Am  Jour.  Pharm. ") 
May,  1881.  / 
Quebracho  Bark. 
239 
try  of  the  bark,  and  after  the  declaration  of  these  results  there  soon  fol- 
lowed from  medical  and  pharmaceutical  sections  a  demand  for  quebracho 
bark.  In  consequence  of  the  difficulty  of  quickly  procuring  the  gen- 
uine drug  the  supplies  were  much  less  than  the  demand,  and  as  the 
result  of  a  deficiency  of  knowledge  in  regard  to  its  true  derivation, 
various  substitutes  were  created  leading  to  manifold  contradictions  in 
regard  to  the  medicinal  activity  of  quebracho  bark,  which,  for  nearly 
two  years,  had  partially  found  application  in  the  form  of  two  or  three 
•other  barks,  without  any  certain  knowledge  prevailing  as  to  their 
spurious  nature. 
A  very  essential  part  in  the  confusion  with  regard  to  quebracho  bark 
is  due  to  the  circumstance  that  in  South  America,  and  particularly  in 
the  southern  districts,  the  name  "  Quebracho  (the  etymology  of  which 
is  derived  from  the  Spanish  words  '^quebrar''  [to  break]  and  "hacha^^ 
[axe]  )  is  a  common  designation,  a  peculiar  vulgar  name  for  various 
heterogenous  trees  w^itli  very  hard  wood,  whereby  occasionally  the  dif- 
ferent species  of  wood  and  the  trees  from  which  they  are  derived  are 
given  in  addition  thereto,  and  further  distinguished  by  special  adjec- 
tives as  "bianco,  flojo,"  etc.  But  even  these  more  complete  designa- 
tions can  serve  by  no  means  as  a  criterion,  and  may  vary  with  the 
country  or  province.  While  the  genuine  quebracho  bark  is  derived 
from  the  apocynaceous  Aspidosperma  quebracho,  Schlechtendal,  in 
the  w^estern  part  of  the  Argentine  Republic  at  least  two  other  trees,  a 
Terebinthacea  and  an  Ilicinea,  are  designated  as  "Quebracho,'^  the 
former  with  the  surname  '^Colorado"  and  the  latter  with  the  attribute 
flojo (soft,  loose),  the  tree  Aspidosperma  quebracho  being  known  as 
Quebracho  bianco,"  and,  according  to  the  trustworthy  statement  of 
Professor  Hieronymus  of  Cordoba^  exclusively  so.  It  was  chiefly 
the  tree  known  in  the  Argentine  Republic  as  Quebracho  Colorado 
which  was  confused  with  the  Quebracho  bianco,  and  the  bark  and 
wood  of  which  was  medicinally  applied  in  Europe  as  "Quebracho" 
instead  of  the  original  Q.  bianco  bark,  the  two  plants  appearing  to  be 
closely  connected  both  in  relation  to  their  history  as  also  in  their 
technical  application. 
Both  trees,  tlie  "  bianco  "  as  also  the  "  Colorado,"  were  signalized  by 
former  travelers  in  the  La  Plata  States,  particularly  by  Burmeister, 
who,  however,  considered  the  two  Quebracho  trees  as  simple  varieties, 
which  were  distinguished  to  some  extent  by  the  form  of  the  leaf,  and 
2)articularly  by  the  color  of  the  wood.    The  portion  of  the  white  que- 
