Dr. Hancock on Quinine. 319 



blished superiority of the pale bark, which gives no quinine, is 

 a poor presumptive proof in support of such pretensions. Here 

 the quinine has been prescribed in larger doses than cincho- 

 nine. Mr. Brande remarks, that cinchonine has been less 

 employed in consequence of the comparative cheapness of 

 quinia, an analogous principle, &c. — See " Man. Ph." p. 62, 

 et seq. 



Previous to describing the method I propose, it is proper to 

 observe, in respect to the bark in powder, that its sophis- 

 tications are so great, that we rarely meet with it genuine 

 .in the shops. Besides, all barks and vegetable substances 

 keep best entire, or not powdered ; and they can then always 

 be ascertained if genuine or not. Regarding the sophisti- 

 cations of Peruvian bark, Dr. Thomson says — " Practitioners 

 ought never to purchase bark in a state of powder, for in this 

 state it is always found more or less adulterated." Dr. Paris 

 (Pharmacologia) mentions, that " in a late inspection of the 

 shops in London, the censors repeatedly met with powdered 

 cinchona, having a harsh metallic taste. A less injurious, but 

 equally fraudulent mixture, is the powder of bark, which has 

 been employed in making the extract." — London Dispensatory, 

 p. 247 — as also the dregs, it might be added, after making in- 

 fusions, decoctions, and tinctures. 



Therefore bark should always be ordered out in the gross or 

 natural state, as brought from South America, excepting a 

 small quantity for present use, to be sent by a trusty corre- 

 spondent. 



The experiments of Fabroni, moreover, prove, that protracted 

 pulverization and exposure to the air have a similar effect on 

 bark to that of long boiling ; that is, in a certain degree to fix 

 its principles or diminish its solubility, and, consequently, its 

 activity. He obtained 14 per cent, of extract from cinchona 

 simply bruised ; whilst from that reduced to very fine powder 

 he obtained but half that proportion, or 7 per cent, of extract ! 



" This (the powder) is the best form of the remedy. If it 

 excite nausea or vomiting, or operate as a cathartic, or occa- 

 sion costiveness, these inconveniences may, in some degree, be 

 obviated by combining it with aromatics, opium, or a cathar- 

 tic, as circumstances direct." 



