The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1871-03-03
A Wonderful Natural Pharmacy.

Wonderful Natural Pharmacy.
People addicted to the luxury of fever
and ague, and Western districts devoted
to "measles matinees" or "chills sol
rees," will be pleased to hear that lac
cording to an article from the Bien Pub
leo, of Bogota, translated for the Panama
Star and Horald), there is in the United
States of Colombia a region little known
called San Martin. Among its vegeta-
BILE productions are to be found the
Peruvian bark trees, the essential salt Of
which, known as quinine, has become
even more indispensable to the old
world than the new.
The limits of this territory are on the
east of that part of the Orinoco com
pretended between the mouth of the
Meta to the north and that of Guariari
to the south; on the north by the Meta,
from its entrance into the Orinoco to
the mouth of the river Upla, and thence
up stream, as far as the limits of the
district of Gachala. On the west, by the
ridge of the Eastern Cordilleras to the
head-waters of the Rio Blanco, then
down current to the mouth of the Que
brado of SusumacO, then up toward the
head-waters in the Para1no of ChinzagO.
This territory has then on its east side
Venezuela; on the north the territory
of Casanare; on the south the immense
plains OF Caqueta, and on the west the
State of Cundinamarca. The waters of
the OrinocO bathe its eastern limits for
about fifty leagues. The Meta runs
through this territory for tho space Of
30 leagues.
The wooded highlands of the terri
tory are situated in the rich zone of the
DUMAS. The trees which produce this
valuable bark abound ON all the eastern
declivities of the Cordilleras, from the
head-waters Of the Guariari to those of
the Upla. This zone has in the terri
tory an extension Of forty leagues long
by five or six wSle. At les south
ern and northern extremities col
lections on Quina bark are made in
large quantities. Toward the south a
company called the Colombian Bark
Company and several individuals have
been extracting and exporting the bark
for some years past. The high prices it
brings in the markets of the United
States and Europe are proofs sufficient
of its good quality. The part of the
Cordilleras comprehended between the
Ariare and Rio Negro has not yet been
touched, although in San Martin and
Villavicencio it has the name of being
richer in DUMAS than other parts, be-
sides consisting entirely of unclaimed
lands. On the banks of the Ariare the
trees yielding caucho abound, rs we'll as
sarsaparilla and ipecacuanha on the
Vichada. The balsam of copaiba is col
lected by the Indians of Vichada in
large quantities, and embarked on the
Meta for Ciudad Bolivar.
A great many balsams and resins are
mentioned, with the innumerable varie-
| ty Of woods, palms and textile plants
This is easily conceivable. In fact, the
Orinoco has attracted much less atten-
ton than the Amazon. Since the voyage
Of Humboldt, when he visited the cave
of Ataruipe, which is the a" scpulcher OF
an extinct nation" our knowledge OF
the natural products of this region has
not been much extended. The demand
for quinine seems to increase in the
direct ratio Of the population Of civil
lied countries. Malaria and malarious
tevers of more or less intensity, we find
as well out of the tropics as in them
but the same cannot be said of the only
known substance which can bedepended
upon to neutralize its mysterious effects
on the human system. Such an extent
of Quina forests as the territory of San
Martin is said to possess is worth many
gold mines, and the country that owns
them may well be considered as priv.
legged by Providence.