8
No. 350, REVENUE, 23RD JULY 1896.
larger than they possessed of that kind. About two pounds of seeds have been
received from Jamaica, and they will be carefully sown in the glass houses in the
Government Gardens.
(b) Alkaloidal composition of bark when kept in store for a number of years.—In
March last the District and Medical Sanitary officer, Kistna, sent some powdered
cinchona bark which he had received from the Treasury Deputy Collector of the
district in whose office it had been stored away for the past seventeen years, and he
asked for an opinion on its condition before using it. An analysis showed its compo-
sition to be 5.4 per cent. of total alkaloids and 1.1 per cent. of quinine, a result which
corresponded with the composition of succirubra bark ; and as the bark did not appear
to have deteriorated, the District Medical officer was informed that he could safely
use it, for medical purposes.
Reference to the Quinologist's report for 1885—86 shows that even mouldy bark in
a state of powder does not deteriorate when kept in a damp situation for nearly a year.
(c) Issue of quinine powders to the Collectorates.— The number of packets issued
during the past year has been 2,638, of which 2,399 went to the Collectorates and 239
were sold to the public, against 1,805 packets disposed of in the previous year. These
figures show an improvement, considering that the scheme has had to compete with
the sale of the powders by Postmasters. In accordance with paragraph 2 of G.O.,
No. 224, Revenue, dated the 7th March 1893, a separate report on this matter will be
sent in on the receipt of the necessary information from the Collectors— vide also para-
graph 2 of G.O., No. 129, dated the 20th. March 1896.
(d) Supply of quinine powders to the Province of Coorg.— In September last the
Chief Commissioner of Coorg, acting on the advice of the Civil Surgeon of the Pro-
vince, proposed to Government that quinine powders might be sold at the different Post
offices in Coorg, where there were no dispensaries. The envelopes for these powders
were printed in Canarese and English. In January last five packets of 102 powders
each were sent to each of the twenty-two Post offices in the Coorg Province, but, so
far, no indents from the Postmasters of this district have been received.
(e) Issue of quinine powders for sale by the Postal Agency.— It having been finally
decided by Government that the permanent advance of these packets to Postmasters
should be five and the minimum indents three (G.O., No. 356, Revenue, dated 12th
June 1895), the necessary amount of quinine powders in July was sent to the 315
Post offices in the five districts selected by the Board of Revenue, viz., Ganjám,
Vizagapatam, Cuddapah, Kurnool and Malabar. In G.O., No. 4148, dated the 21st
October 1895, Revenue, a report was called for on the results of sales by the Post-
masters up to the 30th November 1895. This was done and in G.O., No. 11, Revenue,
dated the 11th January 1896, Government considered that the experiment was on the
whole a success, and that the introduction of the system into the other districts should
not be delayed. In conjunction with the Postmaster-General, arrangements were made
for the supply of the quinine powders to the remaining fifteen districts in the Madras
Presidency. After obtaining the necessary printed covers from the Government
Press, Madras, the permanent advance was sent in March to 334 Post offices in the
Telugu districts of Anantapur, Kistna, Gódávari and Nellore. The distribution of
quinine powders to the Tamil districts of the Presidency is now going on. It is esti-
mated that the number of packets issued as permanent advances to Postmasters and
to Collectors has been 6,053—
To first five districts
1,635
„ four Telugu districts
1,670
„ Coorg
110
3,415
Issued to Collectors, &c.
2,638
Total
6,053
In addition to this number, indents were sent, in subsequently by Postmasters for 664
packets, and these, if added to the above, would make the total number of packets
issued in the year to be 6,717 packets or 679,858 powders.