Chinchona

“ Junghuhn now directs all the trees in the vicinity of the chinchona-plants to be cut down, though faith is still maintained in the quinine-yielding roots of the worthless C. Pahudiana. [509]
If the thing was not sufficiently evident in itself, the appearance of the barks sent from Java to the Exhibition of 1862 is quite enough to prove that chinchona-plants ought not to be cultivated under the shade of forest-trees. The question of the proper amount of exposure to which each [Pg 493] species should be subjected is, however, one which requires very careful consideration ”

“ Most of the Chinchonae, when growing in good soil, and under favourable circumstances, become large forest-trees. When crowded, they frequently run up to a great height without a branch; while at the upper limit of their zone, they become mere shrubs.
There are numerous species of chinchona, producing bark of greatly different values. There are upwards of nineteen different species of the true Chinchonae, and upwards of seventy once received as such, though now considered of no commercial value. ”

“ The species of chinchona, known as the "red-bark" tree, yields a larger per-centage of febrifugal alkaloid than any other, and must therefore be considered as the most important. [367] Its native forests are on the western slopes of the famous mountain of Chimborazo, in the Republic of Ecuador, and for a great many years it has not been found beyond 2° 36 ́ S. lat., but Mr. Spruce thinks it probable that in former times the tree grew all along the roots of the Andes of Cuenca and Loxa to the limits of the Peruvian desert [Pg 314] in 5° S. To the north it scarcely passes the latitude of 1° S. ”

“ By cultivating the chinchona-plants on these principles, forming plantations in cleared open ground, giving the plants plenty of light and air, and obtaining annual harvests of quill-bark from the shrubs, quinine-yielding chinchona-bark will become an article of commerce within eight years from the first introduction of the plants into India. After the first harvest the supply will rapidly increase. ”

“ There are several profitable coffee plantations in Nuggur, and I understand that it is in contemplation to establish a teak plantation in that district. Though, as a locality for chinchona cultivation, it is not to be compared with the Neilgherries or Pulneys, or even with Coorg, still it is probable that some of the hardier species might thrive there, and thus the area of the chinchona-plants would be eventually extended from Nuggur, in 14° N., to the hills near Courtallum, in the extreme end of the peninsula. ”

“ Here there were some fine plants of the chinchona named by Dr. Weddell C. Caravayensis; and further on more plants of C. Josephiana, called ychu cascarilla by the natives. The height of this spot is 5420 feet above the sea. A tree-fern and many Trichomanes were growing with the chinchonæ. Paccay-samana is sixteen miles from Sandia.
Animal life did not appear to be very abundant. ”

“ It is evident that Peradenia is far too low and hot for chinchona cultivation. The C. succirubra, and some other species, would probably grow to fine large trees there, but the bark would be very thin, and would yield little or no febrifugal alkaloids. But there are many other localities in Ceylon admirably suited, from their elevation and climate, for this cultivation, and sites may be selected, well adapted to the different species, from 5000 feet to Pedrotallagalle, which is 8280 feet above the sea. ”

“ In a commercial point of view the introduction of chinchona-plants into India is likely to prove very beneficial, by adding another valuable article of export to the numerous products of that favoured land; but an equal if not a greater result will be derived from this important measure, in the naturalisation of these healing plants in a country the inhabitants of which suffer so severely and constantly from intermittent and other fevers. ”

“ It was found that the chinchonæ are remarkably impatient of any damp at their roots, all the species thrive better in rough and open than in fine soil, and there is reason to believe that they will bear a much drier climate than we originally supposed.
During the autumn of 1861 the work of propagation, by means of cuttings and layers, progressed rapidly; and, whereas in June 1861 we only had 2114 chinchona-plants of valuable species at Ootacamund, in January the number was increased to 9732 plants. ”

“ Employed as a substitute for Chinchona bark this extract has been found to be a most valuable remedial agent in common and tertian agues, checking the fever in three days. The skin is invariably moist during its action. The plant is a small stiff shrub with twiggy, pale-barked branches armed with conical tripartite spines, and bearing clusters of small obovate-lanceolate leaves, either entire or with spiny teeth along the edges. ”

“ A few rows of chinchona-plants ought to be established in the loftiest part of each coffee-clearing; and every settler should plant them, and encourage the cultivation among the natives, from motives of humanity, as well as with a view to successful commercial speculation. ”

“ The three valuable species of chinchonæ found in Tambopata grow in distinct zones as regards elevation, together with other chinchonaceous plants, up the declivitous sides of the ravine.
From the banks of the river to about 400 feet up the mountains, the forest consists of bamboos, several genera of palms, tree-ferns, paccays, and other Leguminosæ, Lasionemas, Cascarilla Caruas, and the Chinchona micrantha, together with the chinchonaceous tree called by Martinez Huiñapu. This is the lower zone. ”

“ But I have no apprehension that such will be the result of the cultivation of these plants in other parts of the world. The demand for quinine will always be in excess of the supply from South America; and the result of chinchona cultivation in India and Java will have the effect of lowering the price, and bringing this inestimable febrifuge within the reach of a vast number of people who are now excluded from its use, without in any way injuring the trade of Peru and Ecuador. ”

“ In time to come the lives of men of equal importance to their generation may be saved by its use, while the blessings which it will confer on the great mass of [Pg 520] mankind, and especially on the inhabitants of tropical countries, are incalculable. The introduction of chinchona-plants into our Eastern possessions will be the most effective measure which could have been adopted to ensure a permanent and abundant supply of febrifugal bark ”

“ He talked about M. Hasskarl, the Dutch agent, who was employed to obtain chinchona-plants in 1854, under his assumed name of Müller; said that he employed an agent named Clemente Henriquez to collect the plants; and vowed that if he, or any one else, ever again attempted to take cascarilla (chinchona) plants out of the country, he would stir up the people to seize them and cut their feet off. ”

“ There is another region in our Eastern dominions where suitable localities may be found for the cultivation of chinchona-plants, but it is as yet too little explored, and the difficulties of obtaining supplies, labour, and transport would be too great at present to allow of the possibility of forming plantations for some years to come. ”

“ Then again the supplies of bark from South America are not nearly sufficient to meet the demand, and the price is kept so high as to place this inestimable remedy beyond the means of millions of natives of fever-visited regions. For these reasons the incalculable importance of introducing the chinchona-plant into other countries adapted for its growth, and thus escaping from entire dependence on the South American forests, has long occupied the attention of scientific men in Europe. ”

“ They are generally of a deep roseate colour, paler near the stalk, and dark crimson within the tube, with white curly hairs bordering the laciniae of the corolla. The colour of one species is entirely white. They send forth a delicious fragrance, which scents the air in their neighbourhood.
The region round the little town of Loxa, on the southern frontier of Ecuador, is the original home of the chinchona. In its sheltered ravines and dense forests were found those precious trees which first made known to the world the healing virtues of Peruvian bark. ”

“ A great part of this lively island is covered with forest, but much of it is really a garden. There are splendid trees, and the teak is famous. Rice, coffee, chinchona, all sorts of fruit—in fact, everything grows. Two hundred and forty species of birds are known, of which forty are peculiar to Java: there are wild peacock, jungle fowl, pigeon, quail, and tigers, leopards, rhinoceroses, wild dogs, and wild pigs; monkeys, wild oxen, and deer add to its attractions, to say nothing of the durian, which does not allow itself to be overlooked. ”

“ We were rewarded by a very successful day's work. After ascending the steep ravine, through the zone of bamboos, to a height of 400 feet, we reached a ridge of rocks, where we collected 109 good chinchona-plants of the Calisaya morada species. The leaves of the chinchonæ, and more [Pg 264] especially the Calisaya species, are invariably perforated by holes in every direction. ”

“ The danger, therefore, is not in the actual annihilation of the chinchona-trees in South America, but lest, with the increasing demand, there should be long intervals of time during which the supply would cease, owing to the forests being exhausted, and requiring periods of rest. In many districts this is already the case. The bark which comes from Loxa is in the minutest quills, and in the forests of Caravaya, after an interval of rest of several years, the root-shoots had scarcely grown to a sufficient size to yield anything but quill bark. ”

“ The flora of the Khassya hills bears a greater resemblance to that of the hills in Southern India than to the Sikkim and Bhotan types. Genera and species forming masses of shrubby vegetation are identical with those of the Neilgherry sholas. It is probable that chinchona-plantations, especially of C. succirubra, might hereafter be formed advantageously on the northern slopes of the Khassyas, but it is evident that the best chances of success for the species growing at great altitudes, in South America, are offered in the Himalayan districts of Sikkim and Bhotan. ”

“ Many of the natives are already fully aware of the febrifugal virtues of Peruvian bark, and it is to be hoped that, in all the hill-districts where there is a suitable elevation and climate, they will grow chinchona-trees in their gardens, just as is now generally done with coffee in all the villages in Coorg. For the use of the natives there will be no necessity to go to the expense and trouble of extracting the alkaloids, as the green fresh bark is itself very efficacious. ”

“ In the more distant forests, however, they have to undergo great danger in the work. Sometimes they have been known to lose themselves in the forest and having exhausted their provisions, have died of hunger. They are compelled also to carry the load of bark on their own backs, and occasionally a man breaks down under the weight and can proceed no further, when, if he is separated from his companions, he has little hope of escaping with life. There are, besides the species I have mentioned, a vast number of chinchona, though the bark of some yields little or none of the valuable drug. ”

“ Yet, so great are the difficulties of this most important undertaking, that, in spite of the comparative failure in Java, the highest praise and admiration are due both to M. Hasskarl and to his successors. They have devoted great ability, no ordinary amount of scientific knowledge, and untiring perseverance to this good work; and, now that they have received plants of other really valuable species from India, there is a prospect that the chinchona cultivation in Java may eventually attain such a measure of success as will entitle Dr. Junghuhn and Dr. ”

“ At the same time they will, by this treatment, be far more efficiently protected from evaporation and radiation than they would be by the use of living shade, whether caused by forest-trees or by the admixture of faster-growing plants. In addition to this shade of the branches of cut bamboos, the soil around the roots of some of the young Chinchona-plants was covered one or two inches in thickness with half-decayed leaves, and the plants thus treated show a very great luxuriance, which is not exceeded by any of the plants in our propagating-houses. ”