JAN. — MAR. 1S57.] 
Per u t ian Bark- tree . 
215 
less on circumstances ; in general, however, for the convenience of 
transport and facility of preparation, they endeavour to make them 
from fifteen to eighteen inches long, and four or five inches wide. 
The bark of the branches is separated in the game way as that of 
the trunk, excepting that it is not deprived of its exterior coating 
or peridermis.* 
" ♦ Formerly, with very few exceptions, the bark deprived of its peridermis was 
not received in commerce ; not that any virtue was supposed to exist in that part, 
but it furnished distinctive characters, by which it was easily kno-vN-n, and render- 
ed difficult of substitution. The necessity which was thus imposed upon the cas- 
carilleros of preserving this, inm»ny cases, frail part, demanded on their part the 
greatest care. Thus in many places it was the custom to fell the tree two or three 
days before barking it, so tb*at, desiccation having commenced, the different 
layers of bark might adhere together- 
" I think that the removal of the peridermis from the surface of the thick barks 
at the time of cutting, is not quite general. Some of the cinchonas of New Gra- 
nada, which I have recently seen, retained the outer coating. Howcver this may 
be, we perceive the necessity of studying the bark under both aspects. I am per- 
suaded that many museum specimens, collected at a period when it was custo- 
mary to preserve the peridermis, would no longer be thought of doubtful utility, 
if considered in this point of view. 
" The process formerly employed for separating the young barks from the wood, 
also differs much from that which is now practised ; hence there is a certain dif- 
ference in the formation of the cylinders prepared by the two methods. I have 
already described the way in which it is now done, and it is easy to understand 
that by this method the dimensions of the separated pieces may depend on the 
patience or skill of the cascarillero, or on the circumference of the branch or 
trunk from which they are taken. Formerly, on the other hand, each piece was 
cut by one operation, the cascarillero holding his knife by the two extremities, 
and drawing it rapidly towards him. The flat pieces obtained in this way neces- 
sarily varied in width, according to the size of the trunk from which they were 
taken, and the quills when dried were frequently no larger than a pen. The 
pieces also had sharp edges, and they were thicker at the centre. The defect of 
this method was the immense loss which resulted, for nearly as much bark was 
left ou as that which they removed, the former being considered useless on ac- 
count of its being deprived of the peridermis. But this loss was as nothing when 
compared with that which I have next to notice. I allude to the almost entire 
rejection, for some time, of the bark of thick trunks. The loss resulting from this 
cause was immense. Many of those experienced in this subject having affirmed 
that with age the juices disappear by degrees from the bark, and that those barks 
only are efficacious which are taken from branches of moderate size, four times 
as many trees were sacrificed as would have been the c'ase under other circum- 
stances. It has been said, it is true, that the cascarillercs climbed the trees to 
