70 COMMERCIAL BOTANY. 



some of the forms of Ledgei-iana cultivated by the Dutch ; " 

 and he thinks that the smaller yield of quinine from the 

 Indian plants is due to the differences of climate and soil. 



From seeds sent to Jamaica a large quantity of plants 

 were raised, and in 1881 were reported as doing well. 



Under the name of CHINA CUPREA a new febrifuge 

 bark made its appearance in the English market in 1880. 

 When first introduced it met with no purchasers, and it 

 was even said that a quantity of it was thrown on to the 

 roads in the docks in London to be broken up and 

 destroyed. Shortly after this, however, it began to attract 

 attention in consequence of its high yield of quinine. Mr. 

 R. Thomson, writing from Bogota in December, 1880, says, 

 the plant " was found a few months ago in the state of 

 Santander. It exists in great abundance over several 

 hundred miles of hills, and considerable quantities have 

 been already exported. The bark is peculiar ; it is hard 

 like cinnamon, and contains essential oil in considerable 

 proportion. The quantity of sulphate of quinine averages 

 from 2 to 3 per cent ; 1,900 men have been collecting this 

 bark, and making roads through the forests in which it 

 abounds. But this will now be checked, inasmuch as the 

 Government has just enforced a tax of 20 dollars on every 

 ' cargo ' to be exported. A cargo weighs about 250 

 pounds, a mule load. This species is further remarkable 

 from the fact that it grows at the low elevation of from 

 2,000 to 3,000 feet above the sea it will therefore become 

 amenable to cultivation in most tropical countries, i.e., 

 those having hills of a moderate elevation. It seems 

 strange that this species should have been left so long 

 undiscovered ; perhaps it is owing to its peculiar character, 

 or perhaps to the fact that the district in which it grows is 

 surrounded and possessed by wild cannibal Indians." 



Efforts were made at Kew to obtain seeds of this plant 

 for distribution, and to discover to what species it was to be 



