^'^juneri^sl ™  }        Botanical  Source  of  Cuprea  Bark.  295. 
and  of  which  my  fellow  traveler  has  published  a  description  and  a 
figure  in  the  "  Specimina  Selecta." 
The  two  Columbian  species  of  Remljia  which  yield  the  cuprea  barks 
have,  at  first  sight,  a  very  great  resemblance,  in  habit,  in  the  form, 
size  and  smoothness  of  the  leaves,  in  their  inflorescence,  and  in  their 
capsules  of  almost  the  same  size  ;  they  are  in  reality,  however,  very 
distinct  and  are  easily  characterized. 
Bemijia  Purdleana  has  the  divisions  of  the  calyx  lanceolate-acute^ 
almost  linear,  and  much  longer  than  the  tube  of  the  calyx.  The  stip- 
ules are  lanceolate-acute  and  the  capsules  are  also  lanceolate. 
Bemijia  pedunculata  has  the  teeth  of  the  calyx  small,  triangular  and 
almost  rounded  at  the  apex  ;  the  stipules  are  obtuse,  broad  and  abovate 
and  the  capsules  are  shorter  than  those  of  B.  Purdieana^  which  are 
elliptic. 
The  resemblance  between  the  barks  of  the  two  species  is  also  very 
great  and  it  would  be  difficult  to  find  characters  sufficiently  marked  to 
distinguish  them.  They  are  both,  in  fact,  hard,  very  compact,  rela- 
tively heavy,  the  inner  surface  smooth  and  more  or  less  of  a  wine-red 
tint,  the  epidermis  thin  or  more  or  less  corky,  and  striated  longitudin- 
ally.   The  fracture  is  not  fibrous,  as  in  many  cinchonas. 
The  cuprea  bark  which  yields  cinchonamine  is,  however,  heavier 
and  more  compact  and  more  filled  with  red  resinous  coloring  matter, 
and  its  fracture  generally  appears  to  be  horny. 
The  yield  of  quinine  from  the  cuprea  barks  varies  between  "0  and  2 
per  cent.,  according  to  the  conditions  of  vegetation  of  the  trees,  which 
have  not  yet  been  sufficiently  studied.  In  this  respect  they  resemble 
the  officinal  cinchonas.  In  both  cases  it  appears  that  the  alkaloids 
increase  in  proportion  as  the  trees  approach  nearer  to  the  upper  limit 
of  their  zone  of  vegetation  and  are  better  protected  by  the  great 
forest. 
From  a  chemical  point  of  view,  the  characteristic  and  remarkable 
feature  which  distinguishes  the  cuprea  barks  from  the  true  cinchonas  is 
the  absence  of  cinchonidine,  which  has  been  ascertained  by  numerous 
analyses  made  by  M.  Arnaud,  confirming  the  results  obtained  by  other 
chemists. 
In  cuprea  barks,  cpiinidine  would  also  be  always  proportionately 
more  abundant  than  in  other  cinchona  barks,  which  would  permit  the 
formation  bf  the  double  salt  of  this  alkaloid  with  quinine,  and  would 
produce,  a(;cording  to  Mr.  C.  II.  Wood  and  Mr.  E.  L.  Barret,  (^'Chem- 
