196 



CINCHONA. 



Ever since the efficacy of quinine against malarial fevers was 

 discovered and the drug introcluced into Europe in 1639, there has 

 been great interest in the plants from which this valuable drug is 

 obtained, especially among those European nations possessing col- 

 onies in the tropics, and subsequent to the introduction of the 

 cinchona plant into India in 1861 its cultivation has spread over 

 considerable areas in that country ; it is also extensively cultivated 

 in Java. 



The cinchona is indigenous to tropical South America, occur- 

 ring between the tenth and the twentieth degree of latitude and is 

 found at its best at an altitude of from 450 to 1800 meters. The 

 number of species that yield quinine is considerable, but there are 

 only a few that are sufficiently rich in the drug to warrant their 

 exploitation for this purpose. Cinchona calisaya Weddell, of 

 which there are several varieties, is richest of all in quinine (con- 

 taining 5 to 6 per cent.) and therefore this species is the one most 

 extensively cultivated. One of its best-known forms is C. Icdi^cr- 

 iccna. C. calisaya is a tree very variable in size that thrives best 

 at an elevation of 450 to 900 meters. C. succinihra Pavon attains 

 a lieight of 15 meters or more, and succeeds up to an altitude of 

 1800 lueters, preferring a cool climate. C. officinalis Hooker is a 

 straggling tree some 6 meters in height ; like the preceding species 

 it does best in the higher elevations. The cinchonas succeed best 

 on hillslopes where the soil is rich and well drained and where the 

 rainfall is fairly abundant, though in this latter respect they are 

 not so exacting as was formerly thought. The plants are easily 

 pro])agated from seeds or cuttings. 



It is quite probable that the cinchonas will thrive in many 

 parts of the Pliilippines having the right (|ualifications and the 

 Bureau of Agriculture has recently introduced C. calisaya with 

 this object in view. — P. J. Wester, in PJiilippinc Agricultural 

 Rcvieiv. 



COCONUT AND COCOA. 



The world is consuming lumdreds of tons of coconut "butter'' 

 daily. We are also using one way and another very large auKnints 

 of cocoa butter, which is translated cacao tallow. This tallow, 

 made as a by-product in chocolate manufacture, is a very highly 

 nutritious food in itself and a sort of flavoring "filler" for many 

 sorts of confectionery, etc. It is also extensively used by the 

 medical profession. 



While formerly it was consiclered of not nuich value, largely 

 on account of its use being hardly luiderstood, it is now worth 

 more than the product itself, something like 2 pe.sos a kilo. I'n- 

 fortunatcly the British, and to some extent the American, manu- 



