78 
PRELIMINARY REPORTS OF THE 
of chalk or light clay, with a southerly aspect, and on a slope. M. Rousseau 
had a suitable piece of very inferior waste land ploughed up as if for a vine¬ 
yard, and then planted in distant rows, running north and south, with acorns 
gathered from oaks uuder which truffles were known to grow. After five years 
he was rewarded for his patience by obtaining a small quantity of truffles, which 
increased so much every year that the produce of his plantation, which was only 
four hectares, or ten acres in extent, in the five years from 1862 to 1866 inclu¬ 
sive, to no less than 1300 kilogr. or 2600 lb., equal to 260 lb. per acre for the 
five years, or 52 lb. per acre every year.— The Grocer . 
PRELIMINARY REPORTS OF THE MADRAS AND BOMBAY CINCHONA 
COMMISSIONS 
APPOINTED TO ASCERTAIN THE FEBRIFUGE VALUE OF CINCHONA ALKALOIDS 
OTHER THAN QUININE. 
In a dispatch dated September 30th, 1865, the Secretary of State for India expressed 
an opinion that it was very important, with reference to the commercial interests of 
cinchona cultivation in India, that authoritative medical decisions should be pronounced 
on the relative value of the cinchona alkaloids other than quinine, namely, cinchonidine, 
quinidine, and cinchonine, in the cure of tropical fevers. He therefore gave orders that 
a cinchona commission, composed of medical men who have had long experience in the 
treatment of fevers, should be appointed in each presidency, with instructions to test the 
efficacy of these alkaloids on a scale sufficiently extensive to ensure decisive results, and 
to report the conclusions at which they may arrive. 
Supplies of the alkaloids, specially prepared with great care by Messrs. Howard, were 
sent to Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay, to be distributed to the medical men selected by 
the commissions. 
The following are extracts from the preliminary reports of the Madras and Bombay 
cinchona commissions:— 
I. Preliminary Report of the Madras Cinchona Commission. 
From the President and Members of the Cinchona Commission to the Secretary to 
Government, Revenue Department, Fort Saint George. 
Madras, 28th February, 1866. 
1. With reference to the order of Government, dated March 28th, 1866, we have the 
honour to report that the printing of the tabulated results of the experimental use of 
cinchona alkaloids has occasioned some delay in the submission of a progress report. 
A considerable number of the tables, however, have now been printed, so as to enable 
us to estimate, with tolerable precision, the therapeutical effects of the several alkaloids; 
and, as our president will have no other opportunity of recording his views as to the 
usefulness of these medicines, the members of the commission have decided to conclude 
now a preliminary report of their proceedings, leaving their more detailed observations 
to follow when the results of the experiments still in progress are more fully known. 
2. In the tabular statements, already printed and laid before the commission, minute 
particulars in regard to 1145 cases of paroxysmal fevers, treated either by cinchonine, 
cinchonidine, or quinidine, have been registered. These fevers have occurred mostly at 
stations notedly malarious, such as at Goodaloor, in the Wynaad; Sumblepoor and 
Russelcondah, in the Northern Circars ; the Godavery jungles; Mysore, Cochin, and 
Labuan ; and may, therefore, be regarded as fair average types of the forms of paroxys¬ 
mal fever to be met with in the malarious districts of southern India. 
3. A larger number of cases have been treated up to date, but the returns have not 
yet been received, or, if received, are not out of the printer’s hands, so that the results 
must be considered in detail hereafter. 
4. With regard to the 1145 cases of fever referred to, it will suffice to note that they 
were treated by the alkaloids, as follows: — 
