The mountain Democrat., 1863-11-28
@ U IN 1 n e j..

mon remittent fever at Babylon, and Oil
yer Cromwell was carried off by ague.-
A few doses Of quinine would doubtless
have saved their lives and might have
materially influenced the course Of histo.
ry. But when the great Macedonian ex
pired, the medical virtues Of the Peru
Vian bark produced by the Cinchona
tree were unknown outside OF their ma
tive forests, and when our Lord Protector
brcathed his last, they were just begin
ming TO be known in London. Since
then the value of quinine has been gene.
rally appreciated, and who shall say how
many valuable lives are daily saved by
its administration In low, marShy sit
uationS, where ague prevails, and in the
tropics, it has been indispensable. All
the pluck, enterprise and devotion of
modern explorers would, in many in.
stances, have been completely neutralized
by deadly climates, if it had not Leen for
abundant supplies Of this medicine; and,
aided by the same salient agent, Euro
peans have been enabled to plant happy
homes in districts which, without this
powerful aid. would have been simply
their burial places.
About 100000 pounds Of Peruvian
bark arc imported annually into England
alone, and the yearly demand for this
drug made upon the South American
Cinchona forests, including those of New
Grenada, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, is
probably not below 800, 0,000,0 pounds.
Even if this quantity were collected with
due regard to the lives of the trees pro-
ducing it-which is not the caSe-the
drain would be enormous; but when we
consider that the Cinchonas do not form
entire forests by themselves, but grow
isolated amongst other trecs-that the
most reckless system has been and is
pursued in gathering their product, and
that this pernicious system has been fol-
lowed for several centuries, we cannot
wonder that whole regions, formerly
abounding in bark, are now stripped oft
The present high prices Of bark have in
duced the natives to search the rcnotest
parts. Wilds never before trodden by
civilized man have been visited; and
many poor Cascarilero, or bark collector,
losing his way, has laid down his life in
search Of that medicine which was to
save the lives of others.
Such, however, is the recklcssness pur.
sued in collecting bark, and the never
ccaSing but daily increasing demand for
it, that even the remotest quinine-yicld.
ing forest will be exhausted, and the
most valuable kinds become as extinct as
the Mons Of New Zealand, or the Dodo of
MauritiuS. How great will be the dis
trc>S when the supply at length fails
when poor, fever.stricken patients have
to sigh in vain for the sovereign remedy,
and the physicians shall he unable to find
suitable substitute Even at the time
of the Spanish dominion over South
America, men like Joseph de Jessicu, the
Ulloas, Ruez, Savon and Humboldt, urged
the imperative necessity of the Govern
inent taking the Cinchona forests under
its protection; but nothing was done
when the revolution deprived the crown
of CASTLE and Leon of It's finest jewels
The Republican Government was too
reckless and too weak to enforce any laws
by which forests of not only national but
cosmopolitan Importance might be pro-
tected. Meanwhile the danger of seeing
ttem exhausted has approached our very
door in some of our colonies.
Quinine is now equal in value to gold.
Ere long it will be so high in price that
only the wealthy will be able to buy it;
and large armies will have to go without
it, when. at the present time, no less
than LILO, 900 are spent annually to sup
ply British India alone. Mr.. Spruce just
ly said, that whatever plant is needlul TO
man must ultimately be cultivated by
him. Nature may yield, for a long Sc
rleS Of years, unfailing crops bat, unless
aided by artificial means, they will ulti-
matcly fail. Convinced of this truism,
the cultivation Of Cinchona trees in Eu.
rope, and in the East and West Indies,
was advocated by German, Dutch and
English men Of science years ago but
for a long time their memoirs and wri-
tlngs were ignored by men in office, until
Mt last, in 1852. the Dutch Government
led the way hv introducing the bark trees
into Java. Unfortunately, the Dutch got
hold ot quite worthless species (Cincho
ma Pahulinna) and dill not succeed in
propagating the better kinds aud As the
whole cultivation was necessary as nm cX.
pertinent, they met with many di$ap-
pointncnt>, and incurred great expenses.
Nevertheless, the partial success was so
encouraging, and the urgency Of the case
so great, that in 1859 the Secretary Of
State for India charged Mr.. Clement r.
Markham with experimenting the intro.
duction Of quninc yielding trees into our
Indian possessions. MeSSrs. Spruce and
Pritchett, the agents Mr.. Markham en-.
p!oycd in other districts, and presents Of
living plants from the Dutch Government,
have enabled the author to establish flour.
iShing plantations In the NcilShrrry Hills,
DaJrcllng and Ceylon; and in all human
probability, we may confidently look for.
ward to good supply Of quinine and
cinchona at the very time when III" South
American forests are approaching cxter-
mination.- [EngliSh paper.
A LIEUTENANT whom Col. Serrel order.
ed into the marsh where General Gilmore