October 26, 1372.] 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
32 5 
of cinchona hark as a crop cannot, I think, fairly be 
considered as yet beyond the condition of an experiment. 
It has indeed been demonstrated that cinchona trees can 
be grown successfully up to the age of about ten years, 
and that their bark is quite as rich in alkaloids as that 
obtained from the South American forests; but whether 
they will reach maturity remains to be seen. It has still 
to be settled how the bark crop can most advantageously 
be taken, and the respective merits of the systems of 
mossing as invented and practised by Mr. Mclvor, of 
systematic coppicing, and of working forest-fashion by 
selection and thinning, cannot be determined without 
much additional experience. Connected with the com¬ 
mercial aspect of the matter, there are as unsettled pro¬ 
blems, the probable extent to which the price of the 
drug will be affected by the introduction into the Euro¬ 
pean market of the large quantities of bark which must 
soon begin to be turned out by the various Indian and 
colonial plantations that have been established, the 
amount by which the demand for preparations of cin¬ 
chona will be increased by the fall in their price, which is 
almost certain to take place, and finally, the advantages 
or disadvantages of the manufacture of an amorphous 
preparation at the plantation as opposed to the complete 
separation of each alkaloid in a pure form, or to the more 
primitive plan of exporting all the bark to England, 
and of taking prepared alkaloids in exchange as part 
payment. 
18. It is, however, a matter of satisfaction, that sub¬ 
stantial progress has been made towards the realization 
of the great object which Government had in view in 
undertaking this experiment, namely, “to secure for the 
fever-stricken millions of India the inestimable blessing of 
an abundant and cheap supply of the only specific for the 
most deadly of all Indian diseases.” That object will not 
be thoroughly secured until a febrifuge in some efficient 
form is procurable in every village in India. The 
amount of fever prevalent in tho rural districts is, I 
believe, much greater than is usually supposed, and for 
its alleviation the sufferers have at present, as a rule, 
nothing more effectual than some selections from the 
wonderful farrago of substances known as “native medi¬ 
cines,” few of which have much therapeutic influence in 
malarious fever. Any preparation of cinchona is to many 
a villager a thing unknown, unseen, unheard of. The 
amount of labour lost annually to the State by reason of 
the prevalence of fever is simply incalculable, while the 
loss of life is enormous; and I have no hesitation in 
saying this state of matters is to a great extent preven¬ 
tive by the dissemination of a cheap febrifuge. 
19. As to the probable quantity of quinine that could 
be used in the Bengal Presidency, 1 calculate as follows :— 
There are in the provinces of Bengal, Orissa, Assam, 
Burmah, Behar, Oude, the North-Western Provinces, 
Central Provinces, and Punjab, probably a hundred mil¬ 
lions of inhabitants, all more or less subject to fever, and 
it is, I think, no extravagant estimate to allow five 
grains of quinine per annum to each, which is equal to a 
total of 65,000 lb. or about 29 tons. In these circum¬ 
stances it is probably premature to fear that too many 
cinchona trees are being planted. 
20. In conclusion, my acknowledgments are due to 
Mr. Gammie, the resident manager of the plantation, and 
to Messrs. Biermann and Jaffrey, for the efficient and 
hearty way in which they have performed their duties. 
21. The usual returns are appended. 
Table showing the Number and Distribution of Cinchona Plants in the Government Plantations at Darjeeling on the 
1st April , 1872. 
Names of species of Cinchonia. 
Number 
in permanent 
plantation. 
Number of 
Stock Plants for 
Propagation. 
Number of 
Seedlings or 
Rooted Cuttings 
in Nursery 
Beds for Per¬ 
manent Plan¬ 
tations.; 
Number of 
Rooted Plants 
in Cutting Beds. 
Number of 
Cuttings made 
during the 
Month. 
Total Number 
of Plants, 
Cuttings, and 
Seedlings. 
C. succirubra .. 
C. Calisaya. 
C. micrantha . 
C. officinalis and varieties 
C. Pahudiana. 
C. Pitayensis .. 
1,400,000 
77,500 
29,667 
100,000 
5,092 
• • • • 
10,000 
• • • * 
• ii* 
• 14 1 
16 
480,000 
70,000 
• • • • 
• • • • 
• • • • 
• • • • 
120,000 
77,500 
• • • • 
• • • • 
• • • • 
• • • • 
t • • • 
• • • • 
*25,000 
• » • • 
24 
2,000,000 
235,000 
29,667 
125,000 
5,092 
40 
Total. 
1,612,259 
10.016 
550,000 
197,500 
25,024 
2,394,799 
THE LAVENDER COUNTRY. 
In a ride by rail from West Croydon to Sutton, and 
on both sides, commencing at Waddon, as far as the eye 
can reach, are long narrow strips and; occasionally 
broad expanses of lavender. After a thunderstorm, 
refreshed by the rain, the colour is deep and intensified, 
and the perfume crosses the pathway of the train. 
When the sun is shining with unusual brightness, any 
one standing in the midst of those fields may see the 
sky reflecting back the colours from the earth, the blue 
tints exchanged to lavender. Alighting at Sutton—the 
limit for the present of this cultivation—the road turns 
sharply to the right, and passes the well-known sign of 
the Cock, an hostelry of sporting notoriety, and brings 
us back on foot in the direction of Carshalton. Had we 
chosen the left-hand side of the railway, we should have 
been upon a plain stretching far away from Banstead 
Downs to Epsom Downs. There seemed something so 
unusual, peculiar and attractive in the appearance of 
the landscape; to ride through miles of vineyards in 
the Cote d’Or, the “golden hillsides” of France, or 
watch the terraced heights on the Rhine banks, where 
the sun casts back it rays from the broad waters hks 
a mirror, and great and influential people discuss the 
merits of this or that year’s vintage of Burgundy or 
hock in all parts of the world—compared with such 
scenes and thoughts lavender seemed to possess far 
humbler pretensions. But then we are told that it had 
unfailing medicinal qualities most valuble to workeis in 
the fields; moreover it formed a component part or 
entered more or less into the composition of every de¬ 
scription of scent; and the toilette and boudoir aie not 
trifling questions in our days of supposed luxury and 
refinement unprecedented. We well remembered those 
little muslin bags—possibly there might be one or two 
stowed away forgotten in drawers at home. Hereafter 
they w r ould be better appreciated for their modest ap- 
