PERUVIAN BARK. 



521 



rateil at the edges, and tinged of a pink hue in 

 the centre. The filaments are five, bristly, and 



Peruvian Bark Tree. 



placed in the middle of the tube. The germen 

 is ovate. The seeds, which are numerous, are 

 contained in a two-celled capsule. This tree is a 

 native of Peru, growing most abundantly on a 

 long chain of mountains extending to the north 

 and south of Lima. Formerly it was not unfre- 

 quent to find trees with a trunk as large as a 

 man's body ; now since the demand for the bark 

 has increased, there are only young and much 

 smaller trees to be seen. 



The soil in which the tree thrives best, is a 

 red clayey or rocky ground on the banks of 

 mountain streams or rivers. 



The proper season for cutting the bark is, 

 according to Mr Arrot, from September to 

 November, the only months in the whole year 

 in which the rainy season wholly intermits 

 among those mountains. Having discovered a 

 plain where the trees most abound, huts are then 

 built for the accommodation of the workmen, 

 and a large one to contain the bark, in order to 

 protect it from the w«t. The workmen then 

 clear a road through the forest to the nearest 

 plantation, or farm houses in the low country, 

 to which in dry weather they convey the bark 

 as it is procured, accumulated in the temporary 

 hut. Each Indian or wood-cutter is provided 

 vrith a large knife, and a bag that will hold 

 about fifty pounds of green bark. Every two 

 Indians take a tree, from which they slice down 

 the bark as far as they can reach from the 

 ground. They then take sticks about half a 

 yard long each, which they tie to the tree with 

 tough withes at proper distances, like the steps 

 of a ladder, always slicing off the bark as far as 

 they can reach, before they fix a new step ; 

 and thus mount to the top, the Indian below 

 gathering what the other cuts. This they do 



by turns, and go from tree to tree until the bag 

 is full, which, when they have plenty of trees, 

 one Indian will do in a day. Great care must 

 be taken that the bark is not cut when wet, and 

 if this should happen to occur, it must be imme- 

 diately taken down to the low country to be 

 dried ; tor, if heaped up in a wet state, it loses its 

 colour, turns black, and becomes useless. 



The bark, as it is cut, is, therefore, as soon as 

 possible conveyed down to the low country by 

 mules, where it is spread out to dry. On the 

 trees being entirely stripped of the bark, the 

 trunks soon perish ; but, according to Conda- 

 mine, in a short time fresh shoots are sent up 

 from the roots. 



Like most other valuable discoveries, that of 

 the medicinal efficacy of Peruvian bark, would 

 appear to have been accidental. Indeed, the 

 time or manner of this discovery is not well 

 ascertained. Some contend that its use in inter- 

 mittent fevers was known to the American 

 Indians long before the invasion of that country 

 from Europe, and that the natives carefully con- 

 cealed its virtues from the Spaniards who invaded 

 Peru. Others again assert, that the Peruvians 

 never appropriated the bark to any use whatever, 

 but imagined that the large quantities exported 

 from their country by the Spaniards was for the 

 purpose of dyeing ; and, according to Ulloa, 

 they actually made some trials of its effects in 

 this art. Condamine says, that according to an 

 ancient tradition, the Americans owe the dis- 

 covery of this remedy to some wild beasts which 

 were remarked to resort to the bark for the 

 cure of the disease. Geoffrey states, with 

 more appearance of reality, that the use of the 

 bark was first learned by the following circum- 

 stance : — Some cinchona trees being thrown by 

 the winds into a pool of water, lay there till the 

 water became so bitter, that every one refused 

 to drink it. However, one of the neiglibour- 

 ing inhabitants being seized with a violent par- 

 oxysm of fever, and finding no other water to 

 quench his thirst, was forced to drink this, by 

 which he was almost immediately cured of his 

 fever. He afterwards related the circumstance 

 to others, and prevailed upon some of his friends, 

 who were ill of fevers, to make use of the same 

 remedy, with whom it proved equally successful. 

 The use of this medicine, however, was very little 

 known till about the year 1638, when a signal 

 cure having been performed by it on the Spanish 

 Viceroy's lady, the Countess del Cinchon, at 

 Lima, it came into general repute, and hence 

 obtained the name of the Countess powder or 

 cinchona. On the recovery of the lady, she dis- 

 tributed a large quantity of the bark to the 

 Jesuits, in whose hands it acquired stiU greater 

 reputation ; and by them it was first introduced 

 into Europe. Louis XV., when Dauphine, is 

 said to have been one of the first in Europe who 

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