SPURIOUS  winter's  bark. 
5 
at  Carthagena,)  we  have  witnessed  the  death  of  a  valuable  young 
man  from  the  neglect  of  exhibiting  this  remedy  in  sufficient  time. 
It  is  a  most  important  vegetable  production,  meriting  the  atten- 
tion of  government  from  the  valuable  properties  it  possesses, 
and  the  use  made  of  it  at  Santa  Martha.  Both  from  the  color 
and  smell  of  the  bark  it  would  appear  to  belong  to  the  genus 
Cusparia,  or  the  cinchona  of  Angostura,  which  entered  into  the 
prescription  of  the  late  Dr.  Mute's  for  the  cure  of  dysentery  ;  and 
we  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  the  bark  of  the  Malambo 
may  supply  the  place  of  that  of  the  cusparia." 
In  vojume  ix.  of  the  same  journal,  page  463,  is  an  article  by 
James  Stark,  M.  D.,  upon  copalchi  bark.  He  mentions  that  in 
the  course  of  some  inquiries  into  the  remedies  used  in  Chili  and 
Peru,  that  he  received  from  one  of  his  correspondents  in  Chili 
a  bitter  bark,  under  the  name  of  Natri,  which  was  stated  to  be 
much  used  by  the  medical  practitioners  and  natives  of  Chili,  in 
the  treatment  of  intermittent  and  other  fevers,  and  held  in  higher 
repute  than  even  Peruvian  bark  itself.  The  bark  and  leaves 
sent  me  enabled  me  to  ascertain  that  the  Natri  was  the  produce 
of  a  species  of  Croton,  but  from  the  want  of  the  flowers  and 
fruit,  the  particular  species  could  not  be  determined.  Also  that 
in  the  course  of  a  correspondence  with  a  friend,  he  was  informed 
that  a  quantity  of  the  bark  had  been  received  by  a  house  in 
London  from  San  Bias,  which  appeared  to  be  identical  with  the 
Natri.  A  small  quantity  of  the  bark  had  also  been  brought 
over  by  a  gentleman  from  Santa  Cruz,  who  states  that  it  was 
there  known  under  the  name  of  Chinquique,  and  was  always 
given  to  Indians  in  fever  cases,  and  was  considered  by  the  medi- 
cal practitioners  there  as  superior  in  certain  cases  to  cinchona 
bark  itself. 
Mr.  Howard  at  once  recognized  this  bark  as  the  copalchi  bark 
of  Goebel,  a  valuable  Mexican  bitter,  described  by  him  as  the 
product  of  the  Croton  suberosum.  Dr.  Stark  says,  that  he  is 
satisfied  that  this  bark  (Natri)  is  the  bark  known  since  1825  in 
Europe,  and  described  under  the  names  of  Copalchi  bark  and 
Quina  blanca,  the  product  of  one  tree,  variously  termed  Croton 
suberosum  by  Humboldt,  Bonpland,  Kunth,  &c,  Croton  pseudo, 
China  by  Schlechtendal  and  Nees  von  Esenbeck  ;  and  Croton 
cascarilla  by  Professor  Don.    Dr.  Stark  has  made  a  number  of 
