624. 
PHARMACEUTICAL MEETING. 
Wednesday , April 1th, 1869. 
MR. G. W. SANDFORD, PRESIDENT, IN’ THE CHAIR. 
DONATIONS TO THE LIBRARY AND MUSEUM 
were announced as follows, and the thanks of the Meeting given to the respec¬ 
tive donors:— 
La Matiere Medicale a l’Exposition de 1867: from Dr. J. L. Soubeiran. Conspectus 
or Tabular Synopsis of the British Pharmacopoeia, 1867: from Mr. 0. Davies Owen. 
Guy’s Hospital Reports for 1868 : from the Hospital. An old “MS. Receipte Boke” : 
from Mr. Trant. Florae Columba? Specimina Selecta, edidit H. Karsten; tomi i. Fasci¬ 
culus Primus : from Mr. J. E. Howard. The Quinology of the East Indian Plantations, 
by J. E. Howard, F.L.S., etc.: from the Author. Eleven dried specimens of Cinchona, 
seven of which being varieties of C. officinalis; specimen of bark received from 
Mr. Broughton, yielding 10 per cent, of quinine; three specimens of bark and wood of 
Cinchona succirubra; all from plants cultivated in the Government plantations in the 
Neilgherries, 1868: presented by Mr. J. E. Howard. Specimen of Black Beeswax, 
from Dr. Bidie, of Madras,— also sixteen dried specimens of Medicinal Plants : presented 
by Mr. Daniel Hanbury. Specimen of Saloop misree from India, probably the tubercules 
cf Eulophici campestris : presented by Mr. Strickland. There was also on the table “ A 
Cheap Poison Bottle,” from Mr. Davies, Commercial Road East; its merit consisted in 
pasting a piece of sandpaper on the back of an ordinary bottle in addition to the usual 
“ poison” label. 
Mr. J. E. Howard, at the request of the President, made a few observations 
on certain specimens of cinchona bark cultivated in the East Indies, specimens 
of which were placed upon the table, and expressed a hope that at some future 
time he should have an opportunity of going more fully into the subject. He 
said that the number of varieties and species now cultivated in the East Indies 
was somewhat embarrassing, many of them being exact reproductions of the 
barks found in South America ; whilst some varieties did not appear to corre¬ 
spond exactly with any that they were as yet acquainted with from South 
America. The subject, therefore, still required investigation among these new 
varieties. Mr. Broughton had quite recently found a variety which was quite 
new to them, possessing lanceolate leaves almost approaching in appearance to 
the Cinchona lancifolia , the bark differing entirely from the characteristic of the 
bark of the lancifolia , and pertaining more to that of the best species of 
Pitayo or of Loja. Mr. Broughton had found this variety to be so ex¬ 
traordinarily rich in quinine that he had obtained from it the almost incredible 
quantity of 10 per cent, of sulphate of quinine. Though this fact had only been 
communicated to him (Mr. Howard) in a letter from Mr. Broughton, there 
could not be any objection to his mentioning it at that meeting. He had him¬ 
self examined a small portion of the bark, and his examination fully confirmed 
Mr. Broughton’s analysis. This circumstance, together xvith other collateral 
observations, showed the great importance of attending with even minute accu¬ 
racy to discrimination of the species and varieties which were already growing 
luxuriantly in the East Indies, some of which were so very much more produc¬ 
tive than others. The neighbouring plants to that he had mentioned did not 
produce one-third of the amount of sulphate of quinine. In Mr. Broughton’s 
last report he mentioned the circumstances connected with finding this species 
and his analysis of it. and he stated there that he had found 8’5 per cent, of 
sulphate of quinine, but since then he had obtained what he (Mr. Howard) had 
just mentioned. One specimen on the table was this extraordinarily rich bark. 
There w r as another specimen, which was the third harvest of bark renewed from 
the same tree, the Cinchona succirubra , or red bark of commerce. The bark had 
