jan. — mae,. 1857.] Peruvian Bark-tree. 



209 



pear to thrive, and the cuttings taken from them all died. On the 

 approach of the cold weather they were sent to Darjeeling, but 

 three only reached the station alive and these survived but a short 

 time, having been killed by the cold of the winter. 



This can hardly be deemed a fair trial. The plants were too 

 few in number. They were detained many months in the uncon- 

 genial climate of Lower Bengal. They were weakened by cuttings 

 and change of place and then suddenly transported at the approach 

 of winter to an elevation 6,000 or 7,000 above the plain in which 

 they had passed the hot season and the rains. Accordingly 

 the Medical Board of Bengal again addressed the Government of 

 Indiaf urging the prosecution of the experiment upon a more ex- 

 tended scale and recommending that it should be undertaken in si- 

 tuations better adapted to the natural habits of the tree, such as 

 the Neilgherries and the hilly regions of Sylhet, Chittagong and 

 the Tenasserim Provinces. 



Of the result of this application we are not informed. 



About the same period, the subject of the Cinchonas attracted 

 the attention of the French Government. In 1843 M. de Castel- 

 nau having been appointed to conduct an expedition for scientific 

 purposes into Central South America, M. Weddell was associ- 

 ated with him at the instance of the Musee D'Histoire Naturelle 

 for the prosecution of researches in Natural History. His atten- 

 tion was directed to the investigation of several interesting subjects 

 of botanical inquiry among which the history of the Cinchona oc- 

 cupied a prominent place. After working in concert with M. 

 de Castelnau for two years, he separated from him and pursued an 

 independent course of inquiry until 1848. It was during this pe- 

 riod in 1845-47 that he obtained the valuable information regard- 

 ing the Quina yielding trees which he has given to the world in his 

 Histoire Naturelle des Quinquinas which forms the standard as well 

 as the most recent work on the subject. 



In the introductory chapter Mr. Weddell gives a sketch of the 

 history of the drug previous to the period of his own discoveries, 



f Indian Annals of Medical Science, III, 250, 



