34  ON  THE  TREE  PRODUCING  RED  CINCHONA  BARK. 
mountain  called  Chahuarpata,  near  the  village  of  Cibambe,  in  the  province 
of  Alausi,  which  is  one  of  the  spots  which  produces  the  best  red  bark. 
There  are  not  now  large  trees  to  be  found,  but  only  a  little  larger  or  less 
than  the  one  sent,  which  is  of  middling  size.  Each  piece  has  attached  to  it 
a  paper,  showing  the  part  of  the  tree  to  which  it  belongs." 
The  trunk  of  the  tree  at  the  lowest  part,  from  which  the  roots 
have  been  cut  away,  is  not  more  than  between  two  and  three 
feet  in  circumference,  and  the  branches  are  from  about  fourteen 
to  eighteen  inches  of  similar  measure.  The  roots  are  of  propor- 
tionate size.  The  thickness  of  the  bark  on  branches  of  four 
and  a-half  inches  across  is  not  more  than  one-tenth  of  an  inch. 
The  weight  of  the  bark  is  about  one-twentieth  that  of  the  wood. 
The  very  large  and  fine  red  bark  which  we  sometimes  see,  and 
which  commands  a  price  of  seven  or  eight  shillings  per  pound, 
must  therefore  be  procured  from  trees  of  great  age  and  size,  and 
these  no  doubt  fall  quickly  under  the  axe  of  the  cascarillero, 
thus  accounting  for  the  scarcity  of  the  finest  samples.  The  age 
of  the  tree  has  also  probably  some  influence  in  producing  the 
light  spongy  texture  of  those  specimens  which  have  the  highest 
color — the  coloring  matter  amounting  in  some  cases  to  about 
one-third  the  weight  of  the  bark.*  The  bark  varies  much  in 
different  parts  of  the  tree.  That  on  the  trunk,  and  even  on 
the  large  roots,  presents  the  familiar  aspects  of  commercial  red 
bark  with  the  peculiar  brick-red  appearance,  where  the  warty 
excrescences  are  rubbed  and  chafed.  Near  the  roots  the  bark 
becomes  thicker  and  more  corky. 
The  small  branches  present  the  silvery  epidermis  which  we 
meet  with  in  the  small  quills.  That  on  the  larger  branches  re- 
sembles exactly  stouter  quills  of  red  bark,  and  where  the  outer 
coat  has  exfoliated,  the  derm  shows  the  small  pock  marks  or 
indentation,  which  are  characteristic  of  the  best  commercial 
*  It  must  be  an  important  question  for  the  physician  to  decide,  whether  this 
large  percentage  of  vegetable  matter,  of  complex  chemical  constitution,  pro- 
duces a  good  or  bad  result,  when  received  into  the  stomach  of  the  patient.  I 
am  not  aware  that  we  have  any  reliable  information  as  to  the  medicinal  effect 
of  kinovic  and  cincho-tannic  acids.  I  find  the  heart-wood  of  the  tree  to  be  rich 
in  kinovic  and  less  so  in  cincho-tannic  acids,  forming  together  rather  more  than 
two  per  cent,  of  the  weight  of  the  wood.  The  leaves  contain  a  large  quantity 
of  chlorophyll,  affording  an  alcoholic  solution  of  a  beautiful  dark  green  color, 
rich  purple  by  reflected  light. 
