"permanently planted out in the plantations. The increase by propagation during the month is 12,565.' It appears from the same document that the distribution of plants to other localities has already commenced, the numbers sent out being 2,628, while the interest which this object of commercial adventure has already excited is strikingly shown by the fact that about 50,000 plants are already bespoken; and when it is ' remembered,' says Mr. M'Ivor, that no public advertisement has been made of the intention of the Government to dispose of the plants, this fact clearly establishes that Chinchona cul⚫tivation will be extensively taken up by private enterprise.' 6 ... It is always interesting to record the first successful results of an important and beneficial enterprise. Mr. Howard, who has made the practical working of this subject as much his own as the scientific knowledge upon which it is based, transmitted in June last to the Under Secretary of State for India, a report on the bark and leaves of Chinchona succirubra grown in India, which had been forwarded to him for examination and analysis. In this highly interesting report, which is now before us, Mr. Howard states that the powder resembles that of good Peruvian bark.' Proceeding with his analysis, he says, 'I com'menced with 500 grains of that of the second year's growth, and was able to obtain therefrom a first and second crystallisation of white sulphate of quinine. . . . The crystallisations I obtained were mixed with some sulphate of Chinconidine. "... I also obtained some Chinconine and other usual products of the process as from South American bark. . . . I found the total contents 3.30 to 3.40. . . . This result 'must be considered extremely favourable.' Mr. Howard concludes by the important statement that the structure of the 'barks, as shown by the microscope, makes it evident that the plants had grown vigorously, and under circumstances 6 favourable to their full development.' On the 18th of the same month, at the last meeting of the session of the Linnean Society, Mr. Howard exhibited, to the great satisfaction of the members present, specimens of this, the first Chinchona bark sent to this country from India, together with some of the alkaloids in ethereal solution obtained from the leaves, and two small phials of sulphate of quinine obtained from the bark. The production of these precious alkaloids from bark grown in our own possessions is now, therefore, an accomplished fact. But it was not to India alone that the transplantation of Chinchona was to be confined. On Mr. Markham's departure on his mission, a depôt was formed at Kew, under the direction of Sir William Hooker, with a new propagating house and every other requisite for the safe keeping and propagation of the plants, and their distribution to various parts of our colonies. From thence, besides India and Ceylon, they have, we believe, been sent to Jamaica, Trinidad, Dominica, Queensland, Natal, Algiers, and Western Africa. From some of these parts favourable accounts of their progress have been received; and the report of Mr. Wilson, the curator of the Botanic Gardens, at Bath, in Jamaica, and that from Mr. Crugor, in Trinidad, are highly promising. The climate and other essential requisites for the cultivation of Chinchona in the former island are found to be perfectly suitable, and several hundred plants have already been raised from seeds furnished from that source. The cultivation of Chinchona in Ceylon deserves a separate mention from the success which has already attended its introduction into that country. 'The hill districts of the island of Ceylon, which have the necessary elevation, and are within the region of both monsoons, offer peculiarly favourable conditions for the cultivation of Chinchona plants, probably equal to the best localities on the peninsula of India. Mr. Thwaites, the director of the Royal Botanical Gardens at Peradenia, takes a deep interest in this important measure, and under his auspices there can be no doubt of its ultimate success. It was from the first determined to send a portion of the Chinchona seeds to Ceylon, although the whole expense of the undertaking has been borne by the revenues of India, and no assistance whatever has been given by those colonies which will thus profit by its success.' (Markham, p. 509.) Already the cultivation has been commenced, and with the best prospects. Besides plants which have been raised from cuttings, and two flourishing ones previously transmitted from Kew, six Wardian cases were sent in March, 1862, from the depôt at that place, and 800 plants of different kinds had in September last been raised from seed. 'Chinchona cultivation in Ceylon has thus been fairly started. It is,' adds Mr. Markham, exceedingly gratifying to hear that many coffee-planters 'will be glad to try the experiment upon their estates; and that 'Mr. Thwaites will shortly be in a position to distribute plants 'from the Hakgalle Garden.' It is not within the scope of our present object to dwell upon the narrative of Mr. Markham's journeyings, nor upon the interesting accounts he gives of the history and antiquities, the customs and mode of life, the scenery, soil, natural products, cultivation and other points of importance, which he has shown himself well able to discuss in a practical and philosophic spirit. The careful perusal of his work will amply repay the reader by the amount of economic information it contains, no less than by the interest which attaches to a great country, emerging from its struggles for independence, and beginning to feel the consciousness of its own power and resources. There is, however, one subject of present absorbing interest which appears collaterally to call for a short notice from us as having had much light thrown upon it from Mr. Markham's observations, and from the reports which are placed at the head of this article. The cotton of Peru, a different species from that of North America, possesses qualities which would appear, from the testimony of competent authorities, to be more available for Indian cultivation, at least in many extensive districts, than that of the North American species. Even from Peru itself no small amount of supply, additional to that already derived from that source, may probably be obtained; and there appears to be a disposition in that country to encourage its cultivation. The attention of Mr. Markham was called to this object, and the following statement is not without its present interest :- 'It has been calculated that in the cotton-growing districts of Lambayeque, Chichago, and Truxillo alone, after leaving a fifth of the available land for crops to supply provisions for the inhabitants, as many as 140,000 Janegadas (about 1,200,000 acres) might be brought under cotton cultivation. Allowing four feet for each plant, and that each plant yields four pounds a year, this extent of land would produce 580,000,000 lbs. of cotton annually, worth 12 dollars the cwt. at the port of shipment, or 69,600,000 dollars. Deducting 22,400,000 for expenses, this would leave 47,200,000 dollars' profit. But these provinces contain but a small portion of the fertile coast valleys of Peru; and it is clear that, if the speculations of 1860 yield a reasonably profitable return, the cultivation of cotton may, in all probability, be undertaken over a vast area, and render Peru an important source of supply for Manchester.' (Markham, p. 303.) Still it is on the extensive cultivation of cotton in India that the hopes of this country must mainly rest for future supply; and the inquiries which have recently been set on foot have been replied to in reports and memoranda from men in every respect qualified to form a correct and practical judgment. The direction to which they all point is the substitution of the Peruvian species for the native Indian, or the North American varieties, as possessing great advantages for cultivation in extensive tracts of country, which assimilate in their physical characters to the Peruvian cotton districts. The true Peruvian cotton possesses a much longer staple than the indigenous Indian, and is, therefore, much better calculated for the Manchester market, whilst it will grow well in those districts which are unsuited to the North American species. It is very important,' says Mr. Markham, in his memorandum to the Indian Government dated April, 1862, to introduce a cotton with a longer staple 'than that of the indigenous plant of India, and, therefore, better suited to the demand of Manchester, which will thrive in the exceedingly dry climate of the collectorates on the eastern side of the Madras Presidency. . . . The staple of this Peruvian cotton is longer than that of "Uplands" Per❝ nambuco, and much longer than any indigenous Indian cotton.' An elaborate comparison between the analogous regions in Peru and India occupies the greater part of Mr. Markham's memorandum, by which it is clearly shown that the Peruvian cotton, which now commands a high price in the Manchester market, may be cultivated to almost any extent in those parts of India which are unsuited for the growth of the North American kinds. Dr. Wight, whose long residence and official position in India, and his well-known practical acquaintance with the applied botanical science of that country, give great weight to his opinion, gives a similar testimony in a short memorandum dated July, 1862. He says: "I think that it is in every way desirable ' that the Peruvian plant should be extensively and perseveringly tried in the Carnatic, especially along the wide sandy flats bounding nearly all the larger rivers and streams which intersect the country between the central range of hills and the coast; and he concludes with the hope that his suggestions may prove useful in securing success to this very promising plan for adding another and superior variety of cotton to those already in cultivation in India. Mr. Spruce, in his official notes on cotton cultivation, says: A good deal of cotton of great length ' and strength of fibre is grown at Maynas, at Torapoto and Lamas, from 1,200 up to 2,500 feet elevation. ... The 'cotton,' he adds, 'grown at Torapoto is the strongest I have 'seen anywhere in the world. Of its excellence there can be no doubt; I have seen no finer cotton, and for length and strength of fibre it is unequalled.' The whole of the three memoranda from which these extracts are taken are well worth attention. Their concurrent recommendation appears to us to point to India as our future certain source of cotton supply, and to the Peruvian species as likely to supersede, with immense advantage, the inferior native kinds now cultivated in extensive districts, which it clearly appears may be increased to an almost unlimited extent. 6 6 ART. VIII.—History of England during the Reign of George the Third. By JOHN GEORGE PHILLIMORE. London: 1863. THE HE author of this strange volume is Reader of Constitutional Law and History at the Inns of Court under the present system of Legal Education. If his lectures correspond with his book, Mr. Phillimore's appointment warrants in some degree his repeated sneers at the heads of our law as wanting in common sense and discernment. It is certainly strange that a learned society, which till lately boasted among its members the honoured names of Macaulay and Hallam, should have chosen as a commentator on our Polity a writer whose turn for rant and railing, and utter want of sober thought, would appear to disentitle him to the office. For ourselves, we shall only approve the selection and commend this specimen of the History of England,' when ridiculous theories put recklessly forward, unsound, superficial, and conceited views, a judgment singularly paradoxical and partial, an incapacity to present facts in their true light, a habit of indiscriminate abuse, a narrative at once prolix and obscure, and a style tawdry, jerking, and shrewish, shall be esteemed the proper qualifications for an historian. Meanwhile, although the only object of Mr. Phillimore is to search for truth,' as in his own opinion the period ' of George III.'s reign has never yet been fairly described,' we hope, in the interest of good sense, that this performance will not be repeated, and whisper audibly to the author Θερσίτ ̓ ἀκριτόμυθε λιγύς περ ἐὼν ἀγορητής After a preface in which Mr. Phillimore tells us that he follows in the path which was trodden by him who said prophetically that he wrote for all time,' this volume opens with a long dissertation on the genius and character of the History of England. The views he has expressed await the equitable verdict of posterity,' and may await it for ever, for if his own appreciation of our times be correct, contemporaries will assuredly neglect' them in the total extinction of taste among us. For instance, it is a prevalent notion that the people of England throughout their history have given distinctive proofs of the qualities which deserve the appellation of greatness. Heroic energy, capacity for government, innate reverence of law and authority, and a strong and enduring |