CASCAl'JLLA, 381 



40 per cent, from 170^ to 180'^), and only ahout 10 per cent, goes 

 over at a temperatnre above 200^"*. 



It is strange that the fine fragrance of the empjreumatic oil of 

 AVhite ]>irch bark should not have attracted the attention of 

 chemists to products which may be obtained by the destructive 

 distillation of other substances, for instance, Cascarilla Ijark. 



Cascarilla. 



The product so largely dealt in commercially as " Cascarilla " is 

 the bark of Croton Elutlicria, Bennett,* a small tree belonging to 

 the Xatural Order Eiiphorhiaccrr, native of the Bahamas, and 

 especially abundant on the island Eleuthera of that group, from 

 whence the chief supply is derived. 



The Elutheria is a small tree, seldom exceeding twenty feet iu 

 height, and sending off numerous branches, especially towards the 

 top ; the bark of the small branches is brown and smooth, but 

 that of the larger branches and trunk is externally more white and 

 rough, and covered with a variety of lichens. The branches are 

 brittle, and, when broken, ooze out a thick balsamic juice. The 

 leaves are entire, ovate-lanceolate, somewhat cordate, and elongated 

 towards the apex, which is blunt, and placed alternately on short 

 petioles. The upper surface is studded with small orbicular 

 scales ; the under is whitish, shining and silvery. The flowers are 

 in axillary and terminal spikes, and are composed of a calyx 

 divided into five OA'ate leaflets, and an equal number of small 

 whitish, oblong, obtuse petals. The male flower has ten awl- 

 shaped filaments, bearing erect, compressed anthers. The female 

 produces a roundish germen, supporting three bifid spreading 

 styles, with obtuse stigmas. The capsule is oblong, marked with 

 six furrows, and divided into three cells, each containing a solitary, 

 oval, shining seed. For figure of the plant see AVoodville Med. 

 Bot., t. 211 (edition 1794) ; Bentley & Trinien, Med. Plants, t. 238. 

 For microscopic structure of bark see Pharm. Journ. [3], iii., p. 

 664 ; Berg. Anat. Atlas, t. 37 ; also Fliickiger & Hanbury, Hist. 

 des Drogues, ii., p. 317. 



The bark, as it arrives on the market, is in short, curled pieces, 

 or in short quills. The latter, evidently the produce of the 



* rroc. Liu. Soc, iv., p. 29. 



