xr CINCHONA 223 



ment of India — who were expending over ;^i 2,000 a year in 

 the purchase of quinine — sent two expeditions to South 

 America for the purpose of searching for plants and seeds of 

 the true cinchona trees. These expeditions, headed by Mr. l^essrs. 



_, -,Tii inTTTiir> ••■ Markham 



Clements Markham and Mr. Richard Spruce, were entirely and Spruce, 

 successful, and quinine bearing trees were introduced first 

 of all into Kew and afterwards into northern India and the 

 Nilgiris. Seeds and plants were also introduced to Ceylon, 

 Java, and other countries of the East, and to Jamaica and 

 Martinique in the West Indies. To the enlightened action The Indian 



riTT^ ..,, . r government. 



of the Indian Government, therefore, is due the saving from 

 extinction of this most valuable plant ; and, its cultiva- 

 tion in various countries has so increased the world's 

 supply of the drug as to cause quinine to become plentiful The present 

 and cheap thereby enabling it to be employed in restor- of qumbe. 

 ing the health and saving the lives of the poor as well as 

 the rich. 



Until the successful labours of Markham, Spruce and Thedifferent 

 others, Peruvian bark was thought to be the produce of two ^Suhona. 

 or three species ,of cinchona at most, but now it is found 

 that there are many species yielding the alkaloids, over 

 twenty of which have been introduced into cultivation. 

 In Jamaica, however, which is the only island in the The Jamaica 

 West Indies where cinchona plantations have been es- plantations, 

 tablished on a considerable scale, it is found that Cinchona 

 succirubra, the red bark of commerce, and Cinchona offici- 

 nalis^ the crown or Loxa bark, are best adapted to the 

 climate and soil, and consequently prove the most profit- 

 able to the planter. It must be mentioned, however. The Jamaica 

 that a hybrid has been produced by cross-fertilisation in 

 the Jamaica plantations, which also yields satisfactory 

 results. 



Soil. — In the cultivation of cinchona a rich open soil is a rich soil 

 necessary, and the subsoil must be well drained, for stagnant "^cessary. 

 moisture about the roots will speedily cause the death of the 



