64 PHARMACOPEIAL DRUGS 



so dangerous a remedy." To this Fliickiger 1 at Is, 

 "The early native history of cinchona is lost in obscu- 

 rity, but traditions are not wanting." Markham, 

 page 5, says, "It is mentioned neither by Inca Carci- 

 lasso de la Vega, 2 nor Acosta, 3 in their lists of Indian 

 medicines." To this Markham adds, "It seems prob- 

 able, nevertheless, that the Indians in the neighbor- 

 hood of Loxa, 230 miles south of Quito, where its use 

 was first made known to Europeans, were aware of the 

 virtues of Peruvian bark, and the local name for the 

 tree, quina-quina, 'bark of barks', indicates that it 

 was believed to possess some special medicinal proper- 

 ties." 



Other writers, on evidence equally valid, assert that 

 the bark of cinchona was undoubtedly employed in 

 native Indian medication. An argument in favor of 

 their view, and an explanation for the secrecy main- 

 tained by the natives, is that the cruel methods of the 

 Spanish conquerors led the Indians to guard from the 

 invaders all knowledge of this, their greatest treasure. 



When reference is made to Fliickiger personally, his illustrated, 101-page work, The 

 Cinchona Bark, translation by Frederick B. Power, Ph.D., is intended. His contribu- 

 tions to Pharmacographia are embraced under the title of the book. 



Frederick August Fluckiger was born in Langenthal, SchuyU, Switzerland, May 15, 

 1828. One of the world's foremost pharmacologists and teachers, he held the esteem of all 

 who knew him either personally or through his contributions to science. To cite his publica- 

 tions is impossible in this note. His crowning efforts may be seen in The Cinchona Barks 

 and Pharmacographie. The writer of this note may be excused, he hopes, for stating 

 that he treasures a letter from Dr. Fluckiger, 1885, stating that he was using the article on 

 aconite in his teaching, as well as other chapters of Drugs and Medicines of North A mer- 

 ica. Nor less to be priied is the honor of having been selected by Dr. Fluckiger to unite 

 with him in the production of a Pharmacographia of North American Medicinal Plants, 

 interrupted by the death of Dr. Fliickiger. 



Garcilaso de la Vega. He was surnamed The Inca by reason of the fact that he was born 

 in Peru, his mother being a native Princess descendant of the Incas. He published a History 

 of Peru and obtained a pension from Philip II. 1605 he wrote an account of the conquest 

 of Florida by De Soto. See Prescott's History of Conquest of Peru, VoL I, book II. 



Acosta, Joseph, Spanish Jesuit born in Medina Del Campo, about 1530. In 1571 

 became missionary to South America. On his return in 1588, he published Natural and 

 Moral History of the Indes. Connecting himself afterwards with the University of 

 . died in 1600. 



