Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1886-10-09
OUININE FORESTS.
How the Cinchona Bark is Procured i'm
the State Of Condenamarca.

How the Cinchona Bark is Procured i'm
the State of Condenamarca.
Chicago Times: In describing the
q~uininc forests of the Andes, the Ger
man traveller, Fritz Braunhoff, says.
The little town of La Paz is situated in
the state of Condenamarca, 10, 900 feet
above the level Of the sea. Ten years
ago it was hardly known by name,
while to-day it is to the manufacturer
and merchant of q~uinine the most i'm
portant point on the globe. Although
but a small village which canno even
boast of Il hotel. there is more life and
traffic going on than in many large
cities. The days are exceedingly hot
while the nights are r~efreshingly cool.
Although American, German, English
and French agents have had busined
transactions here for years, there IS
little social life among them; they seem
to mistrust each other, there being u
painful mysteriousncss in their bust
ness intercourse; but rs the heavy tran
s~actions take place mostly in forests
and mountains, social intercourse in
the town seems not to be
required. Upon our arrival at La
Paz, we engaged a small
dwelling for three months;
twenty wood-choppers were hired for
the same period, and, provided with
the necessary provisions, we struck out
for the mountains. The chief remained
in town to direct the packing and ex-
port of the cinchona bark. The bark
is sent to La Paz either in small rolls
stripped from the twigs or larger
branches, or in flat or thick slabs from
the trunk and main roots of the trees.
1t Is graded into four qualities: First
the brown or gray, also called the p
ruvian bark; second, the yellow or Il
liyia bark; third, the red bark. and
fourth, the imitation, or .'quininova."
The price of the bark is regulated ac-
cording to the amount of alkaloid and
other medicinal Ingredients it contains.
The most valuable is the ~cinchona-flova
and observation-disclosures, which contains
most Of the alkaloid. This latter is the
only tree of the cinchona family which
grows in the vicinity of La Paz, and is
found at a height of from thirtv-three
hundred to eleven thousand six hun
dred feet above the level of the sea. As
the product differs in strength, chem
lists are employed to determine and
classify lis value accordingly.
The hills and mountains are covered
with dense forests of these ever green
trees, but their destruction is so rapid
that the government of Condcnamarca
had recently 10 pass a law prohibiting
the young trees from being slaughtered
together with the rest. As soon as a
certain amount of bark has been Sc
cured it is dried on the spot, and its
quantity of q|uininc examined, and if
the result is satisfactory the telling of
trees is proceeded with. While half
the men are thus occupied the other
half peel Off the bark. and every
evening the produce of The day is
loaded upon mules and sent 10 LII
Paz, where it is pulyerized, scwed into
hides or bags. and immediately trans
ported to the cities on the coast.
The s%oiourn in these forests, with a
damp atmosphere and the absence of
fresh water, is exceedingly unhealthy.
When it is considered that thousands
Of hands are continually busy in fell
ing these trees, an idea can be
formed of the enormous consumption
Of q%Uinine. However, it will O be
many years before the cinchona forests
of the Andes will be among the things
of the past, The Dutch have of late
years cultivated the quinine tree in the
East Indies and especially in Java,
with surprising results; here the trees
are not destroyed, but only partially
deprived of their bark, SO that in the
course Of years the bark is renewed
and ready for another crop.