MATIAS  BARK. 
215 
la  reference  to  the  bark  sent  by  Mr.  Hanbury  as  "  the  Winter's  bark  of 
English  commerce,"  and  which  he  says  is  not  true  Winter's  bark,  though 
so  regarded  by  many  writers  on  Materia  Medica,  we  may  remark,  that 
it  is  identical  in  structure,  color,  taste  and  chemical  characteristics  with  a 
bark  in  the  cabinet  of  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy,  which  was 
presented  more  than  twenty  years  ago  to  that  institution  by  M.  Guibourt, 
of  Paris,  as  true  winter's  bark,  yet  unlike  the  winter's  bark  examined  by 
M.  Henry,  it  contains  neither  tannin  nor  sesqui-oxide  of  iron,  and  for  this 
reason  Professor  Thomas  was  led  to  doubt  its  genuineness  several  years 
since.  This  bark  is  evidently  that  described  by  Dr.  Wood  in  the  U.  S. 
Dispensatory  as  the  product  of  Drimys  Winteri,  and  from  the  smoothness 
of  the  epidermis  and  a  slight  shade  of  green  in  the  exterior  is  probably 
derived  from  the  smooth  branches  of  the  tree. 
Along  with  the  above  sample  from  Mr.  Hanbury,  was  another  labelled 
"  Cortex  Winteranus  Mexicanus  (?Drimys  Winteri,  Forst.)"  This  bark 
has  a  rough  epidermis  with  longitudinal  fissures,  greyish-brown  in  some 
parts  and  dark  reddish  brown  in  spots,  about  two  lines  thick,  and  evidently 
occurs  in  large  rolled  pieces,  judging  from  the  fragment  sent  to  us.  Its 
internal  color  when  cut  transversely  is  reddish  brown,  with  spots  of  a  light 
grey  color.  When  a  smooth  section  is  examined  with  a  lens,  these  lighter 
spots  seem  to  be  a  resinous  deposit,  alternating  irregularly  in  the  cortical 
structure,  and  the  whole  bark  when  thus  closely  examined  has  a  resinous 
aspect.  To  the  taste  it  is  exceedingly  pungent  and  less  aromatic  than  the 
bark  last  noticed.  Its  pungency  is  so  intense  that  it  may  be  compared  to 
black  pepper.  It  contains  no  tannin,  but  when  macerated  in  distilled 
water  with  a  few  drops  of  pure  hydrochloric  acid,  the  liquid  yields  Prus- 
sian blue  on  the  addition  of  ferrocyanuret  of  potassium.  It  is  to  be  hoped 
that  Mr.  Hanbury,  who  has  access  to  authentic  specimens  of  the  true  bark 
of  Drimys  Winteri,  will  test  them  for  tannin  and  sesqui-oxide  of  iron,  and 
give  a  description  of  them  as  compared  with  the  published  accounts. 
AN  ESSAY  ON  MALAMBO  OK  MATIAS  BARK. 
Br  Frank  B.  Dancy. 
(An  Inaugural  Essay  presented  to  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy.) 
My  attention  was  first  called  to  this  bark  by  Professor  Thomas, 
a  specimen  having  been  presented  to  him  by  an  importer  of 
drugs  of  this  city,  who  declared  that  it  was  the  genuine  Winter's 
bark,  and  was  selling  it  as  such.  Professor  Thomas,  after  a  slight 
examination,  decided  that  it  was  not  the  Winter's  bark,  from  the 
circumstance  that  he  was  unable  to  detect  in  it  the  presence  of 
either  tannin  or  oxide  of  iron,  two  substances  stated  to  be  present, 
