5o6 



THE TROPICAL AGR:ICULTURIST. [December i, 1882. 



were much diviiled. Many thought it must be that the 

 orange tree had a hmited period of existence, and this 

 being reached, the tree must thus naturally decay. As 

 we then only propagated trees by layers, this explanation 

 was not thought too unreasonable, but afterwards it was 

 found that seedlings were attacked in the same way. 

 Then it was found that superabundance of moisture in 

 the soil was one of the worst conditions for the disease. 

 Soon it was discovered that the destruction of the diseased 

 bark and wood in the stem of the tree was the best method 

 to save it. From February till August a skilled horti- 

 culturist visits every tree, and at the slightest sign of ex- 

 udation of gum he cuts the bark across, to allow it to 

 run out. If the disease is in an advanced state, the bark 

 and the whole of the diseased wood is cut out, the roots 

 being bared to a distauce of a foot or two feet from the 

 stem, every portion of diseased root being cut away. By 

 this means the tree is cured if the disease is found at 

 an early stage ; if not, it is dug out, and a fresh tree put 

 in from a reserve which is always kept for such contin- 

 gencies. jUthough the disease still continues, the gardens 

 now look very jirosperous, for the remedy is known. . . . 

 So we are returning to the old traditional culture. We 

 are clearing the shelters, pruning the interior of the trees 

 for the admission of air and light, are less liberal with 

 manure, and keep the ground free of weeds, except when 

 we want to excite vegetation. 'SVa have abandoned pro- 

 pagation by layers, and graft good chosen kinds upon 

 seedling stocks. For shelter we prefer trees with their 

 foliage, and take care not to let them grow too high. — 

 Land. [The disease is clearly " canker. " — Ed.] 



NOTES ON THE PHARMACY OF CINCHONA. 



BY E. W. GILES. 



It may be taken for gi-anted that the members of the 

 Pharmaceutical Conference are perfectly well aware of the 

 contradictory and unsatisfactory state of the pharmacy 

 of cinchona, for there has scarcely been a meeting at 

 which it has not been pressed upon their notice, so that 

 they may possibly ask " What is the use of this wearisome 

 iteration ? " The answer is that the grievance remains, 

 and custom and prejudice are so' inveterate that it is 

 necessary to attack it again and again, even with the same 

 weapons, before amendment can be hoped for. In this 

 way alone pharmacists are able to exercise some influence 

 upon their own Pharmacopceia. 



All practical pharmacists must be aware that it is next 

 to impossible to obtain ofJicially recognized cinchona bark 

 of the official alkaloidal standard ; while there is no lack 

 of barks of superior alkaloidal valne and equally well 

 adapted to pharmaceutical purposes which are not officially 

 recognized. These evident truths have been asserted amongst 

 others by Trousseau et Pidoux (Traite de Tbtrapnitique), 

 Professor Fluckiger {Phurmuceutische Zeitnnif),xaA by Messrs. 

 Umney, Holmes, and Dr. Paul, at meetings of this Con- 

 ference. 



The only dissentient that I know of is Mr. de Neuf- 

 ville, who asserted in a paper read at the last Conference 

 (Pliarm. Joiirii., vol. xii., p. 369), that the siipph/ of fat 

 calisaya during the past few years had been abundant, 

 and the qita/lti/ of rjiiil/ calisaya had been good; but I 

 cannot put that and that together so as to amount to a 

 statement that in his opinion there had been an abundant 

 supply of good calisaya bark; and even then I should be 

 obliged to conclude that the preponderance of evidence 

 was against him. 



Thus far the cinchona difficulty appears to be geogra- 

 phical ; good barks, far exceeding the modest pharmacopceial 

 standard, being excluded because they do not grow west 

 of Greenwich and do not bear the name of calisaya. 

 These do not appear to be distinctions of sufficient im- 

 portance to place in opposition to .scientific tests. Dr. Paul 

 put the case clearly and conclusively when he said that 

 an alteration was necessary in the range of selection of 

 pharmaceutical barks ; that South American barks should 

 not be excluded, but that Indian barks shovild be admitted. 

 In other words let alkaloidal standard be the sole test. 



In consequence of the " fearful deterioration of calisaya 

 bark,"* and the unsatisfactory state of its pharmaceutical 



* See PlMtmacentical Jmmal, vol. ix, l>. 213. 



prepai'ations, cinchona has fallen more and more into dis- 

 use, to the prejudice of pharmacy and of medical prac- 

 tice, its place having been usurped by quinine, contrary 

 to the opinion of the be.st authorities upon the relative 

 value of the two medicines. It is the province of phar- 

 macists to rectify this miscarriage amongst their wares, 

 and to restore one of the most valuable articles of the 

 materia medica to its proper place and functions. It is 

 not suggested that they should substitute even good Indian 

 bark for inferior calisaya, when the latter or its preparations 

 are prescribed, however uuadvisetlly ; but that they should 

 take care to have in stock bark of sufficient alkaloidal 

 value (independent of the B.P. standard, which is too low) 

 and that they should educate the medical profession to 

 the use of it. 



Although therapeutics are a forbidden subject, it may 

 be permitted to quote the opinions of orthodox authori- 

 ties upon the therapeutical qualities of cinchona and its 

 alkaloids as an indication of the direction which jjharma- 

 ceutical research ought to take, the more so as those 

 opinions show that the chemistry of cinchona has hitherto 

 moved in the wrong direction. 



It has been well established by the Medical Commission 

 appointed by the Government of India to investigate 

 the febrifuge properties of the cinchona alkaloids,* and 

 their conclusions are supported by the testimony of English, 

 and more especially of continental observers,t that the 

 febrifuge and antiperiodic action of cinchona is common 

 to all its alkaloids, and it foUow^s that the exclusive em- 

 ployment of quinine, as it has long prevailed, is a wasteful 

 mistake. But more than this, the best writer.s upon 

 therapeutics assert that clnchoita possesses medicinal pro- 

 perties superior to those of any or all of its alkaloids, which 

 Dr. Pereira attributed in part to the astringent proper- 

 ties of the cinchotannic acid, and in part to the aromatic 

 quality of the bark causing the alkaloids to sit more easily 

 upon the stomach. J From this it may be inferred that 

 pharmaceutical preparations of cinchona would be free 

 from the objection sometimes charged against the mixed 

 alkaloids employed in India imder the name of cinchona 

 febrifuge, that they excite nausea. In Neligan's ' Medicines,' 

 similar opinions are expressed, viz. (p. 737) : " Most practi- 

 tioners are of opinion that none of the alkaloids possess 

 the same medicinal properties as cinchona bark, more 

 especially in the treatment of intermittent diseases. ..VitiA... 

 I must, however, confess that every day's increased ex- 

 perience induces me to prefer the preparations of bark 

 to those of any of its alkaloids when a tonic effect is 

 sought for." 



■\\'hy then should " most jrractitioncrs " have so far changed 

 their opinions, or at any rate so altered their practice, 

 as to substitute quinine for cinchona almost universally, 

 and particularly in those periodic diseases for which it 

 is so emphatically asserted that none of its alkaloids possess 

 equivalent virtues ? Is it not, at least partly, because in 

 the words of Mr. Umney already quoted, " Calisaya bark 

 has deteriorated to a fearful extent of late," and, as Dr. 

 Paul told the Conference last year, " it now really contains 

 nothing more than a little cinchonine." 



It may be very loyal to the Pharmacopceia to continue 

 the unquestioning supply of calisaya bark which was de- 

 scribed upon the same occasion as '• almost invariably 

 worthless," but how about the welfare of fever-striken 

 patients, and the credit of pharmacy? It must not be 

 forgotten that the Pharmacopteia never initiates anything ; 

 it is a codex of remedies which have already been approved 

 and which it has become desirable to place imder control. 



The reijutation of cinchona has once before suffered, 

 at a very early period after its introduction into Europe, 

 from a similar deterioration in the importations of South 

 American bark. The early supplies brought over from Peru 

 by the Count and Countess of Chinchon ( lli40) proved 

 so effectual in the em-e of fevers and agues that more 

 orders were sent out than the Peruvian merchants could 

 execute properly, and they sent back consignments of 

 inferior barks, wliich proved wortldess and brought the 

 new remedy iuto temporary disfavour. This deception 

 is as good a reason as any other for the name of Jesuits' 

 bark which was conferred upo n it at about this period. 



* Fhannucentical Journal, vol. ix, pp. 78, et seg. 

 I Pereira, vol. ii., pt. 132; Neligan, p. 736. 

 J Pereira, rol. ii; jrt. ii., p. 137. 



