1865.] Botany and Vegetable Physiology. 453 



few square miles of steep forest-covered slopes to the northward of the 

 volcano Purace, which belongs properly to the central Cordillera. The map 

 of the Cinchona region of New Granada, lately made for Dr. Weddel, is very 

 incorrect. It represents certain tracts of country as mountainous, and as 

 covered with Cinchona forests, while in reality they are hot arenaceous 

 plains, or savannas covered with low spreading leguminous trees, where no 

 Cinchona ever grew. Karsten states that the bark is not taken from the 

 roots of the C. lancifolia, which, in most instances, is true ; but this is 

 not the case with that of Pitayo, the bark from the roots of which is much 

 more valuable than that from the trunks and branches. Further, he 

 asserts that the C. lancifolia is never likely to become scarce, and that the 

 continual cutting of the Cinchona trees will rather augment than diminish 

 the number of plants, and this may be true concerning his C. lancifolia, 

 about which no one cares much, as the yield of quinine is often too small 

 to cover the expense of collecting ; but as regards the Pitayo bark there is 

 one thing very certain, that at the present time there is more difficulty in 

 collecting one pound than there was formerly in collecting one hundred- 

 weight. The Pitayo bark will very probably be found the best of all the 

 species for cultivation, as it is said to grow very rapidly, which is a matter 

 of great importance. It may certainly be barked when it is six feet high, 

 although it would not be an advisable practice to do so before the trees 

 are at least 30 feet high. Bark taken from large trees in Pitayo was said 

 to give nearly 4 per cent., while bark taken from the roots of the same 

 trees gave 5 per cent, of quinine. All the bark taken from Pitayo is said 

 to be sent to France. The bark sold in England under that name is not 

 true Pitayo bark, but comes from the mountains which border on the valley 

 of the Magdalena, and from Almaquer and Pasto, and is certainly different 

 from the C. lancifolia of Karsten, which as regards quality is very inferior 

 to that of Pitayo. True Pitayo bark may be known in Fngland by not 

 being much thicker than common window-glass — because it is all taken 

 from small plants, the large trees having been destroyed long ago, and by 

 its being full of earthy particles, on account of so much bark being taken 

 from the roots of the plants. The Cinchona alluded to by Karsten is 

 rarely collected when le.ss than one-fourth of an inch in thickness, but it 

 is sometimes seen nearly an inch thick after the epidermis has been 

 scraped off. Professor Jamieson, of Quito, analyzed the Pitayo bark 

 brought from the locality from whence the seeds were taken, and found it 

 to contain 3'2 per cent, of quinine. There is therefore little doubt that 

 this species, and the Cinchona officinalis of Loxa will prove among the 

 best for cultivation. The climate is like that of Loxa, and even the vege- 

 tation of both regions bears a close resemblance to each other. The 

 Andes of South America, from the southward of Loxa to the city of Santa 

 Fe de Bogota, present great diversities of character, and even each parti- 

 cular tract of country possesses its own peculiar and distinctive features. 

 Around Loxa many of the mountain ridges appear as if they had been 

 scraped from top to bottom, and they are separated by deep ravines, on 

 whose naked and almost perpendicular sides grow only a few stunted 

 Cacti and Agaves. To the south-west of the valley of C'atamayo, dry, 

 rainless deserts extend to the frontier of Peru. However, on passing to 

 the northward of Assuay the mountainous regions are covered with a 

 dense vegetation ; and above the forest limit are extensive grassy para- 

 mos, while higher still rise rounded elevations, or conical peaks, covered 

 with perpetual snow. Beyond Pasto, the loftier regions bear an arbo- 

 rescent vegetation ; but the hot, low-lying plains are mostly covered with 

 coarse grass, or low-spreading Leguminosse. From this point, until one 

 reaches the great valley of the Magdalena, the mountainous region presents 



