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A deep sink-hole near Orlando, Fla., has recently become of considerable geological interest. Through its subterranean outlet it had carried away the over- fiow water of more than a dozen neighboring lakes, and may have done this for a thousand years; but about two years ago this passage became stopped, and the water, thereby shut off from this means of escape, filled the sink-basin to overflowing and formed a lake which eventually covered nearly 250 acres of the surrounding lower-land, driving many colored' people from their homes and covering gardens and cultivated fields. It is not known how the subterranean passage became stopped, but it may have been from a cave-in of the walls, or from .water hyacinths which filled the sink basin. Many attempts were made to open the passage, and relieve the rising water situation by dragging the sink bottom, exploding dynamite among the debris collected there, and in other ways, but although much time and money were spent in this work, the opening remained stopped apparently as tightly as ever. A short time ago the idea was conceived of trying to find a new passage, or make a new opening into the old one, by drilling a well near the sink. A two-inch hole was first made and a passage was found, the hole carrying down the water easily and rapidly. Then an eight-inch hole was drilled, and now these holes are carrying away the water so freely that the big sink lake which has been so unmanageable a thing and the cause of much alarm in its ever-enlarging area for a long time is rapidly being drained, and the big sink environment will soon be in its normal condition. An important scheme has been decided upon for the study of . tropical diseases, by the Indian government. At the present time there are scattered over various parts of the country five centers, where the process of research is carried out upon a small scale. These institutions are the outcome of private enterprise, and Work independently. Owing to their limited resources, the work they accomplish, while valuable, is necessarily somewhat small in' scope. The Indian government has now arranged to consolidate these various institutions, to enlarge their field of operations, to found additional laboratories in other parts of the country where investigation on the spot is urgently required, and to control their operations from one central institution. The latter is to be located at Kasauli, a small hill station in close proximity to Simla, from which point it can be easily reached and the institute supervised by the central medical and sanitary authorities of the Indian government. The situation is well adapted for the work, the temperature being moderate, while scattered . among the surrounding hills are numerous sanatoria, each of which possesses a large hospital. There is a Pasteur institute already in operation, but this will be merged with the new building, and the present administrator of the Pasteur institute, who has carried out much important and valuable work, will be the first director. The new laboratory will' carry out original researches, and prepare and investigate' curative sera for tropical diseases indigenous to this country and other similar climes, and the training of scientific workers. The existing scattered institutes will continue their present operations, original research in particular being stimulated. This new arrangement will prove of great value for all'investigators of different countries of tropical diseases, since they will be encouraged to avail themselves of the institutions in India for carrying out on-the-spot investigations. When we remark that in the manufacture of cocaine it is the percentage value of the alkaloid which determines the value of the raw material, we can see the necessity. for the planter of finding a method of drying by which he will lose the least amount. In two series of experiments made by M. de Jong, of France, upon two products having different origins, he obtained the percentages of 1.49 to 2.77, or, in mean, 1.52 to 2.75 and 2.05 to 2.9.1. The fresh leaffurnishes the greatest amount of alkaloid, or from 2.72 to 2.91 per cent. When dried' over lime, the leaf loses cocaine, and the value falls to 2.55 per cent. Drying in the sun is found, to give values from 2.38 to 2.50 per cent, while drying at a heat of 40 deg. C. gives 2.28 per cent. A heat of 60 to 75 deg. affords 2.16 per cent of cocaine. By drying in the shade for four days and then for over an hour in the sun, we find from 2.05 to 2.18 per cent. The method of drying in the sun after immersion in boiling water gives 1.50 per cent. From this we find that it is not an advantage to dry the leaf over quicklime in practice. If sun-drying is to be advised, we must remark that the leaves should not be allowed to become overheated. It is not a good plan to let the leaves dry up naturally in the shade, but they should . be dried as . quickly as possible. By the use of hot water we dissolve out some of the alkaloid. The best yield of cocaine is afforded from the fresh leaf.
