4 
SPURIOUS  winter's  bark. 
pointed  in  his  expectations.  Dr.  Hamilton  regrets  his  inability 
to  throw  more  light  upon  this  part  of  the  subject  {i.  e.  the  bo- 
tanical) than  those  who  had  preceded  him  ;  but,  as  connecting 
links  in  the  history  of  a  substance,  which,  although  known  in 
Europe  for  upwards  of  thirty  years,  still  slumbers  in  mysterious 
obscurity,  and  is  far  from  being  appreciated  to  the  extent  of 
its  merits,  gives  the  following  fragments  of  its  local  history:  In 
a  work  on  the  natural  productions  of  the  province  of  Cartha- 
gena,  by  Don  Jorge  Lopez,  the  date  of  which  he  did  not  un- 
fortunately possess,  that  writer  states :  A  tree  exists  in  the  pro- 
vince of  Carthagena,  of  the  stature  of  cinchona,  called  the 
Malambo,  whose  bark,  in  my  opinion,  possesses  qualities  far 
superior  to  those  of  cinchona.  It  abounds  in  an  aroma  so  dura- 
ble and  penetrating,  that  it  is  not  impaired  by  lapse  of  time, 
and  must,  therefore,  I  imagine,  consist  of  gummy  particles  of 
great  value  to  man.  It  is  a  native  of  this  province,  and  very 
abundant.  I  speak  of  its  bark,  and  were  the  Faculty  to  employ 
it,  cinchona  would  sink  into  disrepute.  It  is  employed  with 
known  advantage  in  this  country  in  the  treatment  of  various 
complaints,  especially  in  spasms,  wounds,  inflammations,  and  dis- 
orders of  the  stomach.  It  would,  I  think,  be  highly  beneficial 
in  cases  of  dropsy,  and  malignant  fevers.  Experience  has  proved 
its  efficacy  in  asthma,  rheumatism,  dysentery,  and  menstrual  ob- 
structions, in  my  own  practice.  In  fine,  here,  and  in  the  country 
especially,  it  is  a  universal  remedy,  employed  with  the  happiest 
effects  in  all  the  above  named  complaints." 
From  another  rare  and  valuable  Spanish  work,  in  the  posses- 
sion of  Mr.  Watts,  Dr.  Hamilton  obtained  the  following  ex- 
tracts 
"  The  third  is  the  Malambo,  whose  aromatic  bark  is  a  power- 
ful anti-spasmodic,  containing  bitter  febrifuge  and  astringent 
properties  of  great  activity.  It  abounds  in  the  province  of 
Santa  Martha,  where  it  is  employed  in  the  cure  of  spasms,  in- 
termittents,  calentures,  and  dysenteries  ;  it  occurs  also  in  various 
parts  of  this  province,  (Carthagena.)  The  bark  is  exported  to 
the  Havanna,  where  it  is  exhibited  in  the  treatment  of  spasms, 
(tetanus,)  to  which  the  negroes  are  very  subject ;  and  since  the 
adoption  of  this  remedy,  hardly  any  deaths  arise  from  the  com- 
plaint.   Here  we  make  no  use  of  it ;  and  very  lately  (in  1810, 
