452 Chronicles of Science. r [July 



has been drawn up on the subject by Mr. Eobert Cross,* of which the 

 following is an extract : — 



Mr. Clements R. Markham having been impressed with the importance 

 of procuring seeds of the species of Cinchona which grow at and near 

 Pitayo, New Granada, obtained the sanction of the Secretary for India to 

 employ Mr. Cross in the service. The first writer who described the 

 country round Popayan and Pitayo was the Spanish conquistador, Cieza 

 de Leon. He accompanied the invading discoverers, who, starting from 

 Darien in 1536, ascended the valley of the Cauca, and reached Popayan. 

 The next author who treated of this region was the humane and generous 

 but unfortunate Adelantado Andagoya, who was at Popayan in 1544. 

 CJlloa, in his travels, gives a brief general account of the Popayan pro- 

 vince. The only modern writers who have preceded Cross are Humboldt, 

 Caldas, Karsten, and Vigne. Humboldt crossed the paramo of Quindiu, 

 ascended the valley of the Cauca to Popayan in 1801, and went thence to 

 Pasto and Quito. During his stay at Popayan he made an excursion to 

 the village of Purace. The learned Caldas was a native of Popayan. He 

 was a good botanist and an excellent observer, and he knew the country 

 well. Most of his writings are, unfortunately, still in manuscript, but 

 some of them have been printed in the 'Semanario de la Nueva Granada,' 

 amongst which there is a very valuable geographical memoir written in 

 1807. Dr. Karsten was for some years in this part of South America 

 investigating the botany of the Andes. He made notes on the medicinal 

 Cinchona barks of New Granada. Finally, Mr. "Vigne travelled for his 

 amusement from Quito to Bogota, going over exactly the same route as 

 Cross, and his travels were published in 1863. Among these writers, 

 Caldas and Vigne are the only ones who have gone over the same ground 

 as Cross, and no one had given any account of the actual Pitayo forest 

 previous to Cross's visit. Mr. Cross remarks that most persons who have 

 written on the Cinchona of the Andes represent it as flourishing amidst 

 perpetual torrents of rain and mist, without scarcely ever enjoying a 

 moment of sunshine. He states that this is a mistake. No Cinchona 

 coidd live in such a climate, nor, even if planted in similar situations, 

 could the trees ripen their seeds, for a certain amount of dry weather and 

 sunshine is necessary for the ripening of the capsules, and for their burst- 

 ing in order that the seeds may fall to the earth. The Cinchona climate 

 is certainly moist for about six or eight months of the year, and in culti- 

 vating this plant it is expedient to seek very humid situations, because 

 the mountains of India do not appear to receive the same amount of 

 moisture as the lofty elevations in America. Nevertheless it will be 

 understood that the natural climate of the commercial Cinchona has been 

 misrepresented by most South American travellers. The Pitayo Cinchona 

 differs essentially from the C. lancifolia of Karsten in being a more slender 

 tree, often found formerly from 60 to 70 feet in height, but rarely more 

 than 18 inches or 2 feet in diameter, with very slender branches, bearing 

 small lanceolate leaves, which before falling always assume a purple or 

 deep red colour. The C. lancifolia to which Karsten refers extends over a 

 wider tract of country than any other Cinchona on the Andes. This tree, 

 however, is much more massive, and bears considerably larger leaves than 

 those of the Pitayo Cinchona. This large-leaved Cinchona inhabits the 

 western slopes of the Cordillera Orientale, in situations presenting con- 

 ditions favourable for its development, between Pasto and the city of 

 Santa Fe de Bogota ; while the finer kinds of Pitayo bark are limited to a 



* 'Eeport to the Under Secretary of State for India on the Pitayo Cinchona,' &c. 

 By Rohert Cross. 8vo. London, 1865. pp. 60. 



