RUBIACEA, 587 
dilleras, growing commonly at heights varying from about 4,000 to nearly 
12,000 feet above the level of the sea. The Cinchona region "extends from 
Santa Cruz de la Sierra, in Bolivia, about 19° S. lat., through Peru and 
Columbia, nearly to Caracas, in about 10° of N. lat. The Cinchonas are 
small shrubs, or large forest trees, with opposite evergreen leaves, and com- 
monly showy flowers. The bark of several species and varieties is extensively 
imported into this country, under the names of Cinchona, Peruvian, or 
Jesuits’ Bark. Some few years since, in consequence of the great destruction 
of Cinchona trees in South America, and from no care “being taken to 
replace them, it was feared that in a short time our supply of this most 
valuable bark would have seriously fallen off, or even entirely failed ; but, 
thanks to the energetic laboursof Messrs. Markham, Spruce, McIvor, Ww ilson, 
and others, the more valuable species have been transported to India, J amaica, 
Java, and elsewhere, and are now cultivated in these countries (more especi- 
ally in India and Java) over large areas, with great success, so that we 
need no longer fear any deficiency of supply in future years. A large 
number of commercial varieties of Cinchona barks have been described by 
Pereira, Weddell, Howard, and others, for a description of which we must 
refer to works on Materia Medica. About fifteen species of Cinchona are 
known to yield commercial barks, and of these, four are especially men- 
tioned in the British Pharmacopceia ; which are the only ones we have space 
to refer to here. They are C. Ca lisaya, Weddell; C. officinalis, Linn,: C. 
succirubra, Payon; and C. lancifolia, Mutis. Of these species, the first 
_ three respectively yield the formerly official Yellow Cinchona Bark, Pale 
Cinchona Bark, and Red Cinchona Bark, and from the latter species is 
derived the bark which is commonly known as Coquetta Bark. In the 
British Pharmacopeeia of 1885, Red Cinchona Bark, from cultivated plants, 
is alone official for the ordinary preparations of that volume, but any kind 
of Cinchona Bark may be used for the preparation of the official salts of 
the alkaloids. Several alkaloids have been described as constituents of the 
different kinds of Cinchona barks in varying proportions ; but by far the 
more important are Quinine, Cinchonine, and Cinchonidine. Some salts of 
all of these are now official in the British Pharmacopeeia, and although 
those of quinine are generally regarded as the most valuable of them all, 
they are all more or “less used in medicine, and possess, in an eminent 
degree, antiperiodic, febrifugal and tonic properties. The barks themselves, 
in addition to such properties, are also somewhat astringent, and in some 
cases have been found to be efficacious as topical astringents and antisepties. 
Coffea arabica, the Cottee Plant.—The seeds of this plant, when roasted, 
are used in the preparation of that most valuable unfermented beverage— 
coffee. When roasted, coffee essentially consists of the albumen of the seed. 
Coffee owes its properties chiefly tothe presence of caffeine, which is identical 
with theine (see Thea, p. 472), and toa volatile oil. About 40 millions of 
pounds are annually consumed in this country, and the consumption for the 
whole world has been estimated at about 1,200 millionsof pounds. Caffeine 
and its Citrate are official in the British Pharmacopeia, as already noticed 
under the head of Thea. In Sumatra and some of the adjoining islands, an 
infusion of the roasted leaves is used as a substitute for Tea, under the name 
of Coffee-Tea. The leaf contains similar ingredients to the seeds, and pos- 
sesses therefore analogous properties. Medicinally, coffee has been also used 
with frequently beneficial effects as a nervine stimulant and astringent. In 
its effects and uses it closely resembles tea, but its astringent action is 
much less. Besides C. arabica, the seeds of other species have similar pro- 
perties; thus, C. mauritiana of Bourbon and Mauritius, C. zanguebarica of 
Mozambique, and especially C. liberica,a native of the West Coast of Africa. 
This last species is now largely cultivated, and becoming a very impor- 
tant source of coffee; it bids fair to supplant C. arabica in many tropical 
countries. It isalarger and more robust plant, and flourishes at a lower 
