2 
SPURIOUS  winter's  bark. 
and,  with  the  aid  of  authorities,  to  ascertain  its  botanical  origin, 
and  have  met  with  the  following  success  : — 
In  the  London  Journal  of  Pharmacy,  vol.  iii,  page  169,  will 
be  found  an  article,  by  Dr.  Alexander  Ure,  upon  the  South 
American  bark  called  the  Malambo  or  Matias  bark,  a  short  ex- 
tract of  which  will  be  found  in  the  appendix  to  the  U.  S.  Dis- 
pensatory, page  1349.  Dr.  Ure  states  in  his  paper,  that  Malam- 
bo or  Matias  bark  is  the  product  of  a  tree  in  Colombia,  S.  A., 
and  that  it  was  placed  in  his  hands  by  Hugh  Houston,  Esq., 
which  gentleman  received  it  from  Dr.  Mackay,  who  communi- 
cated two  papers  respecting  it  to  the  British  Association,  and 
mentions  having  procured  from  it  by  distillation  two  oils,  one 
lighter  than  water,  of  a  specific  gravity  0-949  ;  the  other  denser, 
of  a  specific  gravity  1-028.  He  further  obtained  a  brown,  bitter 
extractive  substance.  Dr.  Mackay  remarked,  that  it  had  been 
successfully  used  in  intermittent  fever,  in  convalescence  from 
continued  fever,  in  hemicrania,  dyspepsia,  and  a  variety  of 
chronic  ailments,  where  tonics  and  stimulants  were  indicated  ; 
and  that  as  an  adjunct  to  diuretic  remedies,  it  had  been  found 
eminently  useful. 
Dr.  Ure  describes  the  Malambo  or  Matias  bark  to  be  three  or 
.  four  lines  in  thickness,  brittle,  though  somewhat  fibrous ;  emitting 
when  fresh  bruised  an  aromatic  flavor,  not  unlike  that  of  cala- 
mus; color  of  a  brown  hue,  covered  with  an  ash-colored  tubercu- 
lous epiderm,  and  possessing  a  bitter  pungent  taste.  With  water 
it  forms  an  agreeable  bitter  infusion  ;  with  alcohol,  a  powerful 
bitter  tincture.  Ether  extracts  from  it  volatile  oil  and  resin. 
Heated  along  with  hydrate  of  potash,  free  ammonia  is  disen- 
gaged, indicating  the  presence  of  an  azotized  principle.  It  is 
without  astringency.  It  appears  to  coincide,  as  suggested  to  me 
by  M.  Guibourt,  both  in  regard  to  physical  and  sensible  pro- 
perties, with  Malambo,  the  Indian  name  for  the  bark  of  a  tree 
which  grows  in  New  Granada,  and  which  is  held  in  high  esteem 
among  the  natives  as  a  febrifuge  and  stomachic. 
Malambo  bark  was  analysed  by  M.  Cadet  Gassicourt,  about 
twenty-eight  years  ago  (Journ.  de  Pharmacie,  torn,  ii,  p.  172) ; 
subsequently  by  M.  Vauquelin,  who  ascertained  the  presence  of 
three  distinct  substances,  namely  :  1.  An  aromatic  volatile  oil. 
2.  A  very  bitter  resin.    3.  An  extract  soluble  in  water,  which 
