Travels in Peru and India: While Superintending the Collection of Chinchona Plants and Seeds in South America, and Their Introduction into India.Markham, Clements R. (Clements Robert), Sir
History
Travels in Peru and India: While Superintending the Collection of Chinchona Plants and Seeds in South America, and Their Introduction into India.
Markham, Clements R. (Clements Robert), Sir
Cinchona; India -- Description and travel; Peru -- Description and travel
in the roots, of which 1.8 was
quinine, and 1-1/4 per cent. in the trunk-bark, in which there was only
the minutest trace of quinine. Thus, while the quantity of quinine
decreased or remained stationary in the roots, the trunk-bark was still
destitute of that precious alkaloid.
It is possible that Dr. de Vry, in his earnest desire to discover
quinine in a species upon which so much labour and anxiety, and such
vast sums of money, had been expended, may have been deceived by
appearances. Both from the form of the capsules, the absence of quinine
in the upper bark, and the locality whence it was procured, there is
every reason to fear that the _C. Pahudiana_ is a worthless kind; and
the bark of this species, which has been sent to the Exhibition of
1862, is so evidently valueless that no dealer would buy it. In all
valuable species there is a good percentage of alkaloids in the upper
bark, and a very much smaller proportion, which, too, is amorphous
and of little commercial value, in the bark of the roots. This law of
nature, the existence of which is proved by all experience, would have
to be reversed in order to enable the Dutch to extract large supplies
of quinine from the roots of a species, such as _C. Pahudiana_, which
contains none in the upper bark.
It is much to be regretted that the scientific men in Java, instead
of exerting all their skill and talent in the work of cultivating _C.
Calisaya_ and _C. lancifolia_, of the value of which there is no doubt,
should have filled the forests of Java with a kind which from the first
was known to be of very doubtful value, was unknown in commerce, and
the cultivation of which will, it is to be feared, only end in loss and
disappointment.
The valuable species were found to be much more tender, and more
sensitive to external unfavourable influences, than the _C. Pahudiana_;
the latter was therefore propagated rapidly, and unwisely allowed to
outstrip the other kinds in the race, and the consequence has been that
it has gained an immense preponderance. Thus, so far as valuable species
of chinchona-plants are concerned, the Dutch experiment in Java has
been attended by a very small measure of success. After three years
the Dutch gardeners only had forty plants of valuable species in
Java, and after six years they had only increased their stock to seven
thousand plants. It will presently be seen that far greater results
were attained in India within eighteen months of the first introduction
of the chinchona-plants.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account