MIXOR PRODUCTS OF CEYLOX 509 



important article of commerce in China and Japan, but is not 

 imported into Europe. It is said to be preferred by the Chinese 

 to the ordinary camphor. 



Nagai Camphor (Bhunea bahamifcra. Compositor). A peren- 

 nial shrubby plant, native of Borneo. The leaves when bruised 

 smell strongly of camphor, and are used medicinally by the Natives. 



Cassava. See Tropical Vegetables and Food Products. 



Cinchona, Peruvian or Quinine Bark. Quinine and the allied 

 alkaloids, cinchonine. cinchonidine and qitinidine, consist of the 

 active principle of the bark of several species of Cinchona, small 

 upright trees, 25 to 40 feet high, all natives of the mountains of 

 Bolivia, Peru and other parts of South America. The principal 

 species affording the valuable bark are Cinchona Succirubra 

 (Red-bark), C. offtcinalis (Crown bark), C. Calisaya (Yellow- bark), 

 and C. Ledgeriana (Ledger's-bark) ; the last named is considered 

 the richest in quinine, and is the one chiefly grown in the 

 Government Cinchona plantation in Bengal. To these may be 

 added several superior hybrids. The valuable curative effect of 

 quinine in malarial fevers were first made known in 1638, when the 

 drug was administered to the Countess of Cinchon, wife of the then 

 Viceroy of Peru, after whom the plant was named. Cinchona 

 was introduced at Peradeniya in 1861, but not until about 1870 

 were the Ceylon Planters induced to take up its cultivation, the 

 Government first establishing nurseries of Cinchona at Hakgala 

 Gardens, and issuing plants free of charge. The area under 

 Cinchona, however, rose from 500 acres in 1872 to 64,000 acres 

 in 1883, the export of bark at its maximum extent (1887) being 

 nearly 16,000,000 Ib. The result was great over-production and 

 consequently a fall in the price of the commercial drug from 15s. 

 to Is. 3d. per oz. an immense boon to the public, though a 

 disaster to many planters. At the present time the area under 

 Cinchona in Ceylon is only about the equivalent of 190 acres; 

 the export of the bark in 1912 was 111,918 Ib. valued at 299. 

 Cinchona cultivation is still carried on profitably in Java, now the 

 chief producing country, where quinine sulphate is locally manu- 

 factured ; also on plantations at Mungpoo and elsewhere in India, 

 which are worked by Government for the benefit of the peasants, 

 to whom the article is supplied in small pice packets. 



The plant thrives best in a rich humous soil with a porous 

 subsoil, preferring a cool mountainous climate (4,000 to 6,000 

 ft.), with a moderate rainfall and shelter from strong winds. 



