3S 
NATURAL HISTORY OF THE CINCHONAS. 
avoirdupoise ;) but the weight is sometimes much less than 
this. From these details it will be seen how erroneous the 
notions of some persons still are with reference to the col- 
lection of cinchona bark ; many having thought that it con- 
tinues under special surveillance as it was formerly repre- 
sented to be ; and others that the cinchona-trees are culti- 
vated in enclosed parks and treated as the cork trees of our 
country. It must be acknowledged that the mode of col- 
lecting this valuable product appears to be always under 
the control of the half-savages by whom it is performed ; 
and if efficient means be not discovered of counteracting the 
ruinous and wasteful method adopted, our descendants will 
inevitably have to regret the entire or at least partial ex- 
tinction of the different varieties of cinchona. 
The opinion of those who calculate upon the forests being 
restocked from seeds, and from suckers thrown out from the 
stumps of the fallen trees, is more nearly in accordance with 
truth; but, as will be seen, even this source of renewed sup- 
ply can only be depended upon to a certain extent. Too 
often the suckers, recklessly cut down, perish with the trunks 
to which they are attached ; and the young trees, which very 
slowly attain to a certain degree of developement, fall in 
their turn beneath the hatchet, never again to appear. The 
same may also be said of the seeds. A supervision and 
control exercised over the cutters by means of inspectors, 
would, to a certain extent, check this vandalism, but, un- 
fortunately, could not practically be carried into operation. 
The inspection of the woods in our country is a very different 
thing from inspectinga forest in the New World, especially if 
this forest cover 20,000 square miles. 
In fact, it appears to me that there are but two methods 
which could be adopted for preventing the rapid destruction 
of the cinchona trees. One is to limit the exportation to a 
quantity proportionate to the sustainable produce of the 
forest; the other, that of making the trees objects of regular 
cultivation. To limit the exportation would certainly be 
