ANALYSIS OF CHINCHONA BARK AND LEAVES. 
367 
are possessed of most experience among young men in our profession will 
speak out on this point, I believe they will all agree that the institution 
of accessible and reasonable examinations (under the bye-laws of our So- 
ciety), in the country, would do more than anything that has been urged of late 
years to promote its interest and prosperity: it would lessen the plea of expense, 
it would keep up the interest of apprentices and assistants in the Society, and 
it would constantly remind the masters of their duty to themselves, their call¬ 
ing, and their pupils. I am, Sir, yours obediently, 
W. Judd, 
Pharmaceutical Chemist, Certificated Teacher of Che¬ 
mistry and Botany, Science and Art Department. 
Christchurch, January 22, 1864. 
ANALYSIS OF CHINCHONA BARK AND LEAVES. 
From W. G. MTvor, Esq., Superintendent Government Chinchona Plantations, to the 
Secretary to Government, Fort Saint George. 
Ootacamund, 3rd October, 1863, No.. 91. 
Sir,—1. I have the honour to forward by baughy a box containing further supplies of 
chinchona bark and leaves, as per list annexed, to be submitted to Mr. Howard for 
further analysis and report. 
2. The bark and leaves now forwarded were removed from the plants during the rains, 
or the season of the year when the sap is in full flow, being the period when the plants 
contain the greatest proportion of moisture. 
3. The object in submitting these specimens is to ascertain how far this condition 
affects the yield of alkaloids. The last supply of bark submitted to analysis by Mr. 
Howard was cut when the sap was beginning to rise.* A further supply will be forwarded 
in the dry season, when the plants are at rest, and this, I trust, will be sufficient to enable 
Mr. Howard to form an opinion of the most advantageous time of collecting the bark. 
It, however, occurs to me that the bark should either be cut in the middle of the dry 
season or in the spring, as the sap is beginning to rise ; these seasons are also most 
favourable for drying and preserving the bark. 
4. The plants under cultivation have given unmistakable signs that they do not re¬ 
quire so moist a climate as they are represented to enjoy on the Andes. This season at 
Neddivuttum has been unusually wet, and several of the Grey-bark plants have suffered 
in consequence. The way in which the continuous rain seems to affect the plants is by 
throwing a constant stream of water down the channels of the leaves, which, resting in 
the axil, causes the bark there to decay; this decay is communicated to the young grow¬ 
ing wood, and ultimately to the pith ; the decay having once reached the pith, the rain¬ 
water finds its way into the centre of the stem, and in this way affects the health of the 
plant. A specimen of the wood of Chinchona micrantha is forwarded for Mr. Howard’s 
opinion on the subject. The Red bark, Crown barks, and Yellow bark do not suffer 
from this cause, apparently because the petiole of the leaf in these species is more 
rounded, and, consequently, it does not conduct and deposit the water in the axil of the 
leaf, as in the case with the Grey barks. 
Specimens of Chinchona Barks, etc. 
No. 1. Chinchona succirubra, Red Bark from plants of twenty-two months’ growth. 
2. C. succirubra , Red Bark from plants of eighteen months’ growth, thickened by 
being covered with moss for three months. 
3. C. succirubra, Red Bark from branches of eighteen months’ growth and under. 
4. Renewed Bark of C. succirubra, the centre part being the bark renewed a second 
time. 
5. Red Bark from small branches broken by the wind. 
6. Chinchona micrantha, bark from a plant of eighteen months’ growth. 
* Pharm. Journ. vol. iv. 2nd ser. p. 70. 
2 c 2 
