wixtee's bark. 49 



Winter's Bark, above referred to, is the dried bark of 

 Drimys Winteri (Forster Characteres gencrum plantarum, p. 84, 

 t. 42 ; Syn. Winterana aromatka, Murray, Linn. Syst., 507), an 

 evergreen tree attainincr a height of 40 feet, belonging to the 

 Xatural Order Magnoliacecc, discovered by Captain AYinter in the 

 vicinity of the Straits of Magellan, and now found in various 

 countries from Mexico to Cape Horn. The word Sptfiv^, acrid, is 

 in allusion to the taste of the bark. The tree has knotty branches, 

 the bark is thick, aromatic and pungent. The leaves are oblong, 

 obtuse, their under surface glaucous ; the peduncles are almost 

 simple, aggregate, divided into elongated pedicels. The flowers, 

 which are axillary, are composed of 6 oblong petals, milk w^hite, 

 about the size of a hawthorn blossom, and having a perfume like 

 jasmine. Berries from 3 to 6, of a light green colour, with a few 

 black spots, usually containing 4 black, aromatic seeds. As the 

 bark is met w4th in commerce it appears in short quills, or 

 channelled pieces of very thick bark, often twisted or bent 

 backwards. Externally the colour is ashy grey to brownish ; 

 internally it is rusty brown. The inner side is characterised by 

 sharp strice or longitudinal ridges with some minute cracks, as if 

 the inner bark had contracted to a great extent in drying. These 

 ridges are seen at the fracture to be the broken ends of white liber 

 tissue. This radiating white liber serves to perfectly distinguish 

 this bark from that of Canella alha. In England Winter's bark 

 appears to be almost entirely used for medicinal purposes. It 

 contains tannic acid or some nearly allied bodies, and on this 

 account it is used in Chili for tanning purposes. It also contains 

 a resinous matter and 0*64 per cent, of an aromatic essential oil of 

 sp. gr. 0-945 at 15^ C* Its decoction, on treatment with potash, 

 becomes dark violet ; this distinguishes it from Canella alha, which 

 is but very slightly affected by the same treatment. 



False Winter's Bark is the product of Cinnamodendron 

 corticosum, Miers,f a tree attaining about 100 feet in height, 

 indigenous in Jamacia, the only island in the West Indies where 

 it has been observed. It has been known in that island for m6re 

 than a century, although remaining unnamed until 1838, the date 



* The essential oil of this bark has been examined by Avata and 

 Canzoneri : Estudio de la Corteza de Winter verdadera. Buenos A^-res, 1888. 



t Annals of Natural History, May, 1858 ; Contributions to Botany, i., 121, 

 t. 24. 

 E 



