SPURIOUS  winter's  bark. 
3 
yielded  ammonia  when  heated  with  caustic  potash.  {Annates  de 
Chimie,  torn,  xcvi,  p.  113.)  It  afforded  no  tannin,  scarcely  a 
trace  of  gallic  acid  and  none  of  the  alkalies  of  cinchona.  It  is 
stated,  in  the  countries  where  the  tree  is  indigenous,  incisions 
are  made  in  the  bark,  and  there  exudes  an  aromatic  oil  which 
sinks  in  water.  Most  authors  believe  it  to  be  the  produce  of  a 
species  of  drymis,  but  M.  Bonpland  regards  it  as  a  quassia. 
{Merat.  etde  Lens.  Dictionnaire  de  Mat.  Med.,  tome  iv.  p.  199.) 
This,  however,  is  improbable,  since  none  of  the  quassia  tribe  yet 
discovered  are  possessed  of  aroma. 
Dr.  Ure  further  mentions  in  his  paper,  that  he  has  used  the 
Malambo  bark  with  good  effect.  That  it  offers  the  useful  com- 
bination of  atonic  and  aromatic ;  and  seems  to  exercise  its  bene- 
ficial influence  upon  the  principle  laid  down  by  Professor  Schultz, 
with  regard  to  other  therapeutic  agents  of  the  same  class,  name- 
ly, in  promoting  an  increased  flow  of  bile,  whereby  digestion  is 
perfected,  and  healthy  blood  formed.  In  scrofulous  ophthalmia, 
after  removing  feculent  accumulations  from  the  bowels,  I  have 
known  an  infusion,  made  with  two  drachms  of  the  bark  to  a  pint 
of  water,  cause  a  speedy  and  complete  removal  of  the  inflamma- 
tion and  morbid  sensibility  of  the  eyes.  The  dose  of  the  infusion 
just  mentioned,  is  from  one  to  two  ounces,  repeated  twice  or 
thrice  in  the  course  of  the  day.  It  may,  in  some  instances,  be 
advantageously  conjoined  with  salts  of  iron  or  mercury,  with 
both  of  which  it  is  compatible.  The  addition  of  a  little  syrup 
of  orange  peel  and  compound  tincture  of  cardamom,  forms  a 
draught  by  no  means  disagreeable. 
In  volume  vi.  of  the  same  journal,  page  255,  will  be  found 
another  paper  upon  the  same  bark,  by  W.  Hamilton,  M.  B.,  in 
which  he  mentions  that  as  far  back  as  1825,  he  received  a  portion 
of  bark  under  the  name  of  Malambo,  from  Mr.  Edward  Watts, 
Esq.,  British  Consul  at  Carthagena,  accompanied  by  extracts 
from  some  of  the  Spanish  writers  on  the  natural  history  and 
productions  of  that  province,  detailing  its  medicinal  properties, 
but  without  furnishing  any  clue  to  the  localities  in  which  it  is 
found,  or  the  botanical  characters  of  the  tree  from  which  it  is 
obtained  ;  and  mentions  that  he  turned  with  some  eagerness  to 
Dr.  Ure's  paper,  in  the  hope  of  meeting  in  it  some  information 
which  he  failed  to  procure  from  other  sources,  but  was  disap- 
