The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1889-02-27
CINCH0NA BARK
THE PRODUCT FROM WHICH
QUININE IS MADE.
How the Great Malaria Remedy Was
Discovered-Gathe the
Bark in the Forests
of Bolivia


nine is made, is found all along the
western slopes of the Andes, from the
Caribbean Sea to the Straits of Magellan.
The product of Teru and Bolivia is the
bes., and from those Republics, until re-.
Gently, the entire supply of the world
was brought, and an enormous quantity
it is, for the shipments to Europe alone
have frequently amounted to twenty
million pounds year. ..
The natives of Peru and Bolivia call
the cinchona tree the cascarllla. Al
though it is asserted by some of the Pc
ruvian antiquarians that its virtues were
known to the Incas before the Conquest,
the credit of the discovery has been
given to the Jesuits. History, however,
has failed to preserve the name OF the
padre to whom the discovery is due.
The bark was introduced into Europe
by the Countess of Cinchon, the wife of
one of the early viceroys Of Peru. who
was cured of fever by its use, and who
sent quantity as gift to Cardinal de
Lugo at Seville. The cardinal spread
the knowledge of its virtues through
Spain and France in the carly part OF
the seventeenth century, and gave the
remedy the name of the lady who
brought it to his notice. 1t WIS origin
ally known as Jesuit's bark, and even
now is frequently referred to as PERU
Wan bark. The process by which the
alkaloid-quinine-is extracted was
discovered by Pelletier, French
chemist, so late as 1920.
The tree is beautiful. It usually at
tains height of fifty or sixty feet when
full grown, and is four or five feet in cir.
cumfereuce at the base. The leaves are
large, oval-shsped, dark green on the
outside, light green on the under side,
and they glisten in the sun, when a
breeze stirs them, like the foliage of the
the silver popular. The flowers are small,
white and fragrant. The roots contain
the greatest degree of alkaloid, but are
difficult to obtain. Moreover, as the
life of the tree is destroyed when the
roots are disturbed, the trunk and
branches are depended on for the supply
of bark.
The cascarilleros, or bark-hunters, en-
ter the woods at the close Of the rainy
season, about the first of May, and re.
ma n until the last of September. They
are organized under the direction OF
superintendent, or Examinador de Cas-
carilla, who is licensed to pursue that
vocation.
Bark may be taken in the forests by
any one, but under law of the Bolivian
Congress all the bark must be sold to a
company which has monopoly of the
trade, and pays for it a heavy tax to the
Government.
1t was formerly the custom to fell the
tree, and strip all the bark from its roots,
trunk and branches, but in 1851 law
was passed to protect the forests, and
now the cascarlleros are allowed to re-
move only half the bark, whit b they 1T
in strips with long knives called ma
chetas, and in few years nature heals
the wounds, and replaces what has been
taken away.
The best quality of bark is that taken
from the new limbs, aud is called the
"tabla." This is worth, when dry, from
thirty to forty dollars o quntal of one
hundred and twenty-five pounds. The
second grade comes from the larger
branches, is called "char4ue," and is
worth fifteen or twenty dollars quintal :;
while the least valuable bark, that
stripped from the trunk, is called
''canulo, "and sells for five or ten dollars
a auintal. One mau can cut qulntal
of bark day if the trees are plenty, but
the cascarilleros are paid only small
wages, forty or fifty cents day, by the
spectators who send them out.
Before the season opens the cascari!-
leros are organized into gangs, each
under an eXaminador, aud carry into
the forest supplies of food to last through
the season. They have common camp
or headquarters, which is moved from
place to place as occasion requires; they
90 from it in pairs every morning,
Searching for the trees, and at night re-
turn laden with the results of the days
labor, which is stacked in the sun to
dry.
The bark shrinks to about half its
original weight when the sap is dried
out. At the close of the season several
days are spent in tying it in packages,
which are carried On the backs OF the
men to theimost convenient rendezvous for
the mule or llama trains, and are then
taken to the cities, where it is inspected
by the tax gatherer and then packed in
raw hides for shipment.
The cascarilla trees, scattered through
the dense forests, are located with great
skill by the cascarilleros from the tops
of high trees or the sides of ravines. In
gathering the bark the smaller limbs are
stripped first, then the larger limbs, and
finally the trunk. -Youth's Comp lanion.
His Name Against Him.