HISTORY OF THE CINCHONA BARKS TO THE YEAR 1737. 81 
SECTION XVI. 
HISTORY OF THE CINCHONA BARKS TO THE YEAR 1787. 
The agreeably odorous legumes of the Peru balsam tree, Tolui- 
fera Pereirze Bazllon (Myroxylon Pereire AZotzsch), and to a greater 
degree the very similar legumes of the much more widely distrib- 
uted Myroxylon peruiferum Z. //., have presumably been for a long 
time in medicinal use in Central America and in the northern portion 
of South America.’ The latter in the northwestern part of South 
America are still called Pépitas (kernels) de Quina-guina, Quino- 
guino or Kina-kina? According to Chifflet?and Joseph de Jussieu, 
as also according to Ch. M. de la Condamine,‘ the febrifuge bark 
had been referred to the same tree, and it is for this reason that 
the same designation has been transferred to it, which has finally 
become simplified into Quina, Kina, or China, In the South Amer- 
ican languages, by a duplication of the sound, a superior quality of 
the respective substance is emphasized. Although the designation 
“Quina-quina” was adopted by the Europeans, the Spanish ex- 
pression, “ Cascarilla,” obtained by the natives, even in Condamine’s 
time, the supremacy. 
From the time of the first Spanish invasion of Peru, in 1513, no 
proofs of an early acquaintance of the natives with Cinchona bark have 
been transmitted, although Arrot § and Condamine, as also Jussieu, 
heard it stated in Loxa that such was the case, and, in concurrence 
with Ruiz and Pavon, found the reports worthy of credence. Ac- 
cording to these statements, the Peruvians had kept the Spaniards 
uninformed regarding the medicinal virtues of the Cinchona, and 
in Loxa, e. g., they had been known from a much earlier period 
than in Lima. The acceptance of this statement appears to have 
been generally prevalent, at least toward the end of the seventeenth 
century, as the reminiscences of the past ages were still more 
active. That precise statements are wanting 1s explained by the 
entire deficiency of written documents from the old kingdom of 
the Incas. 
1 Compare Fliickiger’s Pharmakognoste, 24 edition, pp. 124, 131, 132, 136. 
2 Weddell, Hist. nat. des Quinguinas, pp. 15, 22.—Cross, Blue Book, 1866, p. 276. 
3 Pulvis febrifugus Orbis Americant ventilatus. Brussels, 1653. Cite 
4 Weddell, loc, cit. The noble Parisian druggist, Pierre Pomet, made honest endeav- 
ors to obtain for his “ Histoire générale des Drogues,” which appeared in 1694, more ac- 
curate information regarding the trees which furnish the cinchona barks. The vague 
reports which he procured evidently relate also to Myroxylon. “E fe 
5’ Phil. Transactions, vol. XL, for the years 1737 and 1738. London, 1741, No. 446. 
An account of the Peruvian or Jesuit’s bark.” soe : 
