A^A^gU,^'I8P79ar^,,}        Notes  on  Alstonia  Constrict  a.  405 
F.  v.  Muell.,  from  Queensland,  Australia,  called  by  the  colonists 
Fever  bark,  and  used  as  a  powerful  tonic  and  antiperiodic  instead  of 
quinine  ;  the  plant  is  described  in  Bentham's  "  Flora  Australiensis," 
vol.  iv,  316,  and  Mr.  Petit,  of  Paris,  found  an  alkaloid  in  the  bark. 
The  first  notice  of  the  drug  in  this  country  I  find  in  "  New  Reme- 
dies," October,  1878,  where  it  is  stated  that  Dr.  Cathcart  reports  that 
the  bitter  bark  of  Alstonia  constricta,  sometimes  called  native  quinine,  is 
in  common  use  by  the  shepherds  in  the  interior  of  Southern  Australia, 
on  account  of  its  antiperiodic  properties,  as  a  domestic  remedy  for 
malarial  fevers. 
In  Europe  it  seems  that  Mr.  Petit,  in  September,  1878,  first  makes 
mention  of  the  bark  in  announcing  at  a  meeting  before  the  Societe  de 
Pharmacie  the  receipt  of  Australian  fever  bark  (from  Alstonia  con- 
stricta), and  the  obtaining  of  an  alcoholic  extract  from  it  which  is  pre- 
cipitated by  all  alkaloid  reagents.1  The  "  Chemical  News  "  of  last 
November  contains  an  account  of  the  investigations  of  Fred.  v. 
Mueller,  resulting  in  the  discovery  of  alstonin,  which  is  also  found  in 
Mueller- Wittstein's  "  Constituents  of  Plants,"  above  referred  to.  In 
the  May  number  of  the  "  Eclectic  Medical  Journal,"  of  Cincinnati, 
Prof.  Scudder  for  the  first  time  records  the  effects  resulting  from  the 
administration  of  the  drug,  his  experiments  tending  forcibly  to  confirm 
its  reputed  antiperiodic  properties.  In  the  following  (June)  number  of 
the  same  journal  the  editor  introduces  the  drug  as  the  bark  of  Alstonia 
constricta,  citing  the  testimony  of  several  physicians  who,  on  a  care- 
ful trial  of  it  in  fever  and  ague  and  intermittent  fever,  report  the  most 
satisfactory  and  encouraging  results.  To  these  evidences  of  the  value 
of  the  remedy  must  be  added  the  reports  received  by  Messrs.  Merrell, 
Thorp  &  Lloyd  from  the  practitioners  to  whom  they  had  sent  samples 
of  the  powdered  bark  with  the  request  to  give  it  a  trial,  all  uniting  in 
its  praise  as  an  antiperiodic  and  febrifuge  equal  to  quinine. 
Description. — Alstonia. — Fever  bark,  Bitter  bark  of  Australia. 
The  bark  of  Alstonia  constricta,  F.  v.  Mueller,  Bentham's  "  Flora 
Australiensis,"  vol.  iv,  316. 
Nat.  Ord.,  Apocynaceae. 
Australian  fever  bark  comes  from  a  tall  shrub  or  tree,  sometimes 
.attaining  a  height  of  40  feet,  with  glabrous,  long,  petiolate  leaves,  vary- 
1  "  New  Remed.,"  Nov.,  1878,  p.  337. 
