ON  THE  TREE  PRODUCING  RED  CINCHONA  BARK.  33 
ON  THE  TREE  PRODUCING  RED  CINCHONA  BARK. 
By  John  Eliot  Howard,  Esq. 
It  has  long  been  a  desideratum  in  Quinology  to  ascertain  the 
botanical  origin  of  this  article  of  the  Pharmacopoeia  which  is 
still  so  much  esteemed,  and  commands  so  high  a  price  in  the 
market.  I  have  at  length  succeeded  in  obtaining  authentic 
specimens  from  the  place  of  growth,  which  will,  I  trust,  tend 
towards  a  settlement  of  the  question,  although  still  leaving 
something  to  be  desired,  and  to  be  ascertained  by  future  re- 
searches. 
Dr.  Weddell  points  out  the  native  locality  of  this  species 
of  Cinchona  in  his  Voyage  dans  le  Nord  de  la  Bolivie,  pub- 
lished at  Paris  in  1853.  Touching  at  the  Port  of  Guayaquil, 
he  says  :*—  - 
"  One  of  the  barks  produced  by  the  forests  of  this  region  is  the  true  red 
bark,  which  rivals  the  best  Bolivian  bark  in  the  quantity  of  alkaloids 
which  it  contains.  The  tree  which  produces  this  precious  bark,  and  of 
which  I  recovered  the  lost  traces  in  my  previous  passage  by  Guayaquil, 
grows  on  the  western  slope  of  the  Assuay,  and  of  Chimborazo,  between 
Chillanes  and  Guaranda.  These  geographical  data  will  perhaps  assist  in 
deciding  the  botanical  species  to  which  it  ought  to  be  ascribed." 
It  is  exactly  from  this  district,  and  in  the  region  in  which, 
according  to  Laubert,f  "  red  bark"  was  first  discovered,  that  I 
have  obtained  a  specimen  tree  which  I  now  describe,  and  of 
which  I  received  a  few  weeks  since,  contained  in  two  chests,  the 
following  portions :  viz.,  two  pieces  of  the  trunk,  three  of  the 
large  roots,  five  of  the  thickest  branches,  and  one  small  box  con- 
taining small  boughs  and  leaves  placed  between  paper.  The 
leaves,  though  injured  by  imperfect  drying,  are  still  sufficiently 
characteristic  of  the  species.  The  collector  apologized  for  not  send- 
ing the  flowers  or  fruit  because  the  time  of  year  was  not  favorable. 
The  tree  was  cut  in  September,  1855.  The  account  sent  was  as 
follows :  after  enumerating  the  parts  above  described,  he  says : 
"  All  from  the  same  tree  of  red  bark  (cascarilla  roja),  cut  in  2°  16' 
south  latitude  and  16'  longitude  west  of  the  meridian  of  Quito,  from  a 
•Page  48. 
f  :£  It  grows,  as  we  have  stated,  in  the  mountains  of  Riobamba,  Cuenca,  and 
Jaen,  on  very  elevated  spots,  cool  at  night,  and  well  exposed  to  the  sun,  as  do 
all  other  fine  species." — Lauberfs  Memoir,  §c. 
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