any animal is almost sure death. The many
vivid stories which have been published about the aggressive nature of
this creature are, we believe, mostly exaggerations. The poisonous
cobra, whose bite is as fatal as that of our dreaded rattlesnake, is
much more to be feared under ordinary circumstances. The larger snake
must be very hungry and greatly annoyed to induce it to attack any
other than small animals like a rabbit or a rat, and as a rule they
avoid the presence of human beings. Nevertheless, a boa will sometimes
be seized with an aggressive purpose without any apparent cause. This
has been proved in several instances where, after having been freely
handled in a museum for months without harm, the creature has suddenly
applied its great muscular strength to the purpose of strangling the
exhibitor, winding its body with lightning-like rapidity about his
throat and body. Under such circumstances, the life of the man has
been saved by the instant action of associates, who severed the
snake's body in several places with sharp knives. Any other attempted
relief would have led to an increase of the strangling process. In one
instance, at an exhibition in this country, it was necessary to cut
the snake away piecemeal with a butcher's knife before the terrible
muscular contraction of its body was relaxed. It was accomplished none
too soon, as the insensible victim was already nearly dead, and was
only resuscitated after prolonged and skillful effort.

When the coffee planters of this central district were almost in
despair at the failure of their coffee crops, owing to the blight
already described, the director of the Botanical Garden called their
attention to the importance of devoting their lands to other purposes.
The possibility of cultivating the cinchona-tree to advantage was
suggested, as well as the raising of tea. Both these plans were given
a trial, and were gradually adopted. Now, both industries flourish
vastly in Ceylon, to the mutual advantage of the planters and the
world at large. The seed of the cinchona-tree is first planted in
nurseries, and when a year old the plant is removed to prepared
grounds, where it makes rapid progress. The tree does not begin to
yield the bark which constitutes its peculiar value until it is seven
or eight years old, when a ready market is found for all that can be
produced, and at fairly remunerative prices. The latest statistics to
which the author could gain access showed t