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pounds not belonging to the series of substitution products. This, if correct, is a remarkable circumstance, and worthy of verification by a more elaborate investigation.

Since the publication of my last communication, I have succeeded in making an artificial tourmaline large enough to surmount the eye-piece of the microscope; so that at the present moment I am perfectly independent of the tourmaline, or Nichol's prism, in all my experiments upon polarized light; and the brilliancy of the colours is much more intense with the artificial crystals than when employing the natural tourmaline: as an analyser above the eye-piece it offers some advantages over the Nichol's prism employed in the same position, for it gives a perfectly uniform tint of colour over a much more extensive field than can be had with the prism.

32, Old Market Street, Bristol, June 11, 1852.

EXAMINATION OF PAVON'S COLLECTION OF PERUVIAN BARKS CONTAINED IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM.

BY JOHN ELIOT HOWARD, ESQ.

(Continued from Vol. XI., page 564.)

No. 3. Cinchona scrobiculata (Weddell).

I do not find the bark of this species in the collection, and should have passed it over if I had not copied Goebel's proposed derivation of the modern Loxa, or rather the "HO" crown bark from this tree. Having since inspected the authentic specimens of scrobiculata bark brought by Dr. Weddell (now in the Museum at Paris), I am satisfied that this idea is incorrect. I do not remember to have seen in commerce any quill bark corresponding to these specimens, and the only examples I have met with are that called Quinquina de Loxa rougemarron, in the collection of M. Guibourt, identified by him (and I think correctly so) with the young bark of this tree brought home by Dr. Weddell, and one I have just discovered in the possession of the Pharmaceutical Society. I will not dwell, therefore, on this species, nor on the C. amygdalifolia, but proceed to

No. 5. Cinchona nitida (Weddell.)

Cinchona nitida,† is found under No. *66 of the barks marked "Cinchona nitida Fl. Peruv. es buena, del Peru." The specimen in the collection of Pavon is commercial" grey bark," of fine quality, differing widely from that of any of the varieties of Condaminea. It is not quite so dense, but is more resinous, the outer coat is more even, and does not present the varieties of surface observed in the latter bark. The periderm is, on the whole, adherent; but where it separates from the derm it peels off in flakes, and leaves exposed a brown indented surface. The internal surface is yellowish red, approaching to the colour of cinnamon. It is not without reason that the nitida is classed by Guibourt among red barks, under No. xi., Quinquina rouge de Lima. The

+ C. NITIDA, Fl. Per.

Vulgo, Cascarillo fino, et Quino fino.

This cinchona reaches a height of thirty to forty-five feet and above. The trunk is mostly single, but sometimes two or three grow from one root, which separate from each other as they ascend, or have alike a horizontal direction. But if there is only one stem it rises perpendicularly aloft. Its thickness is from one and a half to five and a half feet. It bears many upright branches, which produce very thick boughs. The ramifications do not include many leafy twigs, but some trees are thickly clothed with leaves. The branches are strong as the stem, upright, and full of other small boughs, which have at the end four rather convex sides. The bark of the stem is very fleshy, the outer coat exfoliated, and of a dark grey colour. The bark of the thick boughs has a rough superficies, but is not so knotty as that of the stem, and varies from dark colour to dark grey, ash grey, and light. The bark of the tender branches is very little rough, and has a clear grey colour.

colour of the substance of the bark verges (more or less) on the reddish tint, and the difficulty which has been remarked in the isolation of the alkaloids of commercial red bark is found also to exist in this species. M. Guibourt_says, that, by an analysis which he was not able to complete, he found this bark very rich in cinchonine and in quinine. My own observations confirm this view of the subject, as I have obtained (notwithstanding the difficulty referred to) about .571 quinine, .142 quinidine crystallized, and 1.4 cinchonine-total, 2.113 per cent. The quinine, however, is in a state which renders it difficult (if not impossible) to crystallize in salts, and this circumstance presents a point of contrast to the species (C. Condaminea) with which this tree has been identified by some observers.

M. Guibourt identifies the Cinchona nitida of the Museum with his rouge de Lima, as mentioned above, and I fully agree with this, after examination of both specimens. It would appear that the commendation" es buena" ("it is good"), bestowed by Pavon, is well deserved, as Guibourt says that he finds this species of cinchona, which Ruiz and Pavon have placed in the first rank of usefulness, to be indeed eminently active.

M. Laubert gives a description under the designation No. iii. La Peruviana, which very correctly points out this bark, and is, in every particular, applicable, even as to the agreeable taste and pleasant smell (about which features observers seem apt to disagree); but it appears from a note in the Bull. de Pharm., ii., p. 296, that this species was scarcely to be found in commerce. One would conclude the same as to France from M. Guibourt's remarks. It is not the same in England, however, for this sort, the Quina cana legitima,§ or "Genuine grey bark" of Laubert still keeps its ground in public estimation, and forms the finest samples in the drug market. I found it, in a recent sale, in the following proportion :-Thirty chests C. nitida, unmixed; 100 chests mixed with C micrantha; and from thirty to forty chests almost all micrantha. All this sold as grey bark," but the nitida was reckoned the finest.

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The species called by Ruiz and Pavon hoja de Oliva, which has been thought to be identical with this, must surely be different, as the leaf of the olive is entirely unlike that of the C. nitida in the specimens of Pavon. Moreover, in the Quinologia the barks of the two sorts are described separately. The description in the Quinologia, is, however, not unlike that of "grey bark," especially as to the remarkable "gum-resinous sap," which exudes freely in the part which has been sliced by the knife in paring the bark from the tree. Perhaps the hoja de Oliva was a simple variety of C. nitida.

The specimen of "China Huanuco," in the Pharmaceutical Society's Collection A, No. 2, from M. Von Bergen, agrees (except a few pieces of micrantha) with this species, and perhaps his No. 6 and 12 of plate ii. are taken from the same. The rest are either badly executed or from poor specimens.

Omitting No. 6 (Weddell), Č. Australis, and No. 7, C. Boliviana, I arrive at

No. 8. Cinchona micrantha (Weddell).

Dr. Lindley says, "I have seen only two certain specimens of this very distinct and well marked species; one in the Lambertian Herbarium, and one in my own, gathered in Peru by Matthews. There is in the former collection a second specimen from Pavon, marked C. micrantha, with obovata leaves, and a small compact thyrse of flowers, but it is too imperfect to be determined satisfactorily."

I have, through the kindness of Dr. Weddell, specimens of both his varieties, a. rotundifolia and B. oblongifolia, of which the former seems to correspond with the second specimen described by Lindley, and the others mentioned by him with var. B oblongifolia (Weddell).

Dr. Lindley says of the leaves, that they are oblong obtuse, or hardly acute,

Histoire Drogues, iii., p. 121.

Flora Medica, p. 413.

§ B. de Ph., ii., 295.

rather membranous, very large, often a span long without the petiole," &c. My specimen of a rotundifolia has a leaf more than twelve inches long, without the petiole, and nine inches and a half in width. The size is said to vary according to the place of growth.

A sample seron of bark was sent over from Peru, a portion of which I forwarded to Dr. Weddell, who pronounced it to correspond with the a rotundifolia, which is the C. cordifolia of Rohde, and it is remarkable that the bark has also considerable similarity of appearance with that of C. cordifolia, both the tree and the bark, are, however, entirely distinct from this species.

The specimen of B oblongifolia has a certain general resemblance to that of C. scrobiculata var. Delondriana (Weddell), and with this it has been confused; but no two descriptions of bark can be more distinct than those belonging to these two trees, as specimens brought by Dr. Weddell clearly show.

There seems, however, to be a considerable variety in the products obtained from this species, and it is not very easy to know where to draw the line as to its varieties. In the Flora Peruviana, the discovery of the species is ascribed to Tafalla, in the year 1797, at St. Anthony de Playa Grande. In the collection, Chicoplaya is named, a place only a few miles distant.

M. Laubert says,** under "No. iv., quinquina resembling the calisaya," "M. Tafalia has sent from Peru some specimens of a new quinquina (a). Under this denomination and under that of cascarilla provinciana (b), he collected this bark in the woods of Chicoplaya. The same species also occurs in the mountains of Monzon, which belong to the province of Huamalies, and the discovery of it (c) is to be ascribed to M. Bezares. This bark has a perfect resemblance to the orange-coloured quinquina of Mutis, and Messrs. Zea and Mutis are rather inclined to believe that they may belong to the small species.

It is said that M. Bezares discovered at Monzon this species of calisaya (c); it is also said that he discovered at Monzon a quinquina similar to the calisaya (d), and which is thought to be of the same species with the red quinquina of Mutis. It is possible that the discovery of the calisaya, which is ascribed to Bezares, the question may be only on the discovery of this new quinquina resembling the calisaya, which, according to M. Ruiz, is very different from the calisaya, as well as from the orange-coloured quinquina of Mutis. This doubt can be cleared up only by the arrival of the specimens which M. Tafalla is to send.

Afterwards, at p. 89, we find a short notice amongst the quinquinas recently discovered by Tafalla, of the C. micrantha, as No. iv. "Fine cascarilla of Chicoplaya, de flor pequena (with small flowers.") (b) "The specimens," it is said, "arrived with those of the former species, but without the bark. This new species is much esteemed where it grows." "It attains the height of twenty-five yards, and grows in the Andes of Peru on the side of Chicoplaya.” It is ascribed to C. micrantha, Flor. Peruv.

We have here, apparently, four sorts of barks assembled under one head, but possessing more or less of different features. Of these we may perhaps identify

First sort, or Sort (a).

C. species nova parecida a la naranjada de Mutis.-This is No. *63 of Pavon's collection. It differs the most from the other specimens: it is in heavy solid quills, with the silvery periderm common to micrantha barks, which exfoliates, and disclosesa derm purplish, smooth, and cracked in drying. Some of the pieces are fibrous; and this circumstance, together with a certain resemblance in the colour and coat, probably gave rise to the mistaken idea of its resembling the naranjada bark of Mutis.

Folia-ovalia, nomnulla ovali-obovata, integerrima obtusa, obsoleté acuminata, ampla patentia, plana, utplurimum quadripalmaria, &c., of the Fl. Peruv.

** Lambert Illus., p. 73.

Second sort, or Sort (b).

No. 17 Cinchona Provinciana, vulgo de Loxa. This is No. xxxii. on wood, the bark on which has a silvery appearance. The bark is No. *50, and inscribed Quina Provinciana species nova de Loxa, it is marked by Guibourt "Q. gris de Lima ou q.q. Huanuco. It is coarse, that is, inferior, Huanuco bark. It is a heavy bark, in pieces ten inches long, some cut like C. nitida, with gum-resinous juice exuding; some with longitudinal wrinkles, some with distant cross cracks, and longitudinal cracks; substance pale brown.

Another specimen is from Jaen.

'

No. 17. "Quina provinciana de Jaen de Loxa," marked by Guibourt, “Q. de Lima." It is, like the other, inferior Huanuco bark.

No. 43. C. Cascarilla provinciana fina de Jaen de Loxa.-This is No. xviii on the wood, having a silver-coated bark. The bark not in the collection.

No. 88. C. quina provinciana de Jaen, Loxa. M. Guibourt has written on this Q. Gris de Lima, 479, 480, Hist. Dr., 3nce ed. Dr. Pereira considers it "Huanuco bark." It is curled in drying, like Jaen bark, has a green-skinned derm, a periderm which easily exfoliates, with longitudinal wrinkles, feeble cross cracks, some warts, and other fungoid excrescences, the quills curl in upon themselves. M. Guibourt in his 4me ed., vol. iii., p. 110, says it is the same as his No. 34 fine grey Lima, but a little larger.

It appears to me to be the same as the sort of pata de gallinazo which was gathered by Poeppig, in the cinchona woods of Cuchero in 1829, and of which the Pharmaceutical Society possesses a specimen. It perhaps still more exactly resembles the cascarilla provinciana from the Cinchona forest of Cuchero, gathered by the same traveller.** I have seen the same sort of bark, under the

The appellation“ Huanuco bark” is one liable to some uncertainty. According to Laubert, "the quinquina to which this name was given was known in Spain for the first time in 1799, as brought by the frigate La Veloz, which landed at Santander 180 chests. M. Ruiz, who was deputed to examine this parcel, found in the chests a thick bark, till then unknown to the botanists of Peru, mixed with the barks of C. nitida and of C. lanceolata, and with those of the species which Tafalla has described under the title, similar to the Calisaya. The later shipments were less carefully selected, for M. Ruiz found a quantity of barks of still less value than the preceding."

*

M. Laubert then describes "the thick bark, particularly designated under the name of Huanuco," which appears to be the sort which is called by Pavon parecida a la naranjada de Mutis, the "woody variety of grey Lima," according to Guibourt, and evidently the produce of C. micrantha, R. & P.

This derivation is fully confirmed by Poeppig, the well-known naturalist, by whom the region was explored, which supplies the barks shipped from the port of Lima, and which in some countries are named from this place, whilst in others they are called Huanuco barks. It is, according to this traveller,§ a very mountainous district, broken by numerous ravines; the Quebrada of Cassapi (of which he gives a plate), furnishing us with a good idea of the whole. Poeppig tells us that the rich cinchona barks are only to be met with on lofty elevations; but there must be exceptions to this rule. In the Part Geographie et Physique of Humboldt's travels there is a plate which is called "Esquisse hypsometrique des Nœuds de Montagnes et des ramifications de la Cordillere des Andes," which much elucidates the subject of the bark districts. There I find the next group (Noud) of mountains south of Loxa to be that " of Huanuco and of Pasco," connected of course with the other by the intervening Cordillera. It is on this group, with its branches, that the Lima barks are produced, about six degrees south of Loxa and four degrees north of the next group, marked by Humboldt that "of Cuzco." It cannot be supposed that the Cinchons do not grow on the intermediate ridges; but according to Poeppig the barks procured between Huanuco and Loxa, as grown at a less elevation, are very inferior in quality. He adduces, as an example, the bark grown at Jaen, which has acquired a specially bad reputation, also those of Mayobamba, Chacapoyas and Lamas, belonging to this intervening district. It was at Chicoplaya, north of Huanuco, that the C. micrantha was first discovered by Tafalla (See No. 23 inscription), and this tree and the nitida seems to give the prevailing character to the barks of the Huanuco district, as the Condaminea characterize the Loxa group, and the varieties of scrobiculata the district of Cuzco.

B. de Ph. II., 309. § Reise IL, 257. (His journey occupied from 1827 to 1832.)

** These form No. 90 and 91 of the Pharm. Society's collection. The Museum at Paris possesses a similar specimen from Poeppig.

same name, Provinciana, which was received only a few weeks since by Dr. Weddell from Peru. The pata de gallinazo, according to Poeppig,tt is from the younger and upper branches of the Cinchona micrantha, R. & P., and the Cascarilla provinciana is from the larger boughs.

Third sort, or Sort (c).

No. 23. C. quina parecida a la amarilla de Mutis, descubierta por Tafalla en Chicoplaya, en Peru.

This is inferior Huanuco bark, and corresponds with the species mixed with the bark of C. nitida in the sale of 22d April, ult. This again resembles the cascarilla provinciana, both of Pavon and of Poeppig, and also the pata de gallinazo of Poeppig.

The botanical specimen in Pavon's herbarium, marked "Cinchona micrantha sp. nova edita, Flor. Peruv. in Peru," agrees entirely, so far as I could judge, with a specimen given me by Dr. Weddell of ẞ oblongifolia. The barks differs much, but this is remarked by Poeppig, as regards the varieties which fell under his observations, though of course he did not see those of Bolivia. Poeppig says, respecting the cascarilla provinciana Cinchona micrantha R. and P. of Cuchero "This tree differs from that which grows near Huanuco by a remarkable whitish colour and a greater roughness of the upper surface. It is more thick and woody, the fracture is more fibrous, and the colour clear cinnamon brown. This was probably the sort found both at Chocoplaya and Monzon, places near together, and much nearer to Cuchero than to Huanuco.

Fourth sort, or Sort (d).

The bark discovered by Bezares is said to be similar to the calisaya. I do not know any specimens of this apparently "red" kind (Weddell's "Histoire," p. 53), as discovered by him; but it is a curious fact that whilst the C. micrantha furnished in Peru the second rate qualities of grey bark, in Bolivia the same tree produces second rate varieties of calisaya, which pass in commerce as light and flimsy sorts of Bolivian bark. I have no doubt of the entire identity of the species in these two cases, as shewn in the specimens before described, and also to be traced in the bark itself, notwithstanding the difference produced by the circumstances under which it is grown.

The influence of soil and climate on the vegetations of the cinchonæ, and consequently on their production of alkaloids, is a point requiring further investigation. In every species I have yet studied this appears to be very great.

The produce of the inferior grey bark I have mentioned was in alkaloids as follows: Quinine .243, quinidine .28, cinchonine 1.25. Total 1.773 per cent. General Remarks on Grey Barks.-Before leaving the subject of the grey barks I will add a few observations as to the points of distinction between the barks of the C. nitida and the C. micrantha, a distinction more important in a botanical than in a pharmaceutical point of view, as both may be classed among the more efficacious sorts.

1. The substance of grey bark of the first quality being procured from C. nitida, is, as observed in the Quinologia "very fleshy," and thus contrasts with that of micrantha, which always partakes more or less of the woody character, verging on the finely fibrous. This is sufficiently evident in its fracture, but becomes still more apparent under the microscope, when the nitida will be seen to approach the No. 30, or calisaya structure of Dr. Weddell, and the micrantha the No. 32, or scrobiculata, structure.

2. The thickness of the bark of the nitida in reference to the bough on which it grows is much greater than that of micrantha. The fine specimen C. nitida in the British Museum, marked No. 36 on the wood, has a diameter of about 3 inches, and the thickness of the bark is more than two lines, whilst the specimen

†† Vol. ii., p. 261.

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