New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-06-04
SCIENCE FOR THE PEOPLE.
FpPING FOREST.

EPP1NG FOREST.
IN Nav c, the $500 acres of land to the
OJt vi of London known as Epplng Forest
portn Ss""clared free to the public. The value OF
was immense tract of land, from 4 scientific
this 81 view. lies says Nature, in its wldness
Z. nv the greater portion Is primitive wood
=! which has been but little lntertered WIN
i ian nan in comparison with the heathS ana
n11mmons to the north, west Ahu sOoth ol
SolnIdL on Such an eXpanse requires little IN the
LoDF . iu,nroyement." The requirements OF
way orlinarv hOlidaymaker and OF the held
.u.,,rolist are in this case IDENTICAL. 10 pe
nble 10 roam through many miles Oh wa loIese
- firmly a pleasure ana nONtlty 10 Ihe lOIhlci
TT i q necessity to the latter
~ ~ -, ,d1itiOu To the forest proper there are
p"' sI,aces amounting To more than Z,oOo
open and the best mode OF improving these
:: now uuuer discussion: VHe OF Tue hiost
n;1,e suggestions thus far maze was ihat OF
Al 1IfreG H. Wallace IN recent NUMBER u
~ = .t,,7L4l, Eerielr. After providing Tor
Ihe IVT etc. Mr. Wallace would plant
ihase sD3ces in such way as 10 give q ldu
..nl.ro.eTtatjon OF typical landscapes I'D various
90 tho world Thus tor instance 10y
paIIs O section with hickOrieS. sassafras
Hlan;'5n,S1her NAPLES, oaks rhododendrons, ca
~ ,,,,,,oIiaS lOcuSts, tulip trees Duttcrnut
IaId cypress Virginia creeper' hehilocA epiuCoi
I I'iU and other American trees ana
h1ihS he would produce North American
shr5os, ~ So again, by the use OF the
SSi;gornia hlC trees, redwOCdS, pines, spruces,
cvnresses. silver frs gigantic aIpor-Eltfs,
aynd other groWths found east OF the ROCKY
Mountains. he would initiate landscape
~ +be Pacific Slope. In hike manner an
H. section could be devoted TO the trees OF
Tnrone and Western Asia, including such eX-
amDles a, the nettle tree, tne ieu ouu' tho
Towering ash the wild olive, the mop hOrhpeal,
Nordmanu's Russian silver fir, ana the plcea
ninsapo OF spain another 10 Tue slnGu
rro,etatior, fouDd on the eastern shores OF Asia,
o. rho ailantus. the sOphOIa, cryptOncrld' paul
oUnia tine retinOSpOras the GlhSkO Tree; we
Chinese arbOr- vitses, the WlS'@ra' anu Vhe
pIvptOstrObuS while one landscape might Oo
devoted 10 trees and shrubs peculiar to the
Sontbern hemisphere. including such specimens
as the CHILEAN pine the gum tree OF Australia
me huOn pine of Tasmania, the plttoSp0rulhs
of New-ZcIand, and many charming SHRUBS
and climbers from Brazil.
POSSIBLE RIVAL TO CINCHONA.
Drr;n,. the last two OF three years bark
containing quinine and qulnldlne has been
obtained from Columbia III enormous guam
tities. The botanical source OF thiS Udrh,
which is known in commerce under the name Oh
Cuprea CinchOna, on account OF It's peculiar
coppery TINT has hitherto been mystery. NJ.
Triana. the wel-knOwn QulnOoglst mas
RECENTLY succeeded IN tracing II out, ana has
stated in the British pharmaceutical Journal
for April 30 that II Is derived III great meas
ure from two species of the nearly allied genus
Remiiia none OF the members of which were
previously known to contain qulnlne several
species of Remiiia have leaves resembling
those of the true CinchOnas, and OF these NJ.
Triapa has determined that Il. Purdleana,
Wedd. and l.. pedunculata, harsten, certainly
Weld Cuprea bark, the former being the
species which contains the alkalOld Clnchona-
mine recently discovered 10y NJ. Armand. IL
appears probable that other species also yea
the Cuprea CinchOna of commerce, Out dennlte
information on this POM Il still wanting. Inc
value of this bark has led, according to NJ.
Triana, to great devastation OF the forests ID
which the trees grow, and has produced imam
rial stagnatiOn, business being neglected III
order 10 follow the more profitable occupation
OF collecting the bark. The tree IS likely to
prove valuable for cultivation III countries
where malarial fever abOunds, since 1t grows
at an elevation of POOL, 600 metres above the
sea, at which even red CinchOna bark will not
flourish
But a still more formidable rival to cinchOna
is occupying public attention. NJ. L. :. Maui
meme a diStln guisbed French chemist has def
nitely announced verbally that he has sue
ceeded IN making qulnlne artlhclaly That is
10 say, without having recourse to the natural
bark. He does not wish TO announce the de-
tails of his process just yet rs he does not con-
slider them perfect; but he has deposited
sealed packet containing an account OF them
with the Secretary OF the French Academy OF
Sciences. NJ. Maumenes announcement Is
clear and distinct, and his reputation as a
philosopher j. too high for him to imperll 1t by
a premature or ill-cOnSidered statement. II
M Maumene has succeeded III making artificial
QuinIne at a cheaper rate than by extracting II
from bark, he has both fame and fortune be-
fore him and the Peruvian bark plantations
of South America, India, Ccylon and Java,
whether natural or artificial, may be cut down
for freWOOd. If, on the contrary he can DULY
produce il at a dearer rate, he Will have
achieved a result that Will hand down his name
10 pOstenty as the first chemist who has sue
loI = a qrf al a a
alkalOld.
HOW LIGHT AFFECTS THE BLIND.
An interesting account has been lately fur
nished by NJ. Plateau, the eminent Belgian
physicist (whO has been blind nearly forty
years, of the sensations he experiences in
his ewes. He has no sense of objective light
even when turning his eyes to the sun. But
ais visual field Is always divided INTO spaces
some of which are pretty bright and others
sombre or nearly dark, and which merge into
each other. Their general tint altern1tcS, IN
time, between gray and reddish. The relative
arrangement of those different spaces Is always
the same. but the Intensity OF their unts
varies. The central space seems now rather
bright, now very dark above and below, and
on the left 70 the limits OF the field, there is
sometimes brightness, sometimes darkness,
but on the right there Is generally a vertical
band, nearly black, and beyond this space
which j. nearly always bright and reddish.
These appearances follow all the movements
of the ewes. which probably do not participate
IN the same way III the unJs. but H. Plateau
cannot distinguish what belongs 10 one from
what belongs TO the other. No connection of
the general tint with Tho work of d igestiOn is
observed. The author states that he became
bird through looking iiXcdlv AT the sun tor
some time, with a view to observing his after
sensations; 1t was not TIL abort fourteen years
after this that Inflammation of the chOTOid set
IN, destroying vision, but during the interval,
ha sfr. .I..rsf. -,