THE TROPICAL 
in the first-named place, owing to the difficulty of ship- 
ping it. The kia-Ma, or tawhera, which has already 
been alluded to in your first report, there are two varieties 
of. There is little difference between them. One has 
■white fingers, and the other dark brown or black. The 
former is considered the best, but when the season is 
over the fingers decay ; while on the dark-coloured species 
they continue to grow thicker and thicker till mid- 
winter, when they ripen, and the rough horny substance 
peels off, and a rich sort of pulp remains; it is very 
sweet, and many prefer it to the other fruit. They are 
generally called pineapples in this form, though in reality 
the kia-kia and it are one and the same, only the other 
comes at a different season. 
INDIAN HOME-MADE QUININE. 
(Pharmaceutical Journal, 10th September 1881.) 
The Indian Government has lately published a fur- 
ther series of papers containing information respecting 
the preparation obtained from the bark of cinchona trees 
grown in India. This preparation, known by the name 
of " Cinchona febrifuge," consists of a mixture of the 
alkaloids of cinchona bark together with some colouring 
matter and other impurities. The object of introducing 
it into use was to provide a cheap substitute for the 
quinine sulphate manufactured in Europe, and it was 
considered that if a process of preparation were adopted 
by which the alkaloids associated with quinine in cin- 
chona bark were extracted together with the quinine, 
instead of being separated from this alkaloid as in the 
ordinary manufacture, the object in view would be x)ro- 
moted, inasmuch as the alkaloids associated with quinine 
■would be made available as medicinal agents with ad- 
Tantage, and the cost of transporting raw mateiial and 
manufactured product to and from Europe might be saved. 
In the case of the produce of Indian-grown Cinchona 
succirubra, the plan above mentioned seemed especially 
desirable, because that bark contained but a small amount 
of quinine, and it was associated with such a large 
proportion of other alkaloids as to be unsuitable for 
the purposes of the European quinine manufacturers, 
while the available quantity of this red bark was in 
excess of the demand for other purposes. 
For these several reasons the Government of India 
has directed special attention to the utilization of the 
succirubra bark by the production of the article known 
as " Cinchona febrifuge." At the hospitals throughout 
India and the various military stations, this preparation 
has been used in the treatment of fever under conditions 
that provided for obtaining knowledge of its eflects and 
for ascertaining how far it could be accepted as a trust- 
worthy substitute for quinine. 
In the first series of reports upon this subject, issued 
in 1878, the views expressed were very conflicting, and 
the influence of prejudice for and against the use of the 
"febrifuge" was often to be recognized not only in the 
unfavourable reports, but also in those which favoured 
its use. One point, however, that was opposed to the 
introduction of the " febrifuge " seemed to be very gener- 
ally established, namely the nauseous character of the 
preparation, manifested by its rejection by the stomach 
in numerous instances. In some cases this effect was 
referable to faulty administration, in others it may have 
been due to idiosyncrasy of the patients, but the more 
likely explanation was the presence of the amorphous 
alkaloids commonly associated with quinine, and perhaps 
Borne other impurities of like origin. 
Since that time improvements have been effected in 
■ nation of "Cinchona febrifuge" as it is carried 
out in India, and a superior preparation of the same 
kind, manufactured in England, has been introduced 
under the name of " Quinetum." It is therefore intellig- 
ible that in the series of reports now published, the 
general tendency of the opinions expressed is somewhat 
more favourable. 
AGRICULTURIST. [December i, i88i. 
The efficacy of the febrifuge as a remedy appears to 
be very generally admitted by those who have tried it, 
and it can readily be understood that in the treatment 
of fever it would be efficacious as a medicine in pro- 
portion to the cinchonidine and cinchonine of which it 
is chiefly composed. 
In regard to the other characters of the febrifuge, 
the papers now published confirm the opinion expressed 
by Mr. Howard some time ago that it has a decidedly 
emetic property. It may, however, be assumed that it 
would be an advantage if the objectionable portion of 
the mixture could be separated from the useful alkal- 
oids. In any case it is desirable from a medical point 
of view that this portion of the product obtained from 
Indian red bark should be thoroughly investigated, for 
so long as the Sikkim febrifuge retains the objection- 
able emetic properties it cannot be regarded as fulfilling 
the benevolent intentions of the Government. In the 
papers which are published in continuation of the series 
issued in 1878, there seems to be a general admission 
that the febrifuge is nauseous, and generally, in some 
degree, detrimental alike to Europeans and to native 
Indians. 
Dr. T. E. Charles remarks in his report that " the 
" miseries caused by Indian residence and illness are 
" depressing enough in themselves, without being intensi- 
" fied by nauseating agencies quite foreign to the thera- 
" peutic effect required." 
In Mr. Moens' report for 1879, on the Government 
Cinchona Enterprise in India, there is a table of ana- 
lyses of different samples of febrifuge, from which it 
appears that the proportion of the obnoxious amorphous 
alkaloids does not amount to ten per cent, and that 
therefore little mateiial would be lost by the removal 
of them. 
The applicability of the febrifuge as a substitute for 
quinine appears therefore to be in a great degree de- 
pendent upon the possibility of effecting this separation. 
There is also the further question whether this can be 
canied out at a sufficiently moderate cost. 
The relative cheapness of " Cinchona febrifuge " being 
one of the chief advantages attending its use, it is im- 
portant to consider such facts as we are in possession 
of for elucidating this point. 
In the first place, it appears that for the purpose of 
carrying out the manufacture of the " Cinchona febri- 
fuge," a quantity of dry succirubra bark, amounting to 
190,798 pounds, was made over to the Government 
Quinologist, and that the product obtained from that 
quantity of bark amounted to 3,750 pounds. This is 
less than two per cent of the mateiial operated upon, 
and so much less than what might be expected from 
the data available for judging as to the amount of 
alkaloids in the Indian-grown red bark, that we must i 
conclude the extraction of the bark was very imperfect. 
In Mr. Moens' report for the year 1879, this defective 
character of the manufacturing process is still more 
forcibly pointed out by the statement, that in the ana- 
lytical laboratory of the medical department the yield 
of alkaloid obtained in that way was less than one-half 
what the bark contained. 
The bark used in making the febrifuge was valued at 
sixper.ee per pound, and upon that basis the product 
obtained was estimated to cost rather more than thirty- 
three shillings per pound. For the sake of comparison 
it may be useful to refer here to the cost of the pure 
sulphates of cinchonidine and of cinchonine supplied to 
the Indian Government, and for this purpose we take 
the data furnished by Dr. Smith, Surgeon-General to 
the Acting Chief Secretary to the Government of Madras, 
showing that cinchonidine sulphate cost about thirty- 
four shillings per pound, and cinchonine sulphate about 
ten shillings per pound. 
Another point to be taken into account in judging of 
the relative cost of the preparations used in the treat- 
ment of fever is the quantity of material required in 
each case. The data given by Surgeon-General Cornish 
