OCR Text |
Show 126 COMMON PERUVIAN BARK TREE. any mixture in always prefer a fresh infusion or decoction to lved. redisso is which the extract as an appli« Externally, cinchona bark is used in substance, ulcers. nous cation to ill-conditioned, carious, or gangre ion, In the formof clyster it may be given in substance, decoct spongy for powder tootha as used is r or extract. ‘The powde ent and bleeding gums, and the decoction is an excellent astring gargle or wash. To increase the power of cinchona bark, or to direct its effi. ies cacyto a particular purpose, or to correct some inconvenienc other with ed combin ntly freque is it byit, ed occasionally produc remedies. When it produces vomiting, carbonic acid forms an useful addition; when it purges, opium ; whenit oppresses the stomach, aromatics; and whenit induces costiveness, rhubarb. The choice of bark is of greatimportance. It was introduced in the year 1649 into Europe by the Jesuits, who soldit at first for an immense price. This obtained it the name of Jesuits’ park. Fora number of years the bark, which is rolled upinto short thick quills, with a rough coat, and a bright cinnamon colour in the inside, which broke brittle, and was sound, had an aromaticflavour, a bitterish astringent taste, with a degree of aromatic warmth, was esteemed the best; though some people jooked uponthe large pieces of equal goodness. RED PERUVIAN BARK TREE. CINCHONA RUBRA, Durie the time of the late war, in the year 1779, the Hussar frigate took a Spanish ship loaded principally with Peruvian bark, which was much larger, thicker, and of a deeper reddish colour than the bark in commonuse. Soonafter it was brought to London it was tried in St. Bartholomew’s hospital, and in “one hospitals about town, and was said to be moreefficacious a + quill bark, This put practitioners on examining into story of the bark, and on trying experiments with it, and on making comparative trials of its effects with those of the bark in com ; a J , vies mon use, on patients labouring under intermittent com. aints, I ” reqys ao wy 1782, Dr. William Saunders published an account of En, AK bark, in which he says that the small quill bark used in “gland is either the bark of young trees, or of the twigs or branches nches of the old ones; andthat the large bark, called the red bark fr : ; ae from the deep colour, is the bark of the trunk of the old ees: ¢ a tae birt nt he mentions a Mr. Arnot, who himself gathered the rom the trees in Peru; and M. Condamine, who gives an |