3o4 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[NOVEJIBER I, 1883, 



it was imliscrimiuately called Colisaya, Calisaya and Cuil- 

 sava. rm'thei- (rf) : — " It is to this species that we owe tlie 

 most precious of all the barks employed iu the healing 

 art, (e) that which has always beeu known in commerce 

 as the Quiuquiue-Calisaya, and of wliich the origin had 

 remained" comijlctely unkuowu iu a botanical sense." 



I have in fact a lino specimen (/) (which I bought with 

 the rest of Pavou's barks) called Quimi de ca/isui/a (ascribed 

 by that botanist to C. Icmceohita, a very difi'erent bark). 

 It is of \Veddell's « iHra quality. 



Dr. \'Veddell proceeds thus : — 



" In spite of the diiferent explanations which authors 

 have given, the etymology of the word "Calisaya" is 

 still very obscure. M. Humboldt thought it came ft-om 

 the name of the province from whence it was lii-st derived; 

 but well-informed persons have assured me that such a 

 province never existedl In the department of La Paz, 

 where it is found abundantly, it still most frequently 

 bears the name of Colisaya or CaUs;fya ; and I am dis- 

 posed to flunk that these designations have been applied 

 to it <m accoimt of the red colour which the external face 

 of the bark presents when drying, or probably {biex) of 

 that AS'hich its leaves have sometimes. Vulli means really 

 red ui the Quichua language, and saya, taken in a figurative 

 sense means sort or form. The red maize is called colk, 

 iiara. or cuK abbreviated. 



" Weddell lived some time amongst the Indians and 

 studied their language,(^) which seems to have some ele- 

 ments of affinity to the [Sanscrit. A iter consulting Tschudi's 

 dictionary, I have no doubt that Dr. W. is right, and 

 that it means " the red sort.'' Mr. Ledger says the word 

 means " red " in Aymara as well as in Quichua. 



Kow it is exactly this red sort, called in Spanish, rojo, 

 of which Mr. Ledger haa always been in search, hearing 

 of its superior qualities from the Indians. Mr. Ledger tells 

 me that Dr. Wedilcll sought for the white flowers, which 

 are disiinctive,(/0 but without success. Mr. L. endeavoured 

 to assist Dr. AV., but it is easy to understaud, iu conver- 

 sation with him, the difficulties which beset the path of 

 iuiiuiry Mr. L.'s explanation of the term rojo is, that 

 tlio leaves turn this colour whilst the tree is flowering, 

 cliaugiug to a dark purple before they fall. 



The trees under these circumstances present a magni- 

 ficent appearance, visited by multitudes of humming birds 

 «nd bees, and the older ones adorned with the beautiful 

 <a-yptogam, Hypochnm riihfocin<:tvs{i) (.Ehrenb.) The pre- 

 .-•euce of this used to be considered in trade as indicative 

 of the best kind of Calisaya. Specimens so found m my^ 

 nossessiim date from 1853. 



This description especiallv applies to the finest and most 

 luxuriant trees, wluch probably raise their heids above the 

 surrounding forests, and present their white flowers, 

 fraught with pollen of superior power for cross fertiliz- 

 ations, to tlie access of the useful visitors above named ; 

 also perhaps, to more frequent damage by frost. 



The Indians call them " tata " (father) trees, and be- 

 lieve they are so important to the rest that where they 

 are found all the hark around will be Goli-saya ; and 

 they cross themselves when they meet with them. They 

 think that without them all would perish. 



Dr Weddell tays of his first sort " C. vera. ihe 



variety which I have been descrilung is the most fre- 

 queut. It bears in Bolivia the name of Calisaya amanlla, 

 C. doruda or C. anarunjada." ., , , 



That is to say the Cinchona Calisaya rei-a described and 

 figured as s uch by Sir Joseph Hooker. ru,ti.<':< Hot Mai l-, 



~{d) < Histoire,' pp. 30, 31. 

 lei ' La therapeutique.' 



(/■) Dating probably from Last century. „ u n 



(tf) ' Voyage dans le Nord de Bolivia,' p. 5oo, Weddell, 



'('h') It seems impossible to overcome the jealousy of the 

 Indians about these trees and it is easy to understaud 

 that it is a work of difficulty to get even sight of the 

 flowers, unless when the tree is cut down. Mr. Letlger 

 assures me that he has seen pinki^h flowers on one tree, 

 of which the flowers were white towards the summit. Dr. 

 Wcddell related to me that on one occasion he had to 

 fell three trees in order to bring to the ground one 

 (of I know not of what sort) whose flowers he wished 



to observe. , , , m i 1 



' {■\ TiiTuri'd by Fee 'Sur less Cryptogrames,' Tab. v.; also 

 Wy Uocbel, rkarm Waarenkltuile, Taf. xv. 



fi-om a tree at that time (1879) flowering in my posses- 

 sion. This tree, which is still so flourishing that I have 

 difliculty in keeping it within the narrow compass of my 

 stoves, represents probably very fairly this sort then very 

 abuudaut, now practically extinct, but in ono district ex- 

 tensively replanted, owi 5g to advice given by Mr. Ledger 

 some twenty years ngo.ij) Mr. Ledger does not recognize 

 my tree, owing to its large leaves, but approves some of 

 my 3'ouug plants of Ledyeriana from the Yarrow Estate, 

 Ceylon and also in part those from Mr. Thomas Christy's 

 seed from South America. All these belong to the nest 

 division of Weddell .aud the bronzed appearances of the 

 young tips which su..mer has brought on my young plants, 

 and which is much rested on in Ceylon, may be loolied 

 upon as a ready mode of discrimination of the second 

 sort from the a. vera. The rich velvety appearance 

 and ciliat ed margin of the young leaves are alsQ useful to 

 this end. '9tt- 



I proceed with Dr. AVeddell's description ofThis second 

 variety : 



'■ Another sort of bark remarkable for the dark shade 

 of its external face, which is often wholly of a vinous 

 blnck, bears the names of Calisaya zamha, C. negva or C. 

 maclia. I have remarked it particularly at Apolobamba in 

 Bolivia, and in the province of Carabay iu Peru." 



He did not then describe this further, but I have from 

 him an excellent specimen of the flat bark, marked Cali- 

 saya zamha, gathered at that time, and I learned from the 

 same source how to distinguish this superior quality. 



In 18G1) he describes it more fuUy(i:) (see the original) and 

 adds : — '• I brought this variety of Calisaya in 1851 from 

 the mountains which rise above the river of Coroico, an 

 afliuent of the Mapiri, one of the most important in the 

 department of La Paz. The cascarilleros of the country 

 have pointed it out to mo as giving a bark superior in 

 quality to that of other varieties growing in the saine 

 places, and I confess that I have been happy to see tliis 

 appreciation of the native ( I'homme des bois) confirmed by 

 Mr. Howard. It is, in effect, from a bark recognized by 

 him as identical with that which I have described that my 

 eminent friend has obtained the largest proportion of quin- 

 ine which has yet been found in a Quinquina, that is to 

 say about double the quantity which M. M. Delondre and 

 Bouchardt indicate as the average yield of the Calisaya. 

 The .shade, more or less purple, of the under part of the 

 leaves gives to this variety a character of resemblance to 

 the 0. Jjoliviana.(l) I have not seen its young leaves, but 

 it appears to me that they must have much analogy with 

 those of the*variety which I have just named. Perhaps 

 we may also cunsider as giving a representation of it the 

 figure 2 of the plate which accompanies the article pub- 

 lished by Jlr. Howard on the barks brought from Bolivia 

 by the merchant Don Pedro Rada" (Jouj-nat of Botany, 

 January, IStSt)). This plate was coloured in accordance 

 with some plants derived from Mr. Ledger's seed, then 

 in my possession. 



Now all this description of the Zarnha and of Eada's 

 Negrilla agrees entirely with Mr. Ledger's rnjo. He at 

 once recognizes "Weddell's specimens and mine as such, 

 nothwithstanding the vast distances between the different 

 habits. 



Mr. Ledger wrote me, (m) " The seed sent by me in 1865, 

 ' Calisaya red bark,' is not (as you say) the morada of the 

 Spani.-vrds ; it was the rojo." 



ANTien I examined this bag of seeds I pointed out that 

 it belonged to var. microcarpa of Weddell, and was conse- 

 quently of good quality. It was not, however all rojo. 

 This is proved by the germiu.ation of the seeds iu Java, 

 for out of some six or eight varieties obtained, only one is 

 acknowledged by Mr. Ledger as his true rojo. This is 

 figured in plate IV. of my ' Quinology.' 



It is comparatively scarce. In the siime letter he writes, 

 " I always understood the red bark, Calisaya, to be the 

 ""(/) I have specimens of the bark from 1S49 downwards. 

 That which is now imposed upon the public as flat Cali- 

 saya liark, judging from a specimen given me by J[r. 

 Lescher (who has exposed this fraud) is Cocliabamba bark, 

 according to Ledger, or C. Australis. 



(k) Aniiales des Sciences I(at., T.xi.. 347, xii., 54. 



(1) This is very remarkable iu the morada and the Rubra 

 vcnada of Mr. Christy. 



(at) December 23, 1874. 



