Dec.  i,  1892.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
3% 
GOVERNMENT  QUINOLOGY. 
Mr.  D.  Hooper,  the  Madras  Government  Quinologist 
writes  as  follows  in  hia  Report  on  the  analytical 
work  conducted  in  the  laboratory  during  the  year 
ending  31st  March,  1892  : — My  visits  to  the  Quinine 
Factory  have  not  been  eo  frequent  as  in  former  years, 
but  several  samples  of  bark  have  been  sent  in  for 
analysis  irom  the  Dodabetta  and  Naduvatam  planta- 
tions, and  the  produota  of  manufactuie  have  been 
constantly  tested  as  to  their  purity.  The  sulphate 
of  quinine  has  responded  favourably  to  the  ohemical 
tests  ; it  contained  only  a trifling  amount  of  sulphate 
of  oincbonidine,  and  its  appearance  and  solubility 
were  all  that  coaid  be  desired.  The  febrifuge  has 
been  made  by  the  oil  procesp,  and  has  been  some- 
what lighter  in  colour  than  when  the  factory  was 
first  started.  Some  interesting  barks  have  been 
analysed  during  the  year,  and  the  results  are  given 
in  the  following  table.  The  majority  of  the  barks 
are  from  hybrid  trees,  a number  of  which  are  grown 
at  Naduvatam  and  are  gradually  replacing  the  poorer 
succirubras  or  red  bark  trees.  It  is  difficult  to 
tell  the  value  of  hybrid  trees  except  by  analy- 
sis, as  the  variable  habit  of  these  trees  is  acoom. 
panied  by  a variable  alkaloidal  composition,  and 
some  trees  having  the  habit  of  a sucoirubra 
contain  a good  amount  of  quinine  in  their  bark, 
while  others  with  the  appearance  of  an  officinalis 
sometimes  contain  a preponderance  of  the  inferior 
alkaloids  characteristic  of  the  eucoirubra.  Some  of  the 
hybrids  were  very  rich  in  quinine,  exceeding  the 
amount  found  in  the  best  crown  barks,  and  know- 
ing that  these  trees  are  faster  growers  and  have  a 
thicker  bark,  their  cultivation  is  more  profitable. 
Some  of  the  better  kinds  of  hybrids  are  beiDg  pro- 
pagated by  cuttings  from  aua'ysed  trees,  and  it 
w 11  be  interesting  to  observe  the  sueoess  of  these 
experiments  when  the  young  plants  are  sufficiently 
developed.  The  following  is  a description  of  the  different 
barks  analysed  : — 
1.  Hybrid  bark  marked  “ Msgnifolia  ” from  Nadu- 
vatam, 
2.  Bark  from  smooth-leaved  officinalis  type  of 
hybrid. 
3.  Magnifolia  hybrid  with  pubescent  leaves. 
4.  Offioinalis  type  of  hybrid,  10  years  old. 
5.  Officinalis  type  of  hybrid,  9 years,  old. 
6.  Magnifolia  hybrid  from  Dodabetta,  4 years  old. 
7.  Officinalis  hybrid  from  Naduvatam. 
8.  Natural  magnifolia  bark,  20  years  old. 
9.  Mixed  hybrid  thinnings  from  Chinamen’s  lines. 
10.  Hybrid,  Naduvatam. 
11.  Sucoirubra  hybrid. 
12.  Sucoirubra  hybrid,  9 years  old. 
13.  Drown  bark  from  an  old  tree,  Dodabetta. 
14.  Gritusinga,  variety  of  C.  officmalis. 
<U 
a 
d 
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ts 
CM 
O 
•3 
'3 
0 
O 
a 
a 
'a 
n 
2 ® 
*o,.R 
si 
p 
p 
A 
-a 
1-  0 
73 
5 p 
-a 
3 
a 
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a 
§ "3 
0 
Pa  3 
<y 
5 
o> 
5 
<1 
VI 
1 .. 
. 5-82 
1-29 
•55 
■60 
826 
7-83 
2 .. 
5-18 
118 
•23 
•10 
•45 
7Y4 
6 97 
3 
,.  4-85 
4 20 
••• 
•42 
•71 
10Y8 
6-52 
4 .. 
3-18 
2-08 
•42 
■48 
6Y6 
4-28 
5 .. 
..  2-67 
204 
*56 
•47 
5-74 
3-59 
6 ., 
..  2 45 
1-19 
••• 
•40 
•32 
436 
3-30 
7 . 
..  2-40 
•93 
*14 
•29 
•34 
4 10 
3-23 
8 . 
..  2-28 
1-91 
•09 
•34 
•42 
5-04 
3’07 
9 ., 
..  228 
1-98 
1 40 
•42 
6'08 
3-07 
10  . 
..  2-26 
•87 
„ • 
1‘34 
•52 
4 99 
304 
11  . 
..  195 
1-75 
•04 
•91 
•61 
5-26 
262 
12  . 
..  1-40 
1-95 
• •• 
•88 
•41 
4-64 
1'88 
13  . 
..  5 75 
116 
•16 
*27 
•30 
7'60 
7 73 
14 
4*21 
166 
Mt 
*43 
'51 
6'81 
5-66 
These  are  only  a selection  of  the  barks  analysed  dur- 
ing the  year.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  sulphate  of 
quinine  ranges  from  7‘83  per  cent  in  No.  1,  to  l'88per 
cent  in  No.  12,  and  the  last  named,  wilh  respect  to  ita 
alkaloids,  generally  yields  its  maximum  at  this  age.  As 
an  instance  of  the  variation  in  the  value  of  these  trees 
No- 6 from  a 4-year  old  tree  contains  more  quinine 
than  tbe  sample  No.  8 taken  from  a 20  year  old 
tree,  and  this  shows  the  importance  of  ascertaining 
the  quality  of  a bark  when  it  is  yonng  and  pre- 
venting the  mistake  of  cumbering  the  land  with  very 
poor  trees.  The  average  analysis  of  barbs  from 
some  young  plots  has  given  quinine  to  be  over  3 
per  cent,  but  as  the  harvesting  was  made  from  the 
poorer  and  smaller  trees,  the  suooeediDg  crops  will 
be  much  richer.  It  is  satisfactory  to  find  such  old 
trees,  as  represented  by  No.  13,  yielding  such  rioh 
bark,  but  it  is  oniy  what  should  be  expeeted  if  the 
trees  are  treated  to  manure.  The  estates  are  now  being 
subjected  to  a course  of  systematic  manuring  and 
the  effect  is  felt  in  the  barkB  affording  more  alka- 
loids. If  trees  are  allowed  to  grow  for  many  years 
without  their  roots  being  artificially  fertilised,  the 
quinine  in  the  bark  is  sure  to  deteriorate  and  the 
tree  itself  will  show  s:gns  of  decay.  This  rule 
dees  not  only  apply  to  the  slow  growing  speoiea  of 
officinalis,  bnt  also,  and  more  emphatically,  to  tbe 
last  growing  hybrids  which  are  more  exhausting  to 
the  soil. 
Astringent  BarJc.—Two  years  ago  1 reported  on. 
the  analysis  of  a large  number  of  astringent 
barks  from  Indian  trees,  some  of  them  never 
before  analysed.  Since  then  further  opportunities 
have  been  given  of  examining  other  barks  to  as- 
certain the  amount  in  thorn  of  tannio  acid  or  other 
principle  baviug  a similar  action.  The  bark  of  Ano* 
geissus  latifolia  has  hitherto  beea  supposed  to  be 
one  of  the  most  astringent  drugs,  but  I have  recently 
found  that  a bark  much  richer  in  tannin,  is  derived 
from  the  Bridelia  montana,  a tree  belonging  to  the  na- 
tural order  Euphorbiaceie.  This  species  of  Bridelia  is 
common  on  the  ghauts  of  the  Nilgiris  and  in  other 
parts  of  India.  It  is  well  known  as  a valuable  astrin- 
gent in  Western  India  and  is  used  by  the  Goanese 
in  certain  diseases.  Some  years  ago  in  Orissa  a 
case  of  poisoning  was  traced  to  the  employment  of 
this  bark.  The  tanners  of  this  country,  however,  do 
not  seek  after  drugs  very  rich  in  tannin;  S3  the  qua- 
lity of  the  tannin  present  appears  to  be  the  criterion 
of  the  value,  and  the  bark  of  the  Tangedu  tree 
( Cassia  auriculata.)  which  contains  only  11  per  oent 
of  tanniD,  is  used  more  than  any  other  bark  in  south 
India.  Of  the  other  barks  in  this  table,  Oasuarina 
bark  is  used  in  Madras  as  a dye  and  tan,  and  MiricBs 
Nagi  bark  is  largely  used  by  Mahomedans  and 
Hindus  in  the  north  in  medicines  where  astringents 
are  required.  Some  of  the  fig  barks  have  been 
ohemically  investigated  daring  the  year,  and  aa  soma 
of  them  contain  tannin,  they  are  included  in  the  list:— 
Tan- 
nin. 
Water 
extract. 
Ash. 
Colour  with 
iron  salts. 
Bridelia  montana 
39-9 
41-7 
7-3 
Blue-black, 
Acscia  pyoDantha 
33-8 
46-7 
3-5 
Do. 
Do  decurrens 
33  4 
44-8 
3-2 
Do. 
Kandellia  Rheedii 
27-4 
45-5 
9-1 
Do. 
Aoacia  melanoxylon 
26-8 
£4  2 
4-1 
Do. 
Macararga  tomentosa  18'4 
22  2 
11-0 
Do. 
Casuarina  equiseti- 
folia 
183 
22T 
9-5 
Do. 
Aoacia  dealbata 
17-8 
32Y 
5-3 
Do. 
Mangifera  Indica 
16  7 
32-3 
6-3 
Do- 
Ficus  raccmoaa 
14-1 
205 
12  2 
Greenish. 
Myrica  Nagi 
13  7 
270 
71 
Blue-black. 
Diospyros  embry- 
opteris 
12-4 
199 
4-9 
Do 
Ficus  Indica 
10  9 
17-2 
80 
Greenish. 
Fleuggra  leucopyrus  10'3 
20-5 
35 
Blue-black; 
Do.  miscrocatpa 
8-9 
18-3 
11-4 
Do. 
Ficus  gibbosa 
43 
10'4 
15'0 
Greenish. 
Ourcnligo  orchioids 
(root) 
4-1 
19-9 
8-6 
Do. 
Ficus  reiigiosa 
38 
123 
11  7 
Do. 
Do,  hispida 
2T 
11*7 
13(5 
Do, 
