244 
for surely Stellatae, to which the genus Rubia belongs, must be admitted to be 
fully as distinct from Cincbonacese as is the universally recognized order 
Caprifobacese. 
Geography. Almost exclusively found in the hotter parts of the world, 
especially within the tropics, where they are said to constitute about l-29th 
of the whole number of flowering plants. In America the most northem 
species is Pinckneya pubens, a shrub inhabiting the southern states of North 
America; the most southern is Nerteria depressa, a small herb found in the 
Straits of Magellan. Tlie order is represented in northern regions by Stellatae. 
Properties. Powerful febrifugal properties in the bark, or emetic in the 
root, are the grand features of this order, the most efficient products of which, 
in these two respects, are Quinquina and Ipecacuanha. TTie febrifugal pro- 
perties depend upon the presence of a bitter, tonic, astringent principle, which 
exists in great abundance in the bark; those of Cinchona are known to 
depend upon the presence of two alkalies, called cinchonia and quina, both of 
which are combined with kinic acid : two principles which, though very 
analogous, are distinctly different, standing in the same relation to each other 
as potassa and soda. Turner, 648. Sertiirner has obtained some other vegeto- 
alkalies from Cinchona, one of wffiich he calls chinioidia. Brands, 12 . 417. 
N. S. But the existence of this is denied by Henry and Delondre. Ibid. 
July, 1830, p. 422. A detailed account of the qualities, synonymes, and com- 
mercial names of the species of Cinchona is given in Lambert’s Illustration 
of the Genera Cinchona, 4to. London, 1821. In the same work is a transla- 
tion of Humboldt’s account of the Cinchona forests of South America ; but 
the most satisfactory information is to be found in a Memoir upon the officinal 
Jesuit’s Barks, published in the Bibl. Univ. de Geneve, June, 1829-1830, quoted 
in Ferussacs Bulletin, June, 1830, p. 437. Buena hexandra bark is an indif- 
ferent febrifuge, known in Brazil under the name of China. Ibid. Three 
species of Remija, the R. ferruginea, Vellozii, and another, are found in 
Brazil, where they are used for the same purposes as the Peruvian bark, to 
■which, however, they are altogether inferior. PI. Usuelles, no. 2. The bark 
of French Guiana, possessing properties analogous to those of Cinchona, is 
obtained from Portlandia hexandra, the Coutarea speciosa of Aublet. Humb. 
Cinch. For. 43. Eng. ed. The Quinquina Piton and Quinquina des Antilles 
are produced by species of the genus Exostema, and are remarkable for pos- 
sessing properties similar to those of true Quinquina, but without any trace of 
either cinchonine or quinine. PI. Usuelles, no. 3. A kind of fever bark is 
obtained at Sieira Leone from Rondeletia febrifuga. Besides these, a great 
number of other species possess barks more or less valuable : Pinckneya pubens 
is the fever bark of Carolina ; Macrocnemum corymbosum, Guettarda coccinea. 
Antirhea, and Morinda Royoc, are all of the same description. Chiococca 
anguifuga and densifolia are most active remedies in cases of snake -poisons. 
Their action is violently emetic and purgative. See Martius, Mat. Med. Bras. 
p. 18. They are recommended by this -writer to be used in hydrophobia. 
Manettia cordifolia, another Brazilian plant, acts in a similar way. The last 
is also used in dropsy and dysenter}^ A lightish brown, bitter, and power- 
fully astringent extract, called Gambeer, is obtained at Malacca by boiling the 
leaves of Nauclea Gambeer ; it is sometimes substituted for Gum Kino. Ainslie, 
2. 106. A decoction of the leaves as well as root of Webera tetrandi*a is pre- 
scribed in India in certain stages of flux, and the last is supposed to have 
anthelmintic qualities, though neither have much sensible taste or smell. The 
bark and young shoots are also used in dysentery. Ibid. 2. 63. Among the 
emetics. Ipecacuanha holds the first rank ; it is the root of Cephaelis 
Ipecacuanha, a little creeping-rooted, half-herbaceous plant, found in damp 
shady forests in Brazil. Similar properties are found in the roots of other 
