This bark is slender, about the size of a goose-quill, pretty 
well rolled,* and covered with a slight thin epidermis of a fal- 
low grey. Its internal surface has the fineness and aspect of 
Ceylon cinnamon ; its fracture is very clear, except on the inner 
side, whieh prceenits little ew filaments, extremely fine ; its 
it is mete to that gathered at Quito, Jaen de Bracamoros, Cuenga, and other places, 
' D. Vicente Olmedo, a distinguished botanist, was appointed by the King to superintend the 
collection and desiccation of this precious bark. 
* The thickness, fineness, and roundness of the barks must be taken into consideration 
«when a good choice is: te be made. It is necessary to ascertain not only whether a bark be 
of a good quality, but whether it has been well dried and preserved, whether it has be-- 
longed to an old branch or to too young a branch, &c. and these three characters may be 
useful in influencing our choice. The following are some general ideas on the inferences de~ 
ducible from them, 
The barks more than an inch and a half in width must prodioll from the trunk or ‘the 
great branches ; time and parasites ‘may have shee: these ark, and particular attention 
must ‘be paid to the state in which they are found. ‘Those ch are anger ge Z 
quill, must have belonged to branches still too young, which tiny not have acquired a suite - 
degree of maturity, according to the language of the Cascarilleras. 
The same observations are applicable to a bark which is too thin or too thick ; but in order 
to judge well of its thinness or iniskente a 
the bark belongs. : 
As to the rolling or soapilaieds 8 it is ial etiown hat the barks are spirit from the 
branches in longitudinal slips: by means of a very fine knife. They roll themselves up, be- 
cause the internal surface being more fibrous, and charged with more humidity, must shrink 
more considerably than the external surface. Their being well rolled is a proof that they 
have belonged to very ripe branches ; that-is to say, neither too old nor too young, and that 
they have been carefully dried. A feeble rolling can accord only with old barks, or those 
which have been too slowly: dried, Lastly, when on: bark is-tnoraiucl owineedy Line “aaa 
as it. were a spiral of a turn and a half or the ais, it may be sed to have been 
100 suddenly, or to aren gathered tefors thesia if maturitys 
‘The. Cascarilleras. decide in the following manner on the ciety of she Sein They 
begin by extracting omnes orench a. strip of bark; if after its extraction it begins to 
redden on the inner side, this is an infallible proof, according to them, that it has arrived 
at maturity ; : but if after three or four minutes this colour is not manifested, they reject it as. 
not in season. The Cascarilleras. affect to distinguish the barks which have not attained the 
proper degree of ripeness, by the feeble colour of. the inner surface, the less vente oa 
the less.agreeable taste, the easier fracture, and the less consistent texture.. 
eras? 
