Papaya juice is extracted from the" fruit of the pa-paw tree, which grows rapidly, attaining its full bearing capacity in a year. It produces from 40 to 50 pa-paws of a dark green color, ripening to a deep yellow, resembling in shape a squash. A very light superficial incision is made in the fruit, from which exudes a clear water-like juice which, on exposure to the air, becomes opaque. As it drips from the fruit it is received in a porcelain-lined receptacle. As it is very corrosive, metal receptacles would injure its appearance and qualities. It possesses great digestive virtues, and the refined article is considered superior to all animal pepsins.

After the desired quantity has been collected the juice is placed in shallow porcelain or glass lined pans and allowed to evaporate. While this is not a very delicate or difficult operation, it requires considerable attention so that the juice will dry uniformly and the product be white and well granulated. In its granulated state it is shipped to the united States, undergoes a refining process, and is sold as the papaw of commerce for medicinal purposes.

The ripe papaw is palatable, and an excellent aid to digestion. Meat wrapped in papaw leaves for a short time becomes quite tender without any impairment in appearance or taste.

In extracting the juice the hands should be protected by rubber gioves, as in its crude state it attacks the tissues. An average tree will produce about one-fourth of the granulated juice. It sells in the United States for from $4 to $6 per pound in the crude state.

German papers report that a new anaeshetic juice has recently been discovered in Japan, the product of a plant growing in that Empire. This anaesthetic has been called scopolamine, and is said to be superior in its effects to all other articles of this kind. It is administered hyperdermically and produces a deep sleep lasting from eight to nine hours. If the assertion concerning scopolamine are confirmed, it will certainly be used in surgical operations, as it is claimed that it does not produce the slightest ill after-effects, which are always to be feared with the anaesthetics hitherto used.