J839.J PERUVIAN BARK. 145 



vicinity, the fruit is small, being scarcely larger than an 

 orange ; but in Huanuco and other districts, where it is in- 

 digenous, it attains to the greatest perfection, and often 

 weighs sixteen pounds and upwards. It is of a roundish 

 pyramidal or heart-shaped form, and unites with the stem at 

 its broadest base. Externally it is green, and is covered with 

 scaly knobs, and black marks resembling network. When 

 it becomes perfectly ripe, black spots appear on the surface. 

 The skin is thick and tough, but, underneath this, there is a 

 juicy, snowy-white fruit, containing a number of seeds, which 

 is prized above all other delicacies by those who have once 

 tasted it. Both the fruit and the flowers emit a fine fragrant 

 odor that fairly intoxicates the senses. 



Cedar, ebony, mahogany, and walnut, are the most valua- 

 ble forest trees. Numerous medicinal plants are obtained in 

 the country, and the bark of the cinchona lancifolia, so well 

 known under the name of Peruvian bark, forms an important 

 article of export. The various species of cinchona grow spon- 

 taneously in the forests of Peru. The tree resembles the 

 cherry in appearance, and bears large clusters of red flowers. 

 Its medical properties were discovered by the natives, and 

 brought into use by the Jesuits, for which reason it was 

 originally called Jesuits' bark. It takes its botanical name 

 from the Countess del Chincon, the wife of a Spanish vice- 

 roy, who was cured by it. The natives collect the bark from 

 May till November. The trees are felled close to the roots, 

 and then cut up. After the sticks have dried three or four 

 days, the bark is peeled off in broad strips, which are imme- 

 diately exposed to the heat of the sun. This causes them to 

 roll up in a cylindrical form, — the folds or coils being some- 

 times so close that there is no cavity in the centre. The 

 value of the bark depends mainly on the rapidity with which 

 it is dried. The drying process being completed, it is packed 

 in bales, each containing four or five arrobas, and exported 

 in chests carefully inclosed in skins.* 



* It is comparatively but a few years since the French chemists, Messrs. Pel- 

 letier and Caventou.made the discovery, that the medical properties of Peruvian 



7 



