462  The  Alkaloids  in  Cinchona  Trees.       {  Ams^87h7arm" 
NOTES  ON  THE  DISTRIBUTION  OF  THE  ALKALOIDS 
IN  CINCHONA  TREES. 
By  David  Howard,  F.C.S. 
In  the  "  Pharmaceutical  Journal "  of  June  26,  1875,  I  called  atten- 
tion to  the  constant  presence  of  quinidia  in  renewed  bark  of  Cinchona 
succirubra  and  C.  officinalis,  and  in  the  root  bark  of  C.  officinalis  in  much 
greater  quantities  than  in  the  natural  stem  bark.  Since  that  time  I 
have  had  many  opportunities  of  confirming  those  observations,  the 
renewed  bark  of  both  species  invariably  showing  a  greatly  increased 
percentage  of  this  alkaloid.  I  find,  however,  that  by  very  careful 
testing  of  considerable  quantities  of  the  alkaloid  from  C.  succirubra  it  is 
possible  to  obtain  quinidia  in  quantities  from  a  minute  trace  to  *o6  per 
cent,  of  the  bark  in  that  from  Ootacamund,  Darjeeling  and  Java. 
Recent  importations  of  the  root  bark  of  C.  succirubra  and  C.  officinalis, 
from  Darjeeling,  and  of  C.  succirubra,  C.  Ledgeriana  and  C.  Hasskarliana, 
from  Java,  have  given  an  opportunity  to  extend  our  knowledge  of  root 
bark.  The  specimens  from  Darjeeling  are  of  special  value,  as  the  root, 
stem  and  branch  bark  sent  over  together  may  safely  be  taken  as  repre- 
senting the  produce  of  the  same  trees,  whereas  we  have  no  information 
as  to  which  of  the  various  parcels  of  stem  bark  sent  from  Java  the 
small  quantities  of  root  bark  sent  with  them  belong. 
In  examining  the  root  bark  from  Darjeeling  we  are  at  once  struck 
by  the  high  percentage  of  alkaloids,  which  is  in  all  cases  much  greater 
than  that  given  by  the  stem  bark  of  the  same  trees,  usually  in  the  pro- 
portion of  about  8  to  5,  and  by  the  great  difference  in  the  proportion  of 
the  different  alkaloids  in  the  stem  and  the  root. 
In  all  the  specimens  that  I  have  examined  of  the  C.  succirubra,  the 
great  increase  is  in  the  dextrogyrate  alkaloids,  quinidia  and  cinchonia, 
and  to  a  small  extent  in  the  slightly  dextrogyrate  amorphous  alkaloid. 
The  percentage  of  quinia  and  cinchonidia  in  the  bark  averages  slightly 
less  in  the  root  than  in  the  stem,  but  more  than  in  the  branches  ;  but 
the  total  variation  in  these  alkaloids  between  the  stem  and  root  of  the 
same  tree  is  much  less  than  between  different  samples  of  either  from 
different  plantations ;  the  percentage  of  cinchonia,  on  the  other  hand, 
seems  invariably  in  the  root  bark  from  twice  to  three  times  as  great  as 
that  in  the  stem  bark,  and  that  of  quinidia  is  increased  from  the  minute 
quantity  I  have  mentioned  to  *2  to  '3  per  cent. 
