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XXXI. On the Bebeeru Tree of British Guiana. By DOUGLAS MACLAGAN, 



M.D., F.R.S.E. 



(Read 17th April 1843.) 



ABOUT three years ago, I received from my friend l)r WATT of West Coast, 

 Demerara, specimens of the bark of a tree, native of British Guiana, which had 

 been found by Mr RODIE, late surgeon R.N., to contain a vegetable alkali, and to 

 possess some value as a remedy in the intermittent fevers of that colony. Mr 

 RODIE made known his discovery by means of a letter which he published in the 

 year 1834. I made some experiments with the piece of bark, at that time in my 

 possession ; but the conclusions at which I then arrived did not appear to be wor- 

 thy of being published. It was obvious to me, however, from the results which 

 I obtained, that Mr ROME'S statement was so far correct, that the bark did con- 

 tain a bitter matter, having all the general characters of a vegetable alkali, and 

 capable of forming neutral compounds with acids. The exhaustion of my original 

 little store of materials prevented me from proceeding farther, till last year, when, 

 through the kindness of Dr WATT, I received a barrel of the bark, and likewise of 

 the fruit of the plant. 



The bark as I have received it, now from several sources, occurs in large Hat 

 pieces, from one to two feet long, and varying in breadth from two to six inches. 

 It is about four lines thick ; heavy, and with a rough fibrous fracture ; dark cin- 

 namon brown, and rather smooth within ; and covered externally by a splinter- 

 ing greyish-brown epidermis. It has little or no aroma, no pungency or acrimony, 

 but a strong persistent, bitter taste, with considerable astringency. 



The fruit sent to me is a nut, of an obovate form, slightly compressed. The 

 pericarp is greyish-brown, hard and brittle, half a line thick, rather rough exter- 

 nally, except at the part surrounding the point of its attachment to the footstalk, 

 where it is smooth, and has probably been embedded in the calyx. The cotyle- 

 dons are plano-convex ; and when in apposition, are of the size and general figure 

 of a walnut. A section of the cotyledons, when moist and fresh, was pale-yel- 

 low, speedily becoming brown by exposure to the air. The juice had an acid re- 

 action, and was intensely bitter. I suspect that those sent to me were unripe, 

 both from their appearance, and from the fact that all the attempts made to grow 

 them have proved abortive. 



The plant yielding these productions is still unknown to me. According to 

 the information which I have received from my Demerara correspondent, it is 

 known in the colony by the Indian name of Bebeeru ; whilst by the Dutch colo- 

 nists it is called Sipeeri, under which name, Dr WATT informs, it is known to 



VOL. XV. PART III. 5 Y 



