526 



the advautages of excluding the bark from the suu's rays, while it 

 enables the cultivator to obtain several crops of bark from the same 

 growing stem. Mr. Mclvor thus describes his process : 



Two parallel cuts should be mads down the stem, at the distance apart of the in- 

 tended width of the strip of bark ; this done, the baik is raised fcotn the sides of the 

 cut and drawn off, beginning at the bottom ; care being taken not to press or injure the 

 sappy matter {Cambium) left on the stein of the tree. This Cambium, or sappy matter, 

 immediately^ granulates on the removal of the bark, and, being covered, forms a new 

 bark, which maintains the circulation undisturbed. 



AVith a view to show that scientific cultivation may modify the bark 

 so as to increase largely the valuable alkaloids and sulphates, and at 

 the same time decrease the resin and other objectionable matter, Mr. 

 Bronghton, chemist, employed by the Madras government, made the 

 following experiment: After taking samples of the bark of two trees, 

 as it grew in the natural state, he covered the bark on one with a shield 

 of tinned plate, and on the other with cloth. Analyses showed the 

 following resnlts : Bark from the tree covered with plate, before cov- 

 ering, qninine, 2.16; cinchouidiue and cinchonine, 3.13 5 total alkaloids, 

 5.29 ; covered ten months, quinine, 1.65 ; cinchonidine and cinchonine, 

 6.45 ; total, 8.10. From the tree covered with cloth, before covering, 

 quinine, 2.26 ; cinchonidine and cinchonine, 2.78 ; total, 5.04 ; covered 

 six months, quinine, 2.03; cinchonidine and cinchonine, 4.88; total, 

 6.91 ; covered ten months ; quinine, 2.34 ; cinchonidine and cinchonine, 

 5,58; total, 7.92. Mr. Broughton states : "The alkaloid was obtained 

 crystallized with nearly the same readiness as in mossed bark. The 

 amount of quinine, however, has not been increased as in the case of 

 mossing. This is a circnmstance which I did not expect, and it is op- 

 posed to deductions from other experiments." He thinks that the rea- 

 son for non-increase of quinine may be that the black cloth and tinned 

 plate did not shield from the heating effect of the sun's rays as did the 

 moss. He also gives the result of a new analj'sis, which makes the 

 amount of quinine in bark (of Succiriibra) sixteen months under moss, 

 4.02 ; and the same renewed, under moss for the same time, 3.87. The 

 old bark, however, was sixty-six months old. 



To show the comparative value of different varieties, analyses of two 

 kinds of bark produced in Ceylon are given. The first, Officinalis, (be- 

 lieved to have been subjected to the mossing process,) gave sulphate of 

 quinine, 3.93 ; quinine uncrystallized, 2.41 ; cinchonidine, .51 ; cinchon- 

 ine, .28 ; total, 7.13. The second, iSuccirubra, from trees grown in the 

 open garden at Hakgalla, gave, sulphate of quinine, 2.35 ; quinine un- 

 crystallized, .95; cinchonidine, .11 ; cinchonine, .58; total, 4.99. 

 fs Cinchonas in India. — Dr. Edward Nicholson, of the Anglo-Indian 

 army, informs Le Journal de Therapeutique that the culture of this pre- 

 cious bark is rapidly increasing in India. In the presidency of Madras 

 alone the product of cinchona bark, up to July 31, 1873, was : Cinchona 

 succiruhra, 1,215,963 superficial feet ; C. officinalis, 4 varieties, 1,284,748 

 feet; C. calisaya, 2 varieties, 54,881 feet; other species, 93,346 feet. 

 During the second quarter of 1873 these plantations furnished for the 

 manufacture of alkaloids of Madras 11,164 lbs. of green bark from the 

 trunk ; 30,089 lbs. of green bark from the branches ; 2,597 lbs. of re- 

 newed bark. There were exported to England 23,699 lbs. of dried bark^ 

 making the product of three months 67,485 feet, giving an estimated 

 product of alkaloids amounting to 3,376 pounds. Dr. Nicholson esti- 

 mates the total product of India at over 200,000 pounds of bark. 



Eain on the Pacific Coast. — Eain on the Pacific coast has set in 

 earlier than usual. In the month of October it fell at Sacramento to 



