538  British  PharmaceuUcal  Conference.        { '^^'ocT^issi^'^"*' 
tents  in  alkaloid  more  valuable  than  the  true  red  bark,  as  it  contains  from 
1*37  to  2*14  per  cent,  of  quinia.  The  propagation  of  so  many  millions  of 
trees  of  what  is  called  C.  succirubra  in  India,  in  spite  of  the  warnings  and 
of  the  information  gathered  from  the  Sj)anish  botanists,  strongly  impresses 
Mr.  Howard  with  the  question  whether  the  information  he  is  now  giving,, 
or  may  be  able  to  render  hereafter,  will  be  turned  to  any  account  otherwise 
than  amongst  those  private  cultivators  who  gladly  avail  themselves  of  such 
assistance,  and  who  will  find  eventually  that  they  have  done  well  to  attend 
to  the  careful  discrimination  of  species  and  forms  of  species  by  cultivating 
only  those  most  adapted  to  their  purpose. 
A  paper  by  Mr.  Holmes,  raising  the  question  which  kinds  of  Cinchona 
Bark  should  be  used  in  Pharmacy^  pointed  out  that  the  kinds  of  bark  now 
cultivated  in  Java,  India,  Ceylon  and  Jamaica,  have  been  for  years  a 
regular  article  of  commerce,  but  are  not  recognized  in  the  Pharmacopoeias, 
and  cannot  therefore  be  used  for  pharmaceutical  purposes,  although  the 
officinal  bark  of  South  American  origin  is  often  comparatively  worthless, 
and  very  rarely  of  good  quality.  Mr.  Holmes  suggested  that  cultivated 
cinchona  bark  should  replace  the  barks  now  otRcinal,  partly  because  the 
latter  are  often  mixed  with  false  barks,  and  the  bark  of  the  hybrid  species 
is  not  unfrequently  mixed  with  that  of  good  quality,  as  it  is  not  to  be  dis- 
tinguished by  external  characters  except  by  experts,  Mr.  Holmes  pointed 
out  that  one  variety  of  cinchona  bark,  that  of  C.  succirubra^  is  easily 
obtainable  in  almost  unlimited  quantity,  and  of  very  good  quality,  owing 
to  the  circumstances  that  the  tree  grows  at  a  lower  elevation,  is  very  hardy, 
easily  propagated,  and  cultivated  over  a  much  greater  area  than  other 
kinds.  Owing  to  the  relatively  small  proportion  of  quinia  that  it  contains, 
as  comimred  with  the  other  alkaloids,  it  is  not  adapted  for  the  require- 
ments of  qainia  makers.  For  these  reasons,  Mr.  Holmes  is  of  opinion 
that,  as  already  suggested  by  Professor  Fliickiger,  the  bark  of  C.  succiru- 
bra seems  to  be  the  most  suitable  for  use  in  medicine  and  pharmacy.  Mr. 
Holmes  also  suggested  that  purchasers  should  require  from  wholesale 
dealers  a  statement  of  the  percentage  of  alkaloids  in  the  barks  supplied  to 
them,  in  order  that  pharmaceutical  i^reparations,  when  made  from  bark 
thus  guaranteed,  should  be  of  satisfactory  quality.  As  regards  the  strength 
of  the  fluid  extract,  if  made  from  the  red  bark  according  to  the  British 
Pharmacopoeia,  it  would  in  all  probability  deposit  some  of  its  active  con- 
stituents, and  it  might  be  desirable  to  adopt  the  strength  of  the  United 
States  Pharmacopoeia,  which  is  one-fourth  that  of  the  British.  Mr. 
Holmes  considers  that  neither  the  decoction  nor  the  infusion  of  cinchona 
bark  possesses  any  advantage  over  the  fluid  extract,  and  that  it  would  be  a 
boon  both  to  the  patient  and  the  dispenser  if  these  preparations  could  be 
superseded  by  it.  As  regards  the  simple  tincture,  which  differs  in  strength 
according  to  the  British,  United  States,  French  and  German  Pharmaco- 
poeias, an  equalization,  or  at  least  an  approach  to  uniformity,  is  desirable, 
and  as  regards  the  compound  tincture,  which  contains,  according  to  the 
British  formula,  saffron  and  cochineal,  according  to  the  German  and  five 
others,  cinnamon  and  gentian,  it  is  desirable  to  consider  whether  these 
ingredients  should  be  retained  or  not. 
