March r, 1882.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
783 
3. The advi 
parations of ci 
With regard 
111:1 i ks to offer 
It is evident 
to pharmacy i 
EJnite I States, 
lil'ormity of strength of pro- 
Is devoted 
. and the 
in 
and oertainty, 
following reus 
(a). The g 
are not wholly 
kinds exist, w 
bark as to m 
collector. Thi 
either intc 
so that it 
American 
to). Ti 
will yield 
in the cry 
available 
the qninin 
gists' " be 
purchaser, 
(c). Tli 
lislcn 
>UI|11\ 
■ks liml their w; 
inferior or " drug- 
hands of the retail 
icnltv in 
rkSi the 
q>erts. But 
appeal, inee aim muuciiuii puce, imu 
quality. On the other hand, the < 
balks are not mixed with false bar] 
present, and probably will be for son 
obtaining good qualities of yellow a 
supply of tlieso not being as yet eq 
for them for the purpose of making qi 
hybrid species, yielding inferior hark, a 
sold with those of good quality, am 
guished by external characters, exeep 
ono variety of cultivated bark, Cinchona su xirUbra, is 
easily obtainable in almost unlimited quantity, and of 
very good Quality. This is due to the following facts. 
The tree grows at a lower elevation, and, being hardy 
and easily propagated, is cultivated over a much wider 
area than the others, and is consequently met with in 
larger quantities in commerce. Owing to the comparatively 
large amount of red colouring matter it contains, it is 
less sought after by quinine makers, and the supply of 
bark is therefore likely to increase instead of decrease. 
It would appear therefore desirable that the cultivated 
cinchona barks should replace those of South America 
for the following reasons, viz :— 
The larger average yield of alkaloids. 
Their freedom from false barks. 
The increasing supply which tends to render it easy 
to obtain bark of good quality. 
With respect to the variety of cinchona bark which 
can be must advantageoii-lv used in medicine and pliarin- 
O0V, that of cultivated ('. sum' ruhni seems to be the 
most suitable, as already suggested by Professor f'liiiekigcr, 
since it can be procured of good quality, contains all the 
cinchona alkaloids (except ariciuc), is less liable to be 
mixed with hybrids, ami is more easily distinguished by- 
its external characters than any other species. 
It may further be suggested that as every cinchona 
bail; which comes into the market is nnalysed before 
being sold, it would be an additional guarantee if the 
retail purchaser could bo furnished by the wholesale 
druggist with a statement of the percentage of alkaloids 
in (he label of the packages he purchases. Pharmaco- 
jKnial preparations made from the renewed hark of C. 
sue, irubril, thus guarant I as to the percentage of ,j linine 
it contains, would probaby give most 
medical profession. 
Lastly, with reaped to the strength -f Pharmaoopoaia 
preparations of cinchona. If the re 1 bark were accepted 
in (nine pharmacopoeias, the fluid lAiruots, it made ac 
cording to the Brithtb Pharu.Heopoin. would, in ft]] prob 
ability, deposit some of its active constituents, and it 
might he desirable to ascertain from the experience of 
those present whether this is the case with the fluid ex- 
tract made according to the United States Pharmacopoeia, 
which is only one-fourth of the strength, and of which 
one part represents one of the bark. With respect to 
the decoction, it is well known that the process of the 
British Pharmacopoeia may be repeated two or three 
times with the same bark, and that it will not then be 
exhausted. The Norwegian formula for acid decoction in 
which sulphuric acid is added may exhaust the hark 
more completely, but would not he admissible where it 
was desired to give ammonia with the decoction. Neither 
the decoction nor the infusion of cinchona possesses any 
advantage over the fluid extract, as the bark does not 
contain any volatile oil or aromatic property likely to 
be driven off by evaporation, and it would be a boon 
both to the patient and the dispenser if these preparations 
could be replaced in medical practice by such active pre- 
parations as the tincture or fluid extract. 
The simple tincture of cinchona in the British, United 
States, French, and German Pharmacopoeias is in the 
proportion of 1 to 5, and the compound tincture 1 to 10 
in the British, and 1 in 8-6 in the German, and 1 to 
12-5 in the United States Pharmacopoeias. An approach 
to uniformity in strength of these preparations, there- 
fore, depends in some measure upon the framers of the 
forthcoming United States Pharmacopoeia. The intro- 
duction of the metric system into pharmacy is apparently 
only a matter of time, and it is a subject for congrat- 
ulation, therefore, that the constituents of some of these 
preparations, except in the compound tincture of con- 
tinental pharmacopoeias, hear decimal relations to each 
other. The present meeting offers an opportunity for 
suggestions being made as to whether a greater uniformity 
of constituents in the compound tincture is either possible 
or advantageous. The British formula contains saffron 
and cochineal, and the German and five others cinnamon 
and gentian, but these ingredients are not contained in 
the British and United States formula). 
CINCHONA BARK FOR THE PHARMACOP(EIA. 
By W. de Neufville." 
In a paper published by Professor Fliickigcr (Pliurmn- 
and he proposes the substitution of East Indian hark for 
the calisaya bark, which has been hitherto recognized as 
official bark. 
Whilst appreciating the ability with which Professor 
Fliickiger has treated the subject, I on the other hand 
cannot but think that much can bo said in favour of still 
maintaining the use of South American for odicial purposes. 
The first statement of Professor Fliickiger, that flat 
calisaya (or the yellow bark of the British Phunnacopicin) 
is more scantily and less regularly imported than formerly 
is Scarcely in accordance with fact, for the supplies of 
flat bark have so considerably increased during the last 
years that the drug trade has not been found capable 
of absorbing them. Professor Fliickiger also points out 
that in consequence of the geograpbiaal position and 
the political situation of Peru ami Bolivia, calisaya bark 
could neither be had uniform nor iu surtieieiit quantity. 
Hnt just in these two respects calisaya offers advantages 
compared with most other sorts. For instance, calisaya 
is shipped pretty regularly during the whole year, aiid 
1 do not remember any time during the past Uve years 
that the Supply of calisaya bark in the Kuropeau markets 
ba> not b. en ample for the demand. Notwithstanding 
the political difficulties to which Professor Fliickiger refers", 
the shipments of calisaya have pretty regularly tukeii 
place during the lute Permian war, and the northern 
Head More the British Pharmaceutical Conference, 
