26 "EED-BARK" EEGION. Chap. II. 



II.— THE "KED-BAKK" REGION, ON THE WESTERN SLOPES 

 OF CHIMBORAZO. 



The species yielding " red bark," the richest and most im- 

 portant of all the Chinchonge, is found in the forests on the 

 western slopes of Mount Chimborazo, along the banks of the 

 rivers Chanchan, Chasuan, San Antonio, and their tributariea 

 So early as 1738 Condamine spoke of '* red bark " {cascarilla 

 Colorado) as being of superior quality ; * and Pavon sent home 

 specimens of the "red bark of Huaranda," and named the 

 species C. suceiruhra. Some of these are now in the British 

 Museum ; and in the collection of Ruiz and Pavon, in the 

 botanical gardens at Madrid, I found capsules, flowers, and 

 leaves marked " cascarilla colorada de los cerros de San Antonio.'^ 

 In 1857 Dr. Klotzsch, an eminent German botanist, read, a 

 paper at Berlin,^ elaborately describing the "red bark" as a 

 product of C. succiruhra, from a very good specimen of 

 Pavon's in the Berlin Museum. Mr. Howard has also re- 

 ceived a specimen from Alausi, and he is inclined to the 

 belief that there are several varieties of C. succiruhra, and 

 one or two allied species, as yet undescribed.^ IMuch light 

 was thrown upon the history of this valuable species by Mr. 

 Spruce, when he penetrated into the forests to collect seeds 

 and plants for transmission to India in 1860. 



Though little was kno^Mi of the tree until quite lately, there 

 was never any doubt concerning the value of the bark. In 

 1779 a Spanish ship from Lima, bound to Cadiz, was cap- 

 tured off Lisbon by the ' Hussar ' frigate, and her cargo con- 

 sisted chiefly of " red bark," part of which was imported into 

 England. In 1785 and 1786 Euiz states that the collectors 

 began to gather the bark of C. succiruhra, and sell it at 



^ Pereira, Materia Medica, ii. p. lOG. ' Weddell's belief that the " red bark " 



* Afterwards published in a paiii- belonged to a variety of C. ovata. — 



phlet of 57 pages, with plates. Pharmaceutical Journal, Oct. 1856. 

 •■' In ISoti Mr. Howard shared Dr. 



