Am.  Jour.  Pliaini. ) 
Oct.,  1881.  j 
British  Phannaceutical  Conference. 
537 
vafed  Belladonna  Plants^  showed  that  the  wild  plant  is  the  most  active 
in  all  its  parts  and  that  the  leaf  of  both  kinds  contains  the  largest  amount 
of  alkaloid.  The  chief  features  of  Mr.  Gerrard's  method  of  extraction  are, 
avoiding  the  use  of  acid  in  the  extraction,  and  that  of  alkalies  for  liberate 
ing  the  alkaloid,  so  as  to  prevent  any  alteration  of  the  substance  to  be 
extracted. 
The  pai)er  announced  to  be  read  by  Mr.  A.  H.  Allen,  entitled  Further 
Notes  on  Shale  and  Petroleum  Products^  was  not  forthcoming,  but  Mr. 
Allen  gave  a  viva  voce  account  of  some  experiments  to  show  that  the 
hydrocarbons  of  shale  and  of  petroleum  were  somewhat  uneciually  affected 
by  bromine  and  by  sulphuric  acid,  and  he  appeared  to  consider  that  there 
was  something  of  novelty  attaching  to  the  observation  of  those  facts. 
In  a  paper  on  Bed  Bark  Mr.  John  Eliot  Howard  adopted  the  distinction 
made  by  Professor  Karsten  between  the  genera  Cinchona  and  Cincinehona, 
namely,  that  in  the  former  the  capsules  are  dehiscent  from  the  apex  and 
in  the  latter  from  the  base,  and  described  what  was  to  be  understood  by 
the  term  ''red  bark."  Cinchona  succirubi-a,  the  true  si^ecies  of  the  red 
bark,  was  so  named  by  Pavon  to  denote  the  peculiarities  of  the  juice.  Like 
other  species,  it  exists  under  somewhat  different  forms  (illustrated  by  spe- 
cimens that  w^ere  exhibited),  and  the  differences,  though  apparently  tri- 
vial, are  imi)ortant  to  the  cultivator  for  reasons  that  have  been  explained 
in  the  "Nueva  Quinologia,"  and  on  account  of  the  relative  prei)onderance 
of  quiiiia  or  cinchonia  and  cinchonidia.  Specimens  of  genuine  red  bark 
and  of  the  more  resinous  sort  which  used  to  be  imported  from  South 
America  and  sold  at  a  high  j^i'ice,  though  useless  to  the  quinia  manufac- 
turer, were  exhibited  to  illustrate  the  state  of  degeneration  to  which  Mr. 
Howard  j^redicts  that  the  truest  of  red  ])ark  in  India  will  arrive  by  age, 
and  towards  which  Mr.  Broughton  believed  some  advance  was  made  dur- 
ing the  continuance  of  his  observations.  Since  that  time  Mr.  Howard  has 
had  the  opportunity  of  examining  specimens  of  much  more  mature  bark 
carefullj^  collected  by  Mr.  Cross  at  Ootacaniund,  and  exhibiting  the  true 
characteristics  of  genuine  red  bark.  These  samples  contained  respectively 
0*86  and  0*91  j)er  cent,  of  quinia,  with  1*5  to  2*0  per  cent,  of  cinchonidia, 
and  S'o  to  4*0  per  cent,  of  cinchonia.  In  reporting  upon  these  barks  to  the 
Marquis  of  Hartington  Mr.  Howard  pointed  out  that  they  are  most  char- 
acteristic specimens,  well  illustrating  tlie  mistake  of  the  excessive  cultiva- 
tion of  C.  succirubra,  and  tliat  it  is  only  by  renewing  that  the  bark  of  such 
trees  can  be  made  serviceable.  Another  sample  described  as  red  bark  is 
not  from  C.  succirubra,  but  is  the  produce  of  a  tree  yielding  juice  that 
becomes  only  golden  colored,  and  identified  by  Cross  as  "  Pata  de  Galli- 
nazo."  That  it  is  a  much  better  sort  for  cultivation  than  the  C.  succii'ubra, 
with  which  it  has  been  confounded,  is  shown  by  its  containing  2*25  per 
cent,  of  quinia.  The  full  information  upon  both  these  barks,  which  was 
published  by  Mr.  Howard  and  sent  out  by  tiie  government  in  1862,  has 
apparently  been  without  result,  as  these  two  si)ecies  are  still  confounded 
under  the  name  C.  succirubra.  There  is  also  a  third  species  confounded 
under  this  head,  the  "cucliaria,"  or  "pig-skin"  sort  of  red  bark,  little 
valued  formerly  by  reason  of  its  poor  appearance ;  but  in  regard  to  con- 
