132 
Cinchona  Ledgeriana. 
f  Am.  .Tour.  Pliann 
■(      Mar.,  1881, 
performer  has  sufficient  experience ;  the  B.  P.  method  is,  perhaps,  as 
good  as  any.  As  the  morphia  strength  of  commercial  opium  varies  to 
the  extent  of  some  200  per  cent.,  the  necessity  for  the  assay  need  not 
be  further  urged. 
The  obnoxious  principles  are,  in  the  U.  S.  P.  process  for  tinct;  opii 
deodorata,  removed  by  treating  the  opium  solution  with  ether,  but  the 
process  is  wasteful  and  troublesome,  and  gives  no  better  product  than 
that  above  indicated. 
In  conclusion  I  would  say  that,  by  the  modifications  proposed,  the 
B.  P.  process  will  furnish  a  preparation  which  is  in  every  way  satis- 
factory, and,  by  adopting  the  liquid  extract,  a  uniform,  legitimate,  and 
comparatively  low-priced  preparation  may  be  substituted  for  one  which, 
though  reliable,  is  very  expensive,  and  belongs  to  a  class  of  remedies 
which  should  be  discountenanced.— C'aJ2a(i.  Phar.  Jour.,  Feb.,  1881. 
THE  STORY  OF  CINCHONA  LEDCERIANA. 
The  following'  interesting  letter  from  Mr.  C.  Ledger,  so  well  known  in 
connection  with  cinchona  cultivation,  has  been  sent  to  us  for  publication 
by  his  brother,  Mr.  G.  Ledger,  to  whom  it  was  written  : 
While  engaged  in  my  alpaca  enterprise,  1856,  1  received  in  the  interior 
of  this  republic  (on  tlie  high  table  plains  of  8an  Antonio  de  los  Cobres,  in 
the  province  of  Jujuy),  by  return  of  express,  that  some  two  months  before 
I  had  sent  to  the  port  of  Cobija  for  letters,  funds,  etc.,  a  packet  of  newspa- 
pers.   In  one  of  the  papers  I  read  that  Her  Majesty's  government  were 
sending  out  to  South  America  a  sj^ecial  mission,  under  charge  of  Mr.  Cle- 
ments R.  Markhani,  in  search  of  plants  and  seeds  of  the  cinchona.  A 
Bolivian  Indian,  Manuel  Tucra  Mamani,  formerl^^  and  afterwards  a  cin- 
chona bark  cutter,  was  then  accompanying  me,  with  two  of  his  sons. 
He  had  been  in  my  service  since  1843.    He  accompanied  me  in  almost  all 
my  frequent  journeys  into  the  interior,  and  was  very  useful  in  examining 
the  large  quantities  of  cinchona  bark  and  alpaca  wool  I  was  constantly 
purchasing.    I  never  could  get  him  to  ride;  he  was  always  at  "  my  stir- 
rup," and  would  show  no  fatigue  after  a  journey  of  fourteen  to  twenty 
leagues  daily  for  eight  to  twelve  days  consecutively.    He  and  his  sons 
were  very  much  attached  to  me,  and  I  pla(3ed  every  confidence  in  them. 
Bitting  around  our  camp  fire  one  evening,  as  was  my  custom  after  dinner, 
conversing  on  all  sorts  of  topics,  I  mentioned  what  I  had  read  as  to  Mr. 
Markham's  mission.    Now,  Manuel  had  been  with  me  in  three  of  my 
journeys  into  the  cinchona  districts  of  the  Yuiigas  of  Bolivia,  where  I 
had  to  go  looking  after  laggard  contractors  for  delivery  of  bark.    It  was 
while  conversing  on  the  subject  of  Mr.  M.'s  journey,  and  wondering  which 
route  he  would  take,  etc.,  Manuel  greatly  surprised  me  by  saying,  "The 
gentleman  will  not  leave  the  Yungas-in  good  health,  if  he  really  obtains 
