NOTES ON THE ECONOMIC APPLICATION OF BARKS. 363 



thoroughly and skilfully treated by most ahle men. The precise date 

 of the discovery of this invaluable febrifuge has not been recorded, 

 but the period of its introduction into Europe is said to be about 

 1640. The appellation of Jesuit's bark, by which it has been 

 known, was not acquired till some years after, upon being taken to 

 Rome by the Jesuits, and distributed amongst their order. It after- 

 wards fell into disuse, but was revived in France in the time of Louis 

 XIV., and has maintained its celebrity as a febrifugal and strengthening 

 medicine down to our own day. Indeed it is of more importance now 

 than even then, its uses and applications being more fully developed. 

 The commercial varieties of Cinchona barks are almost numberless, and 

 the species yielding them are not very satisfactorily known. The 

 clearest elucidation of this point is probably to be found in Mr. How- 

 ard's new work, " The Nueva Quinologia of Pavou." As is well known, 

 the trees producing these barks are natives of the Andes and the eastern 

 side of the Cordilleras ; but experiments have of late been tried as to 

 their cultivation in both the East and West Indies, where we have 

 hopes of their eventually succeeding, so that our supplies of this inva- 

 luable remedy may not be curtailed by a continual draining of its native 

 habitat. 



Drimys Winteri, Dec. Winter's bark, a native of the Straits of 

 Magellan, Peru, Chili, &c. — It is named in honour of Captain Winter, 

 who accompanied Sir Francis Drake in his voyage round the world, and 

 who brought some of the bark with him from the Straits of Magellan. 

 " He had found it to be very useful to his ships' crew, both instead of 

 other spices to their meat, and as a medicine very powerful against the 

 scurvy." It has been confounded with the bark of Canella Alba, having 

 similar properties, but is seldom employed in practice at the present 

 time. The tree grows to about 40 feet high, the bark occurring in 

 rolled pieces about two inches in diameter, and frequently about 12 

 inches long, in colour of a reddish grey. It has a pungent taste, and an 

 aromatic smell. 



Drimys Granatensis, Lin. fil., called Canelo bark in Venezuela, is a 

 native of New Grenada, growing about 20 feet high. The bark having 

 much the same odour and taste as the preceding. It is much used by 

 the people in the provinces of the mines as a tonic in the cure of colics, 

 and is in general reputation as a spice for the seasoning of their food. 

 It has not found a place in the English Materia Medica. 



Xylopia glabra, L., Bitter Wood of Jamaica. — This is a tree grow- 

 ing to a height of about 40 feet. All parts of the plant have an agree- 

 able bitter taste ; a decoction of the wood and bark is said to have 

 been given with success in colic cases for the purpose ot creating 

 appetite-. The berries have the same bitter properties, imparting to 

 the flesh of the wild pigeons which feed upon them a grateful bitter 

 flavour. The bark is thin, of a greyish brown colour. 



Guatteria longifolia, Wall. A native of Ceylon, Java, &c. — It is a 



