November i, 1888.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
satnae=seaB»B =- 1 u ,j , ■ = 
Carthagena bark on the G'oiitral Cordillera. He 
brought home five specimens of the latter from Uauca 
Valley, and one from Ooralis luza, in the district ot 
Magdalona, and the latter was the only one tuat was 
found to contain quinine t >y Mr. J. E. Howard, who 
analysed them, the amounts ot total alkaloids being 
found to bo 2'Jl,3-68, 044, 3 70, 4-75, ai d -2-72 per 
cent., the filth of these only containing quinine 
(1-88 per cent.). 
The plants were reared in Kew before they were 
Bent out to India, and tins year some bark was taken 
from an original tree six years old, on the Government 
plantation, and examined; with the other specimens, 
with I he following results :— 
( iovernment 
Ossington 
Ossiogton 
Stem-bark. 
hi tern -bark. 
Root-bark. 
Quinine 
1 10 
Oiuchouidine 
•40 
•22 
•55 
Quioidine ... 
•30 
(,'inchoniuo ... 
1-64 
1-60 
1-77 
Amorphous alkaloid 1 - 51 
1-33 
•62 
3'55 
8-15 
4-40 
Tho appearance of tho bark was not very different 
to that of other species ; the outer surface was mark- 
ed by transverse rings at rather regular intervals and 
warty exuberances. The powder of the stein, and 
especially of the root-bark, was decidedly more yellow 
than other kinds of cinchona. Although this bark is 
known in sume quarters as " hard Carthagena," no 
particular hardness was noticed in the small sample 
trom the locally-cultivated trees ; if the hardness 
depends upon the heaviness tbe name would not 
apply to tnis bark, as the specific gravity of tome of 
the powder showed it to be like the Cuprea, lighter 
than tho red and crown barks. Tho analyse.-, however, 
are of the most importance, and thee .-no'.v the bark 
to have the same composition as those brought by 
Mr. Cross from LTsenda and Sylvia, in the district of 
the Cauca, aud analysed by Mr. J. E. Howard in 
1878. 
It is very evident that this variety of Carthage nu 
bark, now being cultivated ou the Nilgiiis, is a very 
Useless one commercially, and that the better kin>i, 
brought trom the MagUaleua Valley, never reached 
India at all, or was one ot the plants that was un- 
loited to tho. climate and died, ft is not likely that 
the propagation of thi^ spucies will lie continued now 
that its eXuct value is kuoWD. 
iu concluding the paper the author aekuowle Igcd 
tho assistance he hail received from the works of 
various authors, and thu statistical notice of the 
cinchona trade iu the I'liarmactruiieul Journal and the 
( 'Itcmtst dull JJrui/yiit. 
Tho PBBBIOIS i , iu moving a vote of thanks, expressed 
his pleasure that tho Conference was selected as die 
medium for the publication of such important 
papers as these. 
Mr. Groves said ho felt interested in this question 
of hybridisation, and would like to know il there was 
any one who could tell him what was tho iufiuouce 
of the parent on the nature of the bark. For instauce, 
if a tree was rich in alkaloid, should that not be taken 
as the parent rather than the other, which might not 
bo so rich '< 
Dr. 15. 11. PAUL, rising in response to the President's 
request, said that he would like to point out that 
thu manner iu winch the analytical renuhs had beuu 
pluivu before ttiein illustrated iu u very graphic style 
iii.' disastrous results which h»d followed u.c intro- 
duutiou ol cinchona iu o India. tLiugUtoi.j X > <>»ti 
0OUI I J idgC from the figures given what was tin el n ftl 
•lyuificauu. . It so happened that the selection Ol red 
cinchona lor cultivation by the Indiun Government 
RH ma le during tho suusoless crsze for red bnrk, 
and tli tit selection ha t but u followed by great disaster. 
Tne rensi.n ot that was tbut the bark contained so much 
as worthless a kaloid, oi irhoni line, ami en c . in th a 
no muniiltti tn er would nan anything to ,1,. wi h it as 
|.>ug he uould gut more workaolj bark*. Drown bark 
was better in this respect, and the effect of cultivation 
upon the bark had been rather to improve it, but 
what he wished to emphasise particularly was that 
the red bark contained so little quinine in compaiison 
to the other alkaloid-, that its cultivation had succeeded 
in well-nigh ruining the planter, tho quinine maker, 
and everyone who had anything to do with it. 
The>e was the proof of it: cinchonidine and 
( inchonine were running - all over the table, aud 
they were no use to anjbody. As to crown bark, 
while he saiel that it was better tlimi the red, he 
should like to add that it also was of little use unless 
it gave from 3 to 5 per cent, of quinine. He then 
proceeded to criticise the figures on the table, pointing 
out that the quinine was quite swamped by the less 
valued alkaloids, and his comments thereon created 
much hilarity, as also did the remark that the a' tempt 
to cultivate the comparatively worthless Oarthagena 
bark was another example of the superlative wisdom 
of the Indian Government. He objected to the pro- 
pagation of the existence of these South American 
btrks which experience in cinchona culture elsewhere 
has shown to be of no account, and in concluding 
again referred to the red bark and its introduction 
into the B.P., the result of which was that every 
article containing cinchona was "an officially adulter- 
ated article," each 1 per cent, of quinine having from 
2 to 3 per cent, of valueless products to keep it company. 
Mr. Hopgkix followed in a very similar strain, 
pointing out to begin with that centesimal figures 
were exceedingly misleading, and this fact, he re- 
gretted to say, he had learnt as a manufacturer of 
quinine. He was doubtful, too, as to the correctness 
of Mr. Hooper's figures, and was of the opinion 
that those referring to the crown bark, for example, 
had really been got from the examination of Hybrid 
barks. Otherwise he could not account for the ratio 
of the percentages. Cinchona culture on the Indiau 
Government plantations had not been very successful, 
and it would not be until the authorities took some 
hints from the Java planters, who had confined them- 
selves latterly to tbe cultivation of calisaya hybrids, 
which gave bark containing as much as G and 8 per 
cent, of quinine. Ue regretted that nothing was said 
in the paper about the cultivation of cinchona robusta, 
a hybrid which had sometimes yielded as much as 4\ 
per cent of quinine; but what be particularly urged 
was that the Indian Government should go in for 
the cultivation of those valuable barks which had 
proveel so successful in Oeylnu aud Java. In reply to 
Mr. Groves, ho stated that the selection of the parent 
iu hybridisation made a distinct difference — for 
example, if a calisaya was the parent, it gave a better 
bark than if a succirubra whs the parent. 
Dr. Thresh having explained that Mr. Hooper's 
paper gave ficures which answered much of the criticism 
of the speakers, this concluded the solid business 
of the meeting. — Chemist awl Ihugi/ist. 
Pekadf.niya Gardens. — Mr. W. T. Thiselton 
Dyer, c.m.o. , in his presidential speech before the 
Biological Section of the British Association at 
Bath, said:— "This Association has made a small 
grant in aid of the establishment of a laboratory 
in the Koyal Botanic Gardens at Peradeniya, in 
Ceylon. It may be hoped that this will afford 
facilities for work of the same kind as has yielded 
Dr. Treub such a rich harvest of results in the 
Buitenzorg Botanic Gardens in .Tava." 
Fish-Curing Yards seems to be prospering 
iu Madras. We have an order of Government before 
us directing the transfer of eleven temporary fish- 
curing yards to tho permanent list, thus raising the 
cost of the permanent establishments from R'.S'iii to 
R9.03t> a year, and the coat of thu temporary ataff 
employed in the permanent yards from 08,928 to 
li:;.i;."i7 a year (the period of employment ol tin M 
temporary establishments is now limited to six months 
in the year) ; a rovisiou of the temporary establish- 
ments at temporary yards resulting in n reduction f (001 
(110,747 to 119,069 I year. The s&nc tiou to these ettaJth* 
' ishmeuU will remuiu iu force during 1888. St) only. 
