May i, 1888.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
781 
Method of extraction of the alkaloids from Cmchona, 
Bark by cold oil an used at the Government 
Cinchona Paetori/ in Sikkim. 
In brder that the oil may speedily and effectually 
act on the cinchona burk, th'i latter is reduced to 
a very fine powder by means of Oarter's Disintegrator; 
and to get the powdor of a uniform fineness, it is 
passed through a scalper, which is a machine com- 
monly nsed for sifting flour. The scalper is in the 
form of a box enclosing a sloping, six-sided, revolving 
chamber, covered with silk of 120 threads to the 
lineal inch. It is driven at the speed of about thirty 
revolutions to the minute. Any particles of the 
powder which may be too coarse to pass through the 
silk meshes drop out at the lower end of the re- 
volving chamber and are again passed through the 
Disintegrator. 
2. A hundred parts of the finely-powdered bark 
are then set aside to be mixed with 8 parts of com- 
mercial caustic soda, 500 parts of water, and GOO 
parts of mixture composed of one part of fusel oil 
to four parts fcerosine oil. If the caustio soda be 
of inferior Quality, a little slaked lime (about 5 parts) 
may be used in addition to the eight parts of caustio 
soda; or caustic soda may be altogether omitted, 
and 15 parts of slaked lime may he used instead of 
it. The oaustic soda is dissolved iu the water and 
mixed with the bark. The n the oil is added, and 
the whole is kept thoroughly intermixed in an agi- 
tating vessel. Should lime be used, it is mixed iu 
fine powder with the dry bark before adding the 
■water and oil, 
3. The agitating vessels in use at Mtiugpoo are 
barrels with winged stirrers revolving in them verti- 
cal^, and with tups on the sides for drawing off 
the fluids. The first stirring is carried on for four 
hours, and then the whole is allowed to rest 
quietly in order that the oil may separate out to 
the top of the water fluid. When the oil, which 
has now taken up the greater part of the alkaloids 
has oleared out, it is drawu off by a tap placed 
just above the junction of the two fluids. The oil 
is then transferred to another agitator and is there 
thoroughly intermixed with acidulated water for five 
or ten minutes, the mixture being agaiu allowed to 
rest for the separation of the oil. It will now be 
found (if sufficient acid has been used and the stir- 
ring has been thorough) that the alkaloids have 
been removed from the oil to the acidulated liquor. 
The oil is again transferred to the bark mixture an I 
is kept intermixed with it for two or threo hours; 
the oil is again drawn off iu the same way washed 
as before in the same acidulated liquor ; aud this 
process is repeated a third or fourth time or until 
it is found by testing a small quantity of tbe oil 
that the bark has boeu thoroughly exhausted of its 
alkaloids. Eioh stirring fcubsequeut to the second 
need not be continued for more than an hour. 
The quantity of acid required to take up the al- 
kaloids from the oil will entirely depend on the 
quality of the bark operated on. If thu bark contains 
4 per cent, of alkaloids, about 2 lbs. of either sulphuric 
or muriatic acid mixed iu twenty gallons of water 
should be sufficient, and so on in proportion. 
I The aftiT-t^a, but nt of the acidulati-d water contain- 
ing tho alkaloids depends on the product desired, and on 
the kind of acid that his he. n used. Should sulphate of 
quinine be desired and sulphric acid have been used, 
the liquor is filtered (if necessary), heated and 
made neutral by adding a very weak solution of 
either caustic, soda or liquor ammonia. It is then 
allowed to cool, and as it oools the crystals form 
moi The... Crystals are afterwards separated I'm n 
tbe mother liquor by draining through 11 cloth filter. 
Alter tiny hi.vo been thus obtained tl rv-t.ili ir.. 
dried. They are next dissolved in about fifty times 
(Mir weigh! of boiling water, The resulting Hqu ir 
is filtered hot through B little animal <-liarroal. Oil 
cooling after filtration tho crystals again form out 
and they are separated as before from tho mother- 
liquor by filtration through a doth. The erv st.illi .« 
mass obtained bj filtration is then placed in mii ill 
lumps on sheets of wuito blotting paper atrolohud 
on slabs of plaster of Paris. By this means they 
are practically dried. They are afterwards thoroughly 
dried by being laid on blotting paper iu a room 
heated to about 10 degrees above the temperature 
of the open air. 
5 If Cinchona febrifuge is wanted, the alkaloids 
are exhausted from the oil by muriatic acid, the 
solution being neutralized and filtered in the same 
way. On an excess of oaustic soda solution being 
added the alkaloids are precipitated. After standing 
somo hours the whole bulk of liquor and precipitate 
is passed through cloth filters; and when the alka- 
liue liquor has drained off, the precipitate is washed 
with a little plain water, dried and powdered. The 
powder is cinchona f-brifuga ready for use. — J. A. 
Gammie, March 24, 1888.— Indian Agriculturist . 
♦ 
ROYAL GARDENS, KEW. 
(From tho Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information for 
December 1887.) 
OUBEBS. 
(Piper Cubeba, L.) 
The rapid rise in value which in recent years has 
occurred in cubeba has drawn considerable attention 
to this pepper. It may be useful, therefore, to corres- 
pondents in the Tropics to have before tbem a brief 
summary of information on the subject. To this we 
are enabled to add drawings of tho male and female 
plant of Piper Cubeba, L., taken from a Java plant, 
and one of Miquel's types, in the Kew Herbarium. 
This is Cubeba officinalis, Miquel, and Pijier caudatum, 
Hort. non Vahl. There are good figures of this species 
given by Be.r,j and Schmidt, Officinellen Gew/lckse, t. 29a, 
and in Baillon, Histoire des Plantes, "Vol. III., fig. 508. 
The plant figured by Bent ley and Trimen (except the 
details which are correct^ iu Med. Plants, plate 243, 
as from the Royal Gardeus, Kew, has been proved to 
be Piper Ohaha, Hunter fOhavica officinarum, Miquel"], 
belonging to the long-pepper group. 
The cubeb plant, like those which supply the blnck 
pepper and the loug pepper, is a climbing shrub with 
smooth round stems, which are somewhat swollen at 
tbe joints. The leaves are alternate, on short stout 
stalks, with a lanceolate blade of about 5-6 inches long, 
terminating in a sharp point. The base of the leaf is 
often unequal and somewhat folded in drying. The 
flowers are unisexual, and appear on separate plants 
(dieecious). They consist of cylindrical solid spikes 
coming off opposite the leaves. The male spikes are 
long and slender, while the female spikes are shorter, 
thick, and fleshy, and provided with a short peduncle. 
The fruit (which appears only on female plants) is smill, 
and very similar in size and appearance to bl ick 
pepper. It is, however, provided with a stalk-like base, 
which is a little longer thau the globular extremity. 
Numerous fruits, when approaching ripeness, are 
ranged horizontally on a common axis, form- 
ing a lax raceme. This pepper appears to be 
found wild only in Java, Sumatra, and Borne?. In 
the former islands cubebs are regularly grown, and 
they form an important (though irregular) article of 
export. They often come to this country through 
Singapore. According to D .sc mrlitz, oubebs were at 
one°time cultivated as an introduction by tho French 
iu tho Wost Indies. At present they are unknown 
there. The produce of other species of Piper are 
sometimes called cubebs, as, for exampfo the native 
cubeb of Mauritius cnbfhc di> puy t which is Piptr 
barbontmu, ('as. De CincMle. Toe oubeb pepper of 
West Tropical Africa is Pipfr Ctiisii, f! u\ De C inrioll* 
This latter, according 10 .Hteuhou^e, i|ie>:ej I., 
1' ii kiger and Hatibury. OOoMa* Pipdrin and im 
r ihebin, Under the stimulus 01 nigh prie s, namnr > 1- 
adulteranta are bein\» intro luc-d to iuer.-.ne the l> 1 . >l 
truooubebs. Amongst t'ie<e PtjttrenMifim. Ko/thils, 
has boon lately describe I (Puanu. Journal, £8], \\ ., 
.r,H, m l K rill., p. 2f>f>. The fruits ,,\ /',..•• 
A. Diotr , a plant of wide distribution thr.. 141101, tli 
M da) Archipelago, are also lnirodnoed< These an. 
smaller than tru<» cubebs. and hsvo a stalk-like PMS 
