474 



RUBIACE.E. X. CINCHONA. 



in 1638 by this remedy). Lamb, cinch. D. Don, in Lin. trans, 

 vol. 17. D. C. 1806. bibl. univ. 1829. scienc. 2. p. 144. Humb. 

 et Bonpl. pi. equin. 2. t. 10. Roem. et Schultes, syst. no. 861. 

 Cinch6na, sect. 1. Pers. ench. 1. p. 196. Cinchona species, 

 Lin. Gaertn. Lam. Vahl. Juss. Kinkina, Adans. fam. 2. p. 147. 

 LIN. SYST. Pentdndria, Monogynia. Calyx 5-toothed (f. 86. a.). 

 Corolla tubular: with a 5-lobed limb (f. 86. 6.), which is valvate in 

 aestivation. Anthers linear, semi-exserted (f. 86. c.). Stigma 

 2-lobed (f. 86. d.}. Capsule 2-celled, dehiscing at the dissepi- 

 ment (f. 86. g.), many seeded. Seeds samaroid, girded by a 

 membranous lacerated margin (f. 86. h.). Trees, natives of 

 South America, from which the various kinds of Peruvian bark 

 are obtained. Leaves on short petioles, with flat margins. Sti- 

 pulas ovate or oblong, foliaceous, free, deciduous. Inflorescence 

 panicled. Flowers white or reddish. For the properties of 

 Cinc/ibna see La Condamine in act. acad. sc. par. 1 738. Vahl. in 

 act. soc. hist. nat. hafn. vol. 1. Lamb, cinch, in 4to. Lond. 1797. 

 Rhod. mon. cinch. Ruiz et Pav. fl. per. vol. 2. et 3. Ruiz, 

 quin. in 4to. Madr. 1792. et def. quin. 1802. Humb. diss. in 

 magaz. fr. nat. berl. 1807. Humb. et Bonpl. pi. equin. vol. 1. 

 Alibert, trait, fievr. pern. 8vo. 1799. ed. 2. 1800. ed. 3. 1801. 

 Fee, hist. nat. pharm. 2. p. 240. 



1. Capsule dehiscing at the base. Normal species, 



1 C. LANCEOLA'TA (Ruiz et FIG. 86. 



Pav. fl. per. 3. p. 1. t. 223.) 

 leaves oval - lanceolate, acute, 

 naked on both surfaces, as well 

 as the branches, shining ; pani- 

 cle brachiate, much branched, 

 smooth ; calycine teeth ovate, 

 acuminated ; segments of corolla 

 linear-lanceolate ; stigma emar- 

 ginate ; capsule ovate, ribbed. 

 (7 . S. Native of Peru, in the 

 mountains of Loxa, and other 

 cold mountainous regions ; as 

 well as of New Granada, be- 

 tween Guaduas and Santa Fe de 

 Bogota, where it was collected 

 by Mutis. C. lancifolia, Mutis, 

 period, de Santa Fe, p. 465. Humb. in mag. der. gisell. nat. fr. 

 berl. 1807. p. 116. Alib. tract, des fievers, p. 374. C. nitida, 

 Ruiz et Pav. fl. per. 2. p. 50. t. 191. C. angustifolia, Ruiz et 

 Pav. quin. suppl. p. 14. with a figure. C. glabra, Ruiz, quin. 2. 

 p. 04. C. Cucumaefolia, Pavon, mss. Quinquina orange, Mutis, 

 quin. Cascarilla officinal. Ruiz, quin. p. 56. Cascarilla Lam- 

 pino, Ruiz, quin. 2. p. 64. Cinchona Condaminea, Humb. et 

 Bonpl. pi. equin. 1. p. 33. t. 10. Humb. in mag. der. gesell. 

 nat. fr. berl. 1807. p. 112. nov. gen. amer. 3. p. 400. C. offi- 

 cinalis, Lin. syst. veg. ed. 10. p. 929. Condamine in mem. 

 de 1'Academie de Paris, 1738. p. 114. Lam. ill. t. 164. f. 1. 

 Vahl. skrivt. af. natur. selfkab 1. t. 1. Lamb. mon. t. 1. 

 C. stupea, Pav. mss. Cascarilla fna de Uritusinga of the Spa- 

 niards. This species varies extremely in the form of the leaves. 

 The celebrated Mutis has, with great propriety, considered his 

 C. lancifolia the quina Naranganda or Quinquina orange of 

 Santa Fe, as identical with the Quina fina de Uritucinga of 

 Humb. et Bonpl. C. Condaminea. Although it is probable that 

 several species of this important genus afford the Peruvian bark 

 of the shops, of these three only are admitted into our national 

 pharmacopoeias, to which the names of C. lancifolia, C. oblongi- 

 foha, and C. cordifolia have been applied, designating respec- 

 tively the pale, the red, and the yellow bark. The present 

 species was first described and figured by the astronomer Con- 



9 



damine in 1 738, in the mem. de 1'Acadamie. It is described 

 by Humboldt as a handsome tree of from 30 to 40 feet in height, 

 and exuding whenever it is wounded a yellow astringent juice. 

 The stipulas are acute and silky. The flowers are of a very pale 

 rose-colour, supported on pedicels, which are powdered and 

 silky, as well as the calyx. The tube of the corolla is silky, 

 and the border white and woolly above. This is the pale bark 

 of the shops. 



Lanceolate-leaved Cinchona or Pale Peruvian-bark. Tree 

 30 to 40 feet. 



2 C. CORDIFOLIA (Mutis, mss. Humb. in mag. &c. p. 117. 

 nov. gen. amer. 3. p. 401.) leaves roundish-ovate, cordate at 

 the base or attenuated, rather pilose beneath and on the branch- 

 lets, naked and shining above j panicle brachiate, diffuse, pubes- 

 cent; teeth of calyx roundish-mucronulate ; corolla silky on the 

 outside : limb bearded ; stigma 2-lobed ; capsule oblong-ovate, 

 cylindrical, ribless. ^ . S. Native of Peru, on the mountains 

 of Loxa, in the kingdom of Quito ; and of New Granada. 

 Rhode, mon. p. 58. Steph. and Church, med. bot. 3. t. 175. 

 Quina amarilla. Genitals inclosed. Flowers pale red. This 

 species is totally distinct from Cinchona purpurea, hirsilta, and 

 ovata of Fl. peruv., which Humboldt and Bonpl. in their before- 

 mentioned work have given as synonymes of Mutis's plant. It 

 differs from C. ovata, Ruiz et Pav. the C. pubescens of Vahl, 

 with which it has the greatest affinity in the shorter petioles, by 

 the broader round teeth of the calyx, by the filaments being 

 twice longer, and, lastly, by its capsules being smooth, and with- 

 out ribs. The bark of this tree is known to the natives by the 

 name of Quina, amarilla, Cascarilla de Loxa, and Cascarilla 

 amarilla, and is the yellow or orange bark of the shops. It is 

 described as a middle-sized tree, with a trunk of moderate thick- 

 ness, and covered with smooth brownish bark ; the younger 

 branches are quadrangular. All the species of Cinchona vary 

 very much in the shape and smoothness of their leaves, accord- 

 ing to the altitude in which they grow, to the severity or mild- 

 ness of the climate, to the trees standing single, or being closely 

 surrounded by other plants, to the luxuriance of growth, and 

 the greater and less humidity of the soil. Cordate leaves occur 

 but seldom in the present species ; however, almost every 

 branch exhibits some of them. 



Cinchona bark appears to have been long known as a medi- 

 cine in Peru ; but we have not a satisfactory account at what 

 period, nor by what means, the febrifugal virtues of this valuable 

 remedy were first discovered. Some say a patient had been 

 cured of an intermittent fever by having drank the water of a 

 lake, which had acquired a bitter taste from Cinchona trees 

 which had lain in it; others that a lion had cured himself of 

 the ague by instinctively chewing Cinchona bark, and had 

 directed the attention of the Indians to this tree. " That ani- 

 mals," observes Humboldt in his Dissertation on the Cinchona 

 forests of South America, " have taught men is a very common 

 form of the traditions of nations. The valuable antidote Bijuco 

 del Guaco, a plant described by Mutis, which is probably a 

 species of Mikania, and has been erroneously confounded with 

 Ayapana of Brasil, is also said to have attracted the notice 

 of the Indians, as is affirmed of the Falco serpentarius, by the 

 Falco Guaco of New Granada fighting with serpents. How- 

 ever, that the great American lion without mane (Felis concolor) 

 should be subject to the ague is just as bold an hypothesis as 

 the assertion of the inhabitants of the pestilential valley, Gualla 

 Bamba, near the town of Quito, that even the vultures (Sulfur 

 aura) in their neighbourhood were subject to that disorder. In- 

 deed in the regions of the Cinchona forests there is not a Felis 

 concolor, so fond of warmth, to be found ; but at the most the 

 cat Puma, not yet properly described, and which we have met 

 with in heights of 2,500 toises. The story so often copied 



