The genus Cinchona numbers some twenty to thirty species besides numerous varieties and sub-varieties. Hahnemann could therefore have used the Cinchona bark in a rather crude form, taking a teaspoonful of the bark, often in a glass of claret, or in the form of galenicals. In whatever forms Hahnemann used the Cinchona bark, the quinine content is important for our purpose. Whether in the form of a galenical, or powder, the quinine content could have been only about three per cent. The two isolated active principles from Cinchona bark by Pelletier and Caventou were named quinine and cinchonine.
Death occurs after ingestion of eight grams of quinine.
Hahnemann took four drams of Cinchona in 1790. This represents fifteen grams of Peruvian bark in crude form. This means approximately 0.4 grams of quinine, which is equivalent to a single therapeutic dose. Maximum single dose is 0.5 gram, and maximum dose per day is 2 grams. Cinchonism is the term given to a group or symptoms, which usually occur when quinine is given repeatedly in full doses.