I'.VKK 



.'! .'V 



M *>!* 



. i 



it doas not actually lower its value in u**, 

 : it in the mark**. As long ago as 1828 a 

 fl.ud extract of this bark was brought to London from 

 , and. altar having been subjected to trial by some tenners, 

 wa* pvehawd by them. that tin-, importations of th. bark in 

 its end* state, as well as in th* form of an extract, have continually 



**. Thk nun* has beta given to th* bark of a 

 ol ok. th* <*-m .*, or_ *~*r, which i*. nrtr. of 



North 

 th 



It i UMK! M dye stuff for imputing* yellow colour, 

 which depend upon the choice of the substance 

 mordant. This bark WM first brought into use in 

 by Dr. Bancroft, who obtained an exclusive patent for it- 

 n to this porpoM. The colouring matter resides wholly in 

 inner bark of the tree ; the outer bark in therefore removed 

 previous to iU being packed in caaks for shipment. Quercitron bark 

 which ha* been prerioualy ground in a mill, give* out it* colouring 

 m* to water when heated to the temperature of 100 Fahr. If n 

 higher degree of beat be u*ed, the fcnmin which the bark contains will 

 [~ be dissolved, and this will impart a brown tinge to the dye which 

 H i* deairable to avoid. For this reaion the dye mart always be 

 separated from the bark before it in used. The colouring matter 

 obtained from the qneroitron-bark of commerce i equal to that 

 yielded by eight or ten times it* weight of weld. 



Ptnriam Bark. German, Ckimarituli. Pifbtrrmdt ; Dutch, Kia, 

 Qminqmima ; Daniah, Kiia, Cltinabart ; Swedish, Feberbark ; French, 

 OMMMMM; Italian, Ckina ; Spaniah, <JNI'M<I ; Portuguese, Quitt^uiim ; 

 Russian. CknuAnra ; Polish, Kteitifiiia ; Latin, Cinfhma, Cortex 

 JVawfaiiiij. Three principal species of this bark are known in com- 

 merce, namely, the pale, the red, and the yellow. The first of these, 

 the original cinchona of Peru, is now become scarce. It is the produce 

 of the Outduma lanfifulia, and is imported in cheats, each containing 



200 lb. weight, and carefully covered with skins. It comes in quilled 

 piece* from 8 to 10 inches long, and of various thicknesses. Inter- 

 nally the colour is of a pale fawn or cinnamon hue, but when 

 moistened the bark assumes a pale orange colour. It is nearly odour- 

 less when dry, but is very sensibly aromatic while under the process 



. . . . "| , , , . .. I,. . ;.. I : . , . " . . '{,. .. 



which is found growing on the Andes. It is imported in various-sued 

 pieces packed in chests, containing each from 100 to 150 Ibs. Its 

 colour u that of a reddish brown ; its taste is not so bitter as that of 

 the pale variety, but greatly more astringent. The >ttUotc bark was 

 first brought into use in England about the year 1790 : it is obtained 

 from the Cinfkona eordifolia, which grows at Quito and Santa Ft ! . 

 This variety is imported in pieces, some quilled and others flat, of 

 from 8 to 10 inches in length, packed in chests containing from 90 to 

 100 Ibs. each. The colour approaches to that of an orange ; it gives 

 out, in decoction, an odour very similar to that of pale bark ; its taste 

 is more bitter, but it is not astringent. Its goodness is judged of by 

 the colour. If it loses H* orange tint, and takes that of pale yellow, 

 it is not so valuable, and it in still worse when of a dark colour, 

 between red and yellow. 



It is said that the native Indians were unacquainted with the medi- 

 cinal virtues of this bark, and that its efficacy in cases of fever was 

 accidentally discovered by the Jesuits, whence the name, by which 

 it i* very generally known, of Jesuits' bark. It was first brought to 

 Europe in 1632, but more than half a century elapsed thereafter before 

 Hi use became at all extensive in this quarter of the world. Humboldt 

 states that from 12,000 to 14,000 quintal*, or cwts., are annually ex- 

 ported from Peru. 



During the three years ending with 1858, the average quantity of 

 tanners' bark imported was 366,000 cwts. annually duty free. 



BARK. Mtdieal Um of. [CiscHOSA.] 



BARK-BED, in horticulture, is a bed formed of the spent bark 

 used by tanners, placed in the inside of a brick pit in a glazed house, 

 constructed for forcing, or for the growth of tender plants. 



The object of a bark-bed is to produce artificial warmth by the 

 fermentation of the materials of which it consists, and at the same 

 time to keep the atmosphere of the house constantly damp. Oardeners 

 use it for all plants which require what they call bottom heat ; that i* 

 to say, for all species which are natives of tropical climates, and fnr 

 pineapples especially; but it is not employed in the cultivation of 

 greenhouse plants, except sometimes for striking their cuttings. 

 [CrTTWO*.] 



In constructing a bark bed, the coarsest bark which can be obtained 

 after the tenners have used it should be selected, because it is found 

 that the slowness of the fermentation, and consequently the steadiness 

 of the heat given off, is in proportion to the size of the fragments of 

 bark employed : small tan, broken into minute pieces by machinery, 

 although often the only material to be had, should consequently never 

 be used if it can be avoided. After having been slightly dried by being 

 sprsad in the sun, the tan is first laid in heaps, covered with mats, 

 until fermenution has commenced ; it U then transferred to the brick 

 pit, in which H is finally to remain. Having been lightly but evenly 

 arranged in the pit, and the glass roof of the house having been closed, 

 the tan is left to undergo fermentation ; which at first is violent, 

 evolving more heat than any plants could bear. But in a few days it 

 subsides ; and when the temperature of the bed has fallen to 96*, it is 



in a proper state to receivr the pot*, which are to be plunged in it. The 

 heat will gradually, but very slowly diminish to 60, below which it i- 

 oareely desirable, in th* opinion at gardeners, that the tan should be 

 retained ; bat the temperature may a second time be raised to 70* or 

 80*. by turning the tan over, or fermentation may be further renewed 

 by the addition of a small quantity of yeast. The temperature of flit- 

 ton is generally judged of by feeling the end of a stick which is thrust 

 into the centre of the bed ; but as it is impossible to use so rude a test 

 a* this with any accuracy, it is now more customary to employ what is 

 called a BreegazzTi thermometer introduced into the hollow end of a 

 pole, and thus protected from being broken when thrust into the tan. 



It is, however, found that, after procuring the best kind of material, 

 the heat of a bark-bed cannot be maintained so steadily or so long as U 

 desirable ; and it has been recommended to substitute fallen oak-leaves, 

 which can easily be collected in the autumn. These ferment much more 

 .slowly than oak-bark, and never acquire so high a temperature as the 

 maximum of that substance; and as they are lees expensive, they 

 should always be used when they can be procured. It is, however, 

 to be remembered, that no other leaves than those of the oak 

 some other plant equally abounding in tannin, answer the purpose 

 so well. 



Notwithstanding the quantity of heat given out by a bark-bed, 

 it U always found necessary to employ some other mode of wanning a 

 house in addition either by smoke-flues, or hot-water, or steam- 

 pipes ; and this being the case, and such contrivances being of them- 

 selves sufficient to raise the atmosphere to any temperature that can be 

 required, a question has been started, whether a bark-bed is really of 

 any use. We have already stated that the object of a bark-bed i* to 

 produce artificial warmth by fermentation, and moisture in the atmos- 

 phere by parting with its water. So far as these objects go, they can 

 certainly be abundantly and more efficiently supplied by other means : 

 the warmth by flues or water-pipes, and the moisture by open tanks, 

 or by steam-cocks, or by watering the floors and walls of a hot-house. 

 But there still remains what gardeners call bottom-heat that is to say, 

 a steady temperature around roots somewhat higher than that of the 

 atmosphere surrounding the stem and leaves. All experience shows 

 that this is of the first importance in gardening, as indeed was to be 

 expected when it is considered that the mean temperature of that part 

 of the soil in which plants grow is universally something higher in 

 nature than that of the air itself; so that in all cases plants are 

 stimulated by some amount of bottom-heat. Thus, even near London, 

 the average temperature of garden-ground at two feet below the surface 

 is in March 41'57(Fahr.), while the mean temperature of the atmosphere 

 in that month is only 40 ; -49. See Lindley's ' Theory and Practice of 

 Horticulture,' 2nd ed. book ii., chap, i., where this subject is fully 

 discussed. 



BARLEY is a grain too generally known to require a minute 

 description. It is readily distinguished from other grain by its 

 pointed extremities, and by the rough appearance of its outer skin, 

 which is the corolla of the flower closely enveloping the seed, and, in 

 most varieties, adhering strongly to it. 



Barley belongs to the family of the Gramineac : its botanical diame- 

 ters are described in the article HOHDEI-H. in NAT. HIST. liv. 



According to the most ancient authors, barley formed a principal 

 part of the food of man in the early ages, and it continues to do so at 

 this day, in many countries where the progress of agriculture and the 

 increase of wealth have not yet enabled the inhabitants to exchange 

 the coarser barley loaves for the more palatable and nutritious 

 wheaten bread, and where the soil is not well adapted to rye, or the 

 climate to maize. 



Of all the cultivated grains, barley is perhaps that which comes to 

 ]xrfeotion in the greatest variety of climates, and is consequently found 

 over the greatest extent of the habitable world. It bears the heat and 

 drought of tropical regions, and ripens in the short summers of those 

 which verge on the frigid zone. In genial climates, such as Egypt, 

 Barbary, and the south of Spain, two crops of barley may be reaped in 

 the same year, one in spring from seed sown the preceding autumn, 

 and one in autumn from a spring sowing. This explains a passage in 

 Exodus (ix. 31), where the effect of the hail is mentioned which desolated 



Egypt, in consequence of the refusal of Pharaoh to let tl liililren of Israel 



depart : " The flax and the barley were smitten, for the barley was in 

 the ear, and the flax was boiled ; but the wheat and the rye were not 

 smitten, for they were not come up." Commentators agree that this 

 event happened in the month of March ; the first crop of barley was 

 therefore nearly ripe, and the flax ready to pull : but the wheat and the 

 rye sown in spring were not yet sufficiently advanced in growth to be 

 injured by the hail. 



Agricultural writers in general have distinguUhe.l tin- different 

 species of barley, either from the time of sowing them, into winter 

 barley and spring barley, or, from the numbers of rows of grains in the 

 ears, into six-rowed, four-rowed, mid two-rowed, or fl.it barley. Another 

 distinction may be made, between those which have the corolla strongly 

 adhering to the seed, and those in which it separates from it, leaving 

 the seed naked, from whirh circumstance these are called naktd 

 barleys. Without entering into any discussion whether these diffe- 

 rences are sufficient to constitute distinct species, or are to be con- 

 sidered as varieties produced by climate, soil, or cultivation, v. 

 only observe that those kinds which are hardier, ond will bear the 



