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BARK OP ADANSONIA DIGITATA. 
ART. LXXI.— THE BARK OF THE ADANSONIA DIGITATA, OR 
BAOBAB TREE, a'sUBSTITUTE FOR CINCHONA BARK. 
V,,,, By Dr. Duchassaing. 
Attempts have been made at different periods to find 
substitutes for the cinchona barks and the alkaloids obtained 
from them, as the use of these substances in medicine is 
not unattended with inconvenience. Among the incon- 
veniences which apply to the use of the cinchonas, are, the 
bitter taste of their active principles, and the scarcity and 
consequent high price of the barks ; moreover, when ad- 
ministered in large doses, their anti-periodic effects are often 
accompanied by considerable derangement of the system. 
Dr. Duchassaing, in a paper published in the Journal de 
Pharmacie for June, has directed attention to the bark of 
the Mamonia digit at a, or Baobab tree, as a valuable 
remedy for fevers, and capable of replacing the cinchonas. 
This tree is a native of Senegal. It is placed by De 
Candolle in the natural order Bombacese. It is a tree of 
moderate elevation, but whose trunk is of vast thickness, 
having a diameter of twenty or thirty feet. The fruit called 
monkey\s bread, is acidulous, and is used by the natives in 
pulmonary affections, and as a common article of food. 
The bark, which is the part now recommended to be 
used medicinally, is mucilaginous, but has scarcely any taste 
or smell. 
Dr. Duchassaing recommends its administration in the 
form of decoction, made by boiling half an ounce of the 
bark in one pint of water, until reduced to two-thirds. 
This decoction is transparent, of a reddish colour, and has a 
smell slightly resembling that of decoction of cinchona bark. 
It contains a large quantity of mucilage, and has but little 
