Chap. U. 



THE CALISAYA REGION. 



35 



considerable amount of febrifugal power. Quinine has also 

 been found in samples of grey bark.^ 



The name of gi-e?/ bark refers to the striking^ effect of the 

 overspreading thaEus of various Graphidece, forming grou[)s, 

 and indicating that the tree has grown in an open situation, 

 exposed to rain and sunshine. A large supply of all the best 

 kinds of grey bark is now growing in India." 



v.— THE CALISAYA REGION IN BOLIVIA AND 

 SOUTHERN PERU. 



The cliinchona region of Bolivia and Southern Peru, although 

 one of the most important, was the last to contribute supplies 

 of bark to the Em-opean markets. The trees first became 

 known thi'ough the investigations of the German botanist 

 Thaddaeus Haenke, and a Spanish naval officer named Rubin de 

 Cells, who drew the attention of the inhabitants to the valuable 

 forests on the eastern slopes of the Bolivian Andes in 1776, 

 though the unfortunate French natm-alist Joseph de Jussieu 

 had previously explored some portions of those forests.^ But 

 it was not until 1820, when quinine was first discovered as 

 the febrifugal principle of bark, that the Chinchmia Calisaya^ 

 was recognised as containing more of that alkaloid than any 

 other species. 



After 1820 the demand for calisaya bark increased enor- 

 mously ; great numbers of cascarilleros, or bark-collectors, 

 entered the forests, and in a short time scarcely a tree 



1 Howard. 



- I have caused the part of Poeppig's 

 work which relates to chinchoDa-trees 

 and theu- barks to he translated for cir- 

 culation m lucha and Ceylon. 



^ As early as 1790 the calisaya bark 

 was highly prized in Madiid. 



■* The valnalile species found in Bo- 

 livia and Southern Pern. Dr. Weddell 

 derives the name fi-om the Quichua 

 words colli (red) and satja (form) ; 



Poeppig from colla (a remedy) and sdlla 

 (rock}' gi'ound) ; Van Tschucli fi-om col- 

 lisara (reddish maize). Dr. Laefdael, 

 the Judge of Caravaya, told me it came 

 fi-om ccali (strong) and sayaij (become, 

 or be thou). Calisaya is the name of a 

 family of Indian Cacio^ues m Caravaya, 

 one of whom acted an important part 

 in the revolt of 1780-1 . The plant may 

 have been called after him. 



D 2 



