'the tree, Quina-quina, “bark of bark," indicates that it was 'believed to possess special medicinal properties.' To what extent this knowledge may have prevailed it is impossible to say, and the discussion would be unprofitable; but the important fact of its introduction into Europe, its gradual appreciation by the physicians of that portion of the globe, and its consequent distribution over the whole civilised world, proving as it has done, one of the greatest boons ever bestowed upon man, deserve a more particular notice.

The name of Ana, Countess of Chinchon, is immortalised by its having been applied by the great author of systematic botany to this priceless genus of plants. This lady, the wife of the Count of Chinchon the Viceroy of Peru, was in 1638 attacked with fever at Lima. The corregidor of 'Loxa, Don Juan Lopez de Canizares, sent a parcel of powdered quinquina bark to her physician, Juan de Vega, assuring him 'that it was a sovereign and never-failing remedy for" tertiana." It was administered to the Countess and effected a complete 'cure.' Returning to Spain with her husband in 1640, and bringing with her a quantity of the healing.bark, she was thus the first person to introduce this invaluable medicine into Europe. In memory of this great service Linnæus named the genus which yielded the remedy Cinchona; omitting the h from the first syllable, which, however, is now by common consent restored.

The districts where the trees grew which yielded the bark were for a long time comparatively little known to European geographers, and still less were botanists acquainted with the various species of Chinchona from which the new drug was procured. It was, however, a matter of urgent interest that a more accurate knowledge should be obtained of all the circumstances connected with a material of such growing importance. The attention of men of science no less than of commercial men was directed to these objects, and the botanists attached to various expeditions were charged with the duty of ascertaining the localities, characters, and properties of the different varieties of the now famous Peruvian bark.' The French expedition of 1735, the primary object of which was, however, rather geodetic than either botanical or commercial, possesses a double interest, inasmuch as to it we owe the first description of the 'quinquina' tree, and that the first attempt to transport plants of it to Europe was made by De la Condamine, who was a member of the expedition. In this attempt he failed, as the box of young plants which he had secured was unfortunately washed overboard, after he had preserved them for eight months.

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It was Condamine, too, who first described the Chinchona tree of Loxa in the Mémoires de l'Académie.' This expedition possesses a sad interest also with regard to the fate of Joseph de Jussieu; a family name immortalised by the distinguished scientific labours of three successive generations. After fifteen years of laborious work, he was robbed of his large collection of plants by a servant at Buenos Ayres, who believed that the boxes contained money. This loss had a disastrous effect ' on poor Jussieu, who, in 1771, returned to France deprived of reason after an absence of thirty-six years.'

It is unnecessary to follow the gradual steps by which the prejudices, which for some time interfered with the general adoption of the medicine, were overcome, and its great importance ultimately recognised. The interest which it has ever since excited, and the value universally attached to it, cannot be more strikingly shown than by the number of distinct treatises of which these products have formed the subject. Van Bergen, in his valuable Monographie, gives a catalogue of these works, amounting to 637 publications, and occupying 72 pages in his book. In 1777, the well-known botanical expedition under MM. Ruiz and Pavon, was sent to Peru by the Spanish Government. The scientific results of this important expedition were embodied in the Flora Peruviana et Chilensis' of Ruiz and Pavon, published at Madrid in 1798-1802, in the Quino'logia' of Ruiz in 1792, and in the supplement to that work by the two colleagues conjointly in 1801. Dr. Weddell's great work, Histoire Naturelle des Quinquinas,' was published in 1849, and contains a series of plates figuring the different species, and consisting of perhaps the most beautiful and effective outline engraving ever devoted to botanical illustration.*

In Mr. Howard's recently published Nueva quinologia' of Pavon, no fewer than thirty-nine species of Chinchona are enumerated and named, of which, however, several are, in all probability, varieties only produced by climate, situation, and other ordinary causes of vegetable variation. No person living is more competent than Mr. Howard at once to produce a critical botanical exposition of the genus, and to estimate the comparative therapeutic value of each species. The illustra

* The inferiority of our English engravers in this peculiar department of illustrative art cannot be denied. The character which is given to every leaf and flower by the perfect accuracy of the drawing, and by the tasteful and effective introduction of the dark line, by several of the German and French engravers, is, with perhaps one exception, scarcely attained by any of our own artists.

tions, too, are from the masterly pencil of Mr. Fitch, which is tantamount to saying that they are unequalled excepting by some of his own productions.

Modern chemistry, by the discovery of the vegetable alkaloids in which the virtues of many of the most important medicinal plants are found to reside, has rendered the administration of such remedies at once more certain and more easy; and in the case of the present article of the Materia Medica, every other means of its administration has almost entirely given place to this modification of its essential remedial elements. It is now ascertained that no fewer than four distinct alkaloids, having more or less similar qualities, exist in different proportions in the species of Chinchona. The final discovery of quinine is due to the French chemists Pelletier and Gaventon, in 1820. They considered that a vegetable alkaloid, analogous to morphine and strychnine, existed in quinquina bark; and they afterwards discovered that the febrifugal principle was seated in two alkaloids, separate or together, in the different kinds ' of bark, called quinine and chinchonine, with the same virtues, which, however, were more powerful in quinine.'* Two other alkaloids were discovered in 1852 by M. Pasteur, named quinidine and chinchonidine; these are found principally in the barks of New Granada, and the latter is considered as second only to quinine in its medicinal virtues.

The obvious importance of keeping up the supply of so precious a material appears to have been long lost sight of, and the most reckless extravagance, and an utter disregard of future requirements, characterised the conduct of the bark collectors. The Government of Spain made but few and unsatisfactory efforts to supply by cultivation the waste which was daily increasing, and the total destruction of the trees appeared imminent. The testimony of Dr. Weddell shows that in many cases it was the custom to bark the trees while they were standing, which, of course, ensured their death; or if they were felled, the collectors took the bark from that side of the tree only which was uppermost, to save themselves the trouble of turning over the trunk. No extent of country on which the

* Some discussion has recently taken place respecting the comparative merits of these two alkaloids. Dr. Daniel of Jamaica states that his experience in the treatment of febrile diseases in Western Africa was unfavourable to chinchonine, as producing cerebral disturbances. Dr. Macpherson of Calcutta, and Mr. Howard, have both come to a contrary conclusion, but consider it as about one-third less powerful than quinine. (Pharm. Journ., vol. iv. p. 561.)

trees grew could suffice to counterbalance such wanton improvidence as this, and yet the Spanish Government, and subsequently the revolutionary Governments, appear to have been equally careless of the future.

The attempt of Condamine, in connexion with the French expedition of 1739, and subsequent explorations by whomsoever undertaken, had for their object rather to acquire a knowledge of the different species of Chinchona and their relative value, and to ascertain their geographical distribution, than to procure their transportation to other places of growth. The mission of Dr. Weddell, under the orders of the French Government, commenced during the reign of Louis-Philippe, was by far the most important expedition undertaken before that of Mr. Markham. Dr. Weddell, whose scientific knowledge perfectly qualified him for the task, made two voyages to South America with the primary object of obtaining information respecting the Chinchona trees, and he thoroughly investigated the districts in which they grew, both in Southern Peru and Bolivia. His great work before alluded to contains the results of these investigations, and, together with his subsequent account of his travels, affords a vast amount of information both scientific and practical. He also brought seeds of one of the most important species, C. Calisaya, to Paris, from which plants were raised in the Jardin des Plantes, in 1848. Many of these were distributed, and some were sent by the Dutch Government to Java. Nothing further appears to have been attempted by the Government of France; and the Dutch, who possess in the island of Java a range of forest-covered mountains admirably adapted for Chinchona cultivation, were the first to take active steps for its introduction into the Eastern hemisphere. Praiseworthy as were these early attempts, they were, however, from various causes, followed by very limited success. The plants collected for transportation proved, with few exceptions, to belong to almost worthless species; and of those which were of the better sorts, many perished for want of due care and of a sufficient practical knowledge of the proper mode of cultivation.*

* It does not appear to us that this statement is materially impugned by the fact, as stated by Dr. de Vry, that the Dutch Government, at the instance of the late Lord Canning, presented the Indian Government with a supply of 106 Calisaya plants grown from Java seeds, before our own success had rendered us wholly independent of extrinsic assistance; since, up to the end of the year 1860, after six years' cultivation, the number of plants of that valuable species in Java amounted to only 7,300, whilst those of comparatively

Without dwelling upon the difficulties and comparative failure of the Dutch proceedings, it is more interesting now to trace our own more successful career in this important undertaking. The credit of the first suggestion of the transplantation of Chinchona trees into our own dependencies is due to Dr. Royle, whose acute and sagacious mind had thoroughly appreciated the importance of such a measure, and whose residence in India had convinced him of its practicability. In 1839 Dr. Royle, in his Illustrations of Himalayan Botany,' recommended the introduction of Chinchona plants into India, pointing out the Neilgherry and Silhet Hills as suitable sites for the experiment. One urgent appeal after another was made to the Government, without, however, receiving the attention which the subject deserved, or producing any practical results.

'The proposal,' says Mr. Markham, 'to introduce the Chinchona plants into India was first made officially in a dispatch from the Governor-General dated March 27, 1852. It was referred to the late Dr. Royle, as reporter on Indian products to the East India Company, who drew up an able memorandum on the subject, dated June, 1852: "To the Indian Government," he said, "the home "supply of a drug which already cost 7,000l. a year would be advantageous in an economical point of view, and invaluable as "affording means of employing a drug which is indispensable in the "treatment of Indian fevers. I have no hesitation in saying that, "after the Chinese teas, no more important plant could be introduced "into India." The only result of this application from India was, that the Foreign Office was requested to obtain a supply of plants and seeds from the consuls in South America.' (Markham, p. 62.)

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The excuses and indifference of some of these gentlemen, and the total failure of success in the only case of a meritorious concurrence on the part of Mr. Cope the consulgeneral at Quito, who transmitted plants and seeds to England -the loss of some plants and seeds transmitted by Dr. Weddell, and of others again procured through Mr. Pentland, did not deter Dr. Royle from making further efforts. In May, 1853, he drew up a second long and valuable but fruitless report upon the subject;' and in March, 1856, he

worthless species are almost to be reckoned by millions. The discussion of this subject does not come within the scope of our object in this review, and we must refer to the statements of Mr. Markham (Travels, p. 47.), and to Dr. de Vry's communication and Mr. Markham's reply in the Pharmaceutical Journal, vol. iv. p. 439.

* So great was the subsequent increase in the demand for bark and quinine in India, that in the year 1857-8, upon a moderate computation, the expenditure amounted to about 54,500l.

VOL. CXVIII. NO. CCXLII.

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