say, if the

irrigating waters are passed in its progress to the beds, the white

ants are driven away. (Trans. Agri-Hort. Soc. of India, v. 65.)]

[Footnote 23: Fitzmaurice on the Culture of the Sugar Cane.]

[Footnote 24: The kilogramme is equal to 2 lb, 3 oz. avoirdupois.]

[Footnote 25: A lecture on the nutritive value of different articles

of food, by C. Daubeny, M.D., "Gardener's Chronicle" (London), January

20th, 1849, p. 37.]

[Footnote 26: Transactions of the New York State Agricultural Society,

1849, p. 646.]

[Footnote 27: A lecture "On the Geographical Distribution of Corn

Plants," by the Rev. E. Sidney--Proceedings of the Royal Institution

(London), May 18th, 1849.]

[Footnote 28: Boussingault's Rural Economy, American edition, pp. 85

and 86.]

[Footnote 29: Zenas Coffin, one of the oldest whalemen in Nantucket,

states that corn meal in tight rum puncheons when sent to the Went

Indies will keep sweet, while in common flour barrels it will spoil.

Report of the Commissioner of Patents for 1847, p. 133.]

[Footnote 30: From remarks of Col. Skinner, and others, at a meeting

of the American Institute, held in April 1846. Transactions of

American Institute, 1846, p. 509 _et seq._]

[Footnote 31: Comptes Rendus des Séances de L'Academie des Sciences,

February 5th, 1819.]

[Footnote 32: A Treatise on Diet and Regimen, by Wm. Henry Robertson,

M.D., vol. i. p. 153.]

[Footnote 33: The Plant: a Biography; by M.H. Schleiden, M.D.,

Professor of Botany in the University of Jena. English translation, p.

54.]

[Footnote 34: Transactions of the New York State Agricultural Society

for 1847, p. 190. In this communication, Mr. Bentz does not describe

the process which he adopts, but enumerates some of its supposed

advantages.]

[Footnote 35: Quoted by Boussingault, Rural Economy, Amer. edition, p.

410.]

[Footnote 36: A Treatise on Diet and Regimen, by Wm. Henry Robertson,

M.D., Vol. i. p. 140.]

[Footnote 37: Experimental Researches on the Food of Animals, &c., by

R.D. Thomson, M.D., p. 156.]

[Footnote 38: Chemistry of Vegetable and Animal Physiology, translated

by Prof. J.F.W. Johnston, p. 684.]

[Footnote 39: See Dr. R.D. Thomson's Experimental Researches on the

Food of Animals, &c.]

[Footnote 40: Mulder's Chemistry of Vegetable and Animal Physiology;

English Translation, p. 816.]

[Footnote 41: I have had no opportunity of analysing samples of flour

from the South-Western States, and therefore cannot extend this

comparison to them.]

[Footnote 42: Transactions of "Agri.-Hort. Society, of Calcutta," vol.

iv. p. 125.]

[Footnote 43: Dict. of Arts and Manufacture.]

[Footnote 44: Pharmaceutical Journal, vol. 3, p. 138.]

[Footnote 45: The glasses used were all of the sort described in

Griffin's catalogue under the name of Clark's test-glasses. They were

all, as nearly as possible, of the same size and shape.]

[Footnote 46: I have determined the amount of nitrogen contained in

the meal made from the whole maize, the growth of the colony, as also

from plantain meal; I have also ascertained its amount in cassava

meal, prepared in the manner mentioned in the text, and in meal

prepared from the cassava sliced, dried, and ground without expressing

the juice. Assuming Liebig's formula of Proteine, namely, C-48 N-6

H-36 0-4 the results stand thus:--

Nitrogen. Proteine compounds.

Per cent. Per cent.

Maize meal (unhusked) 1.73 10.72

Plantain meal .88 5.45

Cassava meal (juice expressed) .36 2.23

Ditto from the sliced and dried roots .78 4.83

]

[Footnote 47: Les Moyens de prévenir la Maladie des Pommes de Terre.

Expériences et Conclusions de A.N.C. Bollman, Conseiller d'état,

Professeur, &c. 8vo, St. Petersburg, 1853.]

[Footnote 48: If cinnamon seeds after washing be exposed to the sun,

even for twenty minutes, the shells will crack in two, and this

prevents the seeds from growing.]

[Footnote 49: No export duties exist in the Straits Settlements.]

[Footnote 50: Since these remarks were written, the duty has been

wholly abolished.]

[Footnote 51: Although this was the amount of produce for 1842, it

must be remarked that that crop was a complete failure, and the

average crop for some years past has been 46,666 pounds.]

[Footnote 52: Ure's Dictionary of Arts and Manufactures.]

[Footnote 53: The vernacular name for stale or putrid urine.]

[Footnote 54: "Lit" was the name applied to the plant, from which the

dye was to be prepared, and "pig" is the Scotch synonym for any kind

of earthenware vessel---in which the maceration was generally carried

on.]

[Footnote 55: Pitkins' Statistics of the United States.]

[Footnote 56: A great portion of the crop I grew had leaves measuring

two feet nine inches in length and eighteen inches wide, being larger

than I ever knew to have been grown in America. The average weight I

obtained per acre, was 25 cwt.; whereas I see by the public returns,

the average of what is grown here is only 17 1-7th cwt.]

INDEX.

_Albrus precatorius_, 643

Acacia bark, 493

_Catechu_, 495, 577

_dealbata_, 505

_Acer saccharinum_, 205

Acre, coffee trees to the, 69

Achira plant, 355

Achote, a name for arnotto, 447

_Acrocomia fusiformis_, 519

_Adeps Myristica_, 402

_Adme cyperus_, 626

_Adenanthera Pavonina_, 378

_Adansonia digitata_, 378

African arrowroot, 353

lard, 525

purple millet, 307

Africa, pepper grown in, 422

tobacco culture in, 615

Agar-Agar moss, 378, 379

Agi or Guinea pepper, 429

Agave Americana--a substitute for soap, 574

Agaiti oil, 520

Agricultural wealth of tropical regions, 2

Aipi, 376

Akyab, exports of rice from, 297

_Aleurites triloba_, 521, 538

Alexandrian senna, 648

Algaroba beans, 313

bark, 503

Algiers, tobacco culture in, 615

Alizaine, 478

Alkanet root, 442

Allspice, the common name for pimento, 430

Almond oil, 510, 533

Aloes, statistics of exports from the Cape, 632

varieties of, 628

_Alpinia Galanga_, 419

_Cardamomum_, 419

_racemosa_, 414

_Alstræmeria pallida_, 330

_Althea rosea_, 442

_Amaranthus gangiticus_, 434

American arrowroot, 352

flour, countries to which, shipped, 223

Americans consume most coffee, 40

Amboyna wood, 439

_Amomum_, species of, 419

_Zingiber_, 414

_Anacardium occidentale_, 495, 521

Analyses, various, of tobacco, 592-93

Analysis of the coffee plant, 49

ashes of the coffee tree, 43

of catechu, 579

of Havana tobacco, 591, 615

of other varieties, 615

of oil cake, 546

of soils, 617

of soils, not so requisite abroad, 7

of the sugar cane, by Dr. Evans, 154

of sugar soils in the East, 172

_Anethum graveolens_, 376

_Sowa_, seeds of, 434

Angola weed, 486

Aniseed, 437

Antigua arrowroot, statistics of, 353

cost of cultivating sugar, 189

Ants, remedy for, 181

_Anchusa tinctoria_, 442

Andropogon, species of, 572

_Anileria_, a manufactory for indigo, 460

Apricot oil, 511, 536

Apios, 355, 371

Aquilaria, species of, 439

Arghel leaves, 647

_Arachis hypogoea_, 513

_Arenga saccharifera_, the _gomutus saccharifera_ of Rumphius, 136, 314

Areometer, an instrument for testing oil, 532

_Arbor alba_, 566

Areca nuts, value of the exports from Ceylon, 579

palm, 577

_Argemone Mexicana_, 511, 521, 626

Arnotto, 447

Arpent, a French land measure, about one-seventh less than an acre, 251

Arracan, exports of rice from, 297

_Arracacha esculenta_, 355, 375

Arrack, 556

used to flavor tobacco, 621

Arroba, a Spanish weight of 25 lbs., the fourth part of a quintal.

Arrowroot, Benzon's analysis of, 348

culture and commerce of, 345

made from the Palmyra shoots, 376

starch of, 331, 334-35, 337

Arsenic for steeping grain, poisonous effects from, 233

_Artocarpus incisa_, 318, 330

_Arum colocasia_, 364

_esculentum_, 364

_Rumphii_, 365

Asafoetida, 633

_Asclepias curassavica_, 625

_gigantea_, 494

_tingens_, 442

Assamee, an Indian name for the ryot or cultivator, 467

Assam, introduction of tea culture, 94

tea sales, 98

Company, origin of, 98

manufacture of tea in, 126

Assaroo, rain sowing, 468

_Astoria theiformis_, used as tea at Santa Fe, 80

Attap leaf for thatching, 405, 559

Attar of roses, 570

Aucklandia, 438

_Auracaria Bidwillii_, 377

Australia, consumption of tea in, 87, 88

sugar cultivation recommended, 139

Austria production of beet-root sugar in, 197, 200

_Avicenna tomentosa_, 444

Avocado seed yields a dye stuff, 444

Awl tree, 443

Babool wood, 493

Bahu, a land measure in Java, equal to 71 acres.

Bajree, the Indian name for _Holcus Spicatus_, 306

Bales of Cuba tobacco, size of, 613

Balfour (Prof.) on the starch in potatoes, 330

on species of rhubarb, 647

Ball's account of the cultivation, &c., of tea, 103

Banana, starch in, 331

used as a shade for the cacao, 15

_Baptista tinctoria_, 453

Barbacue, a platform for coffee drying, 69

_Baphia nitida_, 447

Barbados arrowroot, 337, 353

culture of aloes in, 630

cost of cultivating sugar, 189

ginger, 415

sugar crops of, 149

yam, 334, 335, 337, 338, 362

Barcelona, exports of cacao from, 13

Bark of the larch, its utility, 376

Barks for tanning, 492

Barley, history and consumption of, 255

imported, 218

meal imported, 218

produce of in England and Wales, 248, 256

average prices of, 256

Barrel of rice weighs 600 lbs. net, 291

Barus camphor, 634

Barwood, 445, 447

Basket of rice, a measure equal to 55½ lbs., English,

_Bassia butyracea_, 136, 512

_longifolia_, 511

oil seeds of, 537

_Batatas edulis_, 330, 331, 357

_Bauhinia variegata_, 492

Bayley (Mr.), on consumption of tea in the manufacturing districts

Bay rush or tapioca, 376

Beans, analysis of, 264

and peas, quantities imported, 313

imported, 218

Bearing time of different plants, 9

Beck (Prof.) on various wheats, 222

on the American breadstuffs, 226

Beet root sugar produced on the Continent, 144

cost of producing, 189, 204

Beet, varieties of the root, 191

Belgians, large consumers of coffee, 40

Belgium, production of beet root sugar in, 200

Benares, production of indigo in, 475

Ben, oil of, 523

Bencoolen, pepper grown in, 423

spice culture in, 412

Bengal, cost of cultivating sugar in, 189

indigo, 464

introduction of the coffee tree into, 40

production of indigo in, 475

production of opium in, 580

rice, 296

Bennet on Ceylon, 316

Bennett (Dr.), description of gambier, 500

Berar, edible root of, 377

Berberry, a dye stuff, 442

Berbice, exports of coffee from, 73

Bergamot, essence of, 566

Berger's process of making rice starch, 344

Bermuda arrowroot, statistics of, 353

mode of cultivating arrowroot, 346

Berry wax, 540

Betel leaf, 577

Bhoe Moong, the Indian name for the ground nut, 515

Bhull rice lands, 293

Biggah, distinction between this land measure, 471

_Bignonia Chica_, 444

Bihai, 320

Bitter cassava, 331

_Bixa orellana_, 447

Black ginger, 415

pepper, statistics of, 428

tea, imports of the last fifteen years, 82

mode of manufacturing, 112

Blood tree, 625

Bollman (Prof.), on the potato rot, 359

Bolitus used as food, 377

Bonynge (Mr. F.) promotes tea culture in America, 97

_Borassus gomutus_, 315

Borneo, pepper produced in, 422

Bourbon, cacao grown in, 36

produce of rice in, 293

Bousa, an African beer, 308

Boussingault's analysis of wheat, 244

Boyams, food plant, 377

Bran, analysis of, 231

_Brassica oleracea_, oil from the seed, 539

Brazilian arrowroot, 330, 367, 369

Brazil, exports of coffee to America, 63

cost of producing sugar in, 189

culture of ginger, 418

production of coffee in, 40, 41, 63

introduction of the tea plant, 128

statistics of sugar production, 182

tobacco export from, 594

wood, 485

Bread fruit, 318, 330

made from millet, 306

nut of Jamaica, 319

stuffs of commerce, 217

Brick tea of Thibet, 92

British Guiana, coffee produced in, 73

West Indies, decline of coffee culture in, 40, 63, 67

exports of coffee from, 73

Brood-boon, 319

Bromelia Pinguin, fruit of, used for soap, 574

Broom corn, 307, 308

sedge, 308

_Brosimum Alicastrum_, edible nuts of, 319

_Broussonitia tinctoria_, 485

Brown bread, its wholesomeness, 230

Bruce, (Mr. C.A.) on the manufacture of tea in Assam, 126

_Buchanania latifolia_, 494, 521

Buckwheat, average weight of crop in New Brunswick, 253

oil from, 510

culture of, 259

analysis of, 260

Buck yam, 333, 335, 362

Bullhoof, yields a narcotic, 589

Bunbury (Mr.) on Cape aloes, 632

Butch wood, used to keep off ants, 181

_Butea frondosa_, 507

varieties of, 442

tannin from, 494

Butter of cacao, 11, 12

obtained from the dolichos bean, 313

_Cabacinha_, the Portuguese name for a purgative plant, 626

Caballine aloes, 630

Cacao beans or seeds, analysis of, 12

age at which may be transplanted, 6

expenses of a plantation, 33

information respecting, 9

plantation, enormous returns formerly obtained from, 34

quantity consumed in the United Kingdom, 11

total imports into the United Kingdom, 35

total imports from America and the West Indies, 35

trees, where indigenous, 33

oppressive duties levied on, 34

Cacomite, a species of Tigridia, 374

Cacoon, oil from, 511

Cadet's analysis of barks, 495

_Cæsalpinia_, species of, 446

_Brasiliensis_, 485

_Cæsalpinia Coriari_, 493

_oleospermum_, 511

Caffeine, analysis of, 80

Cajeput oil, 566

_Caladium costatium_, 377

_esculentum_, 331

_sagittifolium_, 334

Calambak wood, 439

_Calandra oryza_, 279

Calcutta, exports of castor oil, 545

Calidad, the best kind of Cuba tobacco, 613

California, tea proposed to be cultivated in, 97

_Callistemon ellipticum_, 505

_Calophyllum Inophyllum_, 513

Calumba plant, 638

Calumbin, 638

_Calystegia sepium_, 642

_Camassia esculenta_, 376

Camata, a variety of valonia, 508

_Camelina sativa_, 509, 511, 564

The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom Considered in Their Various Uses to Man and in Their Relation to the Arts and Manufactures; Forming a Practical Treatise & Handbook of Reference for the Colonist, Manufacturer, Merchant, and Consumer, on the Cultivation, Preparation for Shipment, and Commercial Value, &c. of the Various Substances Obtained From Trees and Plants, Entering into the Husbandry of Tropical and Sub-tropical Regions, &c. · 第 19 / 20 章

In India, the Surat, Bilsah, and Sandoway (Arracan) varieties of