48 
upper limit they become mere shrubs. The leaves are of every 
variety of shape and size ; the flowers are small, and hang in clusters, 
like lilacs, generally of a deep rose colour, but those of the species 
micrantha are entirely white, and they are most- deliciously fragiant. 
The species of chinchona are numerous, probably about 20, but thcro 
arc only some five which yield the bark of commerce, lhese, to 
call them by their English names, are the red, the crown, the car- 
thageua, the grey, and the yellow bark ; and they are found in five 
distinct regions of South America. Humboldt tells us in his Aspects 
of Nature 1 that they grow on mica, slate, and gneiss, from 6 to 
8000 ft. above the lev6l of the sea, with a mean temperature between 
60 deg. and Co deg. Fait. He has seen them grow to a height of 
from 53ft. to Gift., and these young trees, not more than 18 in. in 
circumference. “ This beautiful tree,’ he says, “ is adorned with 
leaves above 5 in. long, and 2 in. broad, growing in dense forests, and 
seems always to aspire to rise above its neighbours. One cannot 
help thinking that it has the power of selecting its associates, for it 
is always found in close proximity to the groined arches of the fern 
tree, the graceful traceries of the arborescent passion flowers, and the 
allied genera of these which form the splendid architecture of the 
eternal forest. A century and a half after its introduction to Europe, 
so great had been the destruction of these trees by the bark cutters, 
that fears were then entertained of their complete destruction, and 
these fears were but too well grounded, for some of the species are 
now very rare, and the most valuablo of all may be said to be extinct. 
This is owing to the reckless manner of collecting the bark, which is 
stripped from the tree, and the tree being left standing, of course it 
soon perishes altogether. In some districts the Government is able 
to prevent this wholesale slaughter, by compelling the cascarilleros 
to fell the tree after stripping it; this secures its reproduction ; but 
I believe the greater portion of bark exported from Peru and Bolivia, 
particularly the latter, and which is the better of the two, is stripped 
from trees left standing and to perish. It was partly owing to this 
consideration, and tho desire to place the inestimable remedy in the 
hands of the millions who live in fever-infested regions, that as early 
as 1839 it was pressed on the English Government by Dr. Boyle to 
plant the Neilgherries with quinine-bearing trees, and by Dr. 
Weddell, who accompanied the scientific expedition of the Count de 
Castelnau, and to whom alone we owe our knowledge of the chin- 
chonm of Upper Peru and Bolivia, who urged the introduction of 
these plants into the French colonies. Ten years ago the Dutch 
began their chinchona plantations in Batavia, and have now some 
1 oToOO plants. Nearly 25 years elapsed before the Indian Govern¬ 
ment took any effectual means to carry out the great benevolent idea 
of Dr. Boyle, and then it was that Lieutenant Markham was sent to 
South America to collect chinchona seeds and slips, and carry them 
to India. This he did in 1860, and the total number of healthy 
plants conveyed by him and planted in 1862 was 13,(00. But 
