VI . Médicaments

Produits organiques .

Produits végétaux . . . . .

Plantes connues par leur action .

Conclusions . . .

Imprimerie de I Institut iiitei national de Bibliographie scientifique. Vi-1901.

JESUITS’ BARK

By J. Bamsbottom, O.B.E., M.A., Keeper of Botany.

The tercentenary of the use of Cinchona bark by Europeans has been celebrated this year (1930) both in America and this conntry. The célébrations in London hâve been on a very large scale and were organized by Dr. H. S. Wellcome and his staff at the Wellcome Historical Medical Muséum, where a remarieable exhibit of historical material is on view. The more important material in the Department of Botany is represented by replicas, and is shown as a temporary exhibit in the central hall at South Kensington.

The story of Cinchona is fascinating no matter from which aspect it is viewed. As is to be expected, the how and when of the discovery of this 44 natural cure ” for fever is uncertain. It is not known whether the South American natives were aware of its properties before the conquest of their country by Pizarro (1513-33). Most of the writers who hâve considered the matter believe that the Indians must hâve had this knowledge, though many think it was known only locally or perhaps restricted to certain sections of the people. On the other hand, others believe that the use of the bark was unknown before the arrivai of the Spaniards. The absence of authentic information has been regarded as due to the secrecy of the Indians or its destruction by the Spaniards ; but it has been pointed out that it is not in general use amongst the Peruvian Indians at the présent time and is not found in old tombs, as was the Coco herb.

There is no lack of romance, both ancient and modem, accounting for its discovery : Indians learned of the médicinal properties of the bark by seeing sick 44 lions ” or pumas eat it ; a Spanish soldier sick of fever and left to die drank of the water in which a Cinchona tree had fallen and soon recovered sufïiciently to carry on; or it was an Indian who drank of the water of a lake into which Cinchona trees had been blown by an earthquake and was miraculously cured. Such legends are to be expected and it is not surprising that one or other of them occasionally is taken seriously.

The history of the discovery has been discussed by several speakers during the recent célébrations. The usual account and the one which has decided the year 1930 as the tercentenary is given by Cléments Markham in his 44 Travels in Peru and India ” (1862). 44 In about 1630 Don Juan Lopez de Canizares,

No. 17 — vol. m.

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the Spanish Corregidor of Loxa, being ill with an intermittent fever, an Indian of Malacotas is said to hâve revealed to him the healing virtues of quinquina bark, and to hâve instructed him in the proper way to administer it, and thus his cure was efïected.” When the Vicereine, the Countess of Chinchon, became ill in 1638 he introduced the treatment to her, and she brought some of the bark when she returned to Europe in 1640. It seems highly probable, however, that the value of the bark was known to Europeans before 1630. J. de Jussieu, who accompanied La Condamine on his expédition (1737-43) to measure the arc of a meridian in South America, and acted as naturalist amongst other activities, states that in the year 1600 a Jesuit priest was cured of ague by bark given to him by an Indian cacique, and La Condamine found a manuscript in a library at Loxa which stated that Europeans used the bark about that time.

It is not possible to say how de Jussieu fixed the date, but it is known that members of the Jesuit mission (dating from about 1560) knew the use of the bark about that period; it then appears to hâve been known as 44 Loxa bark.” The Viceroy, Count Chinchon, arrived in Peru with his second wife, Francisca Henriquez de Ribera, in 1628, and later both sufïered acutely from fever. In 1638 the Court physician, Dr. Juan de Vega, cured the Countess by administering Cinchona bark. She immediately became its advocate and caused large quantities to be distributed, partly by the Jesuit fathers. For this reason it became known as 4 4 Countess’ s powder.” The generic name given to the plant by Linnæus in 1742 — Cinchona — is usually supposed to hâve been in honour of the Countess, and much has been made of the supposed misspelling : Linnæus, however, had a pretty wit in name-coining and it is not unlikely that he made play with her name and the native name of the plant, Quinquina , which, following La Condamine, he had previously used.

Apparently the bark was first brought to Spain and to Italy by Barnabe de Cobo in 1630. Further supplies were brought by Count Chinchon and de Vega in 1641 : the Countess had died a short time previously. The use of the bark spread to the Low Co un tries and other parts of Europe. De Cobo’ s successor as Proeurator of the Peruvian mission, Bartholeme Tatur, brought large quantities to Europe on his return, and, passing through France on his way to Rome, is said to hâve cured the Dauphin (afterwards Louis XIV) of the ague. Arriving in Rome he naturally was in close contact with Cardinal de

JESUITS’ BARK

Lugo, Cardinal Protector of the South American Missions, who immediately took the liveliest interest in the matter and had some of the bark analyzed by G. Fonseca, the Pope’s physician. The report proving favourable, the Cardinal until his death in 1660, was the chief advocate of the efficacy of the bark and is said to hâve had it generously distributed among the poor at the financial cost of the rich. Consequently it became known as 44 Cardinal’s powder ” or u Lugo’s powder.”

The close association of the Jesuits with the cure did not allow of a reasonable estimation of its médicinal qualifies. Tierce discussions took place, but ail too frequently the claims for or against its value depended on a Catholic or Protestant outlook. The use of the bark became known in England in 1655; copies of the newspaper Mercurius Politicus of that year contained the advertisement : “ The feaver bark, commonly

called the Jésuites Powder, which is so famous for the cure of ail manner of Agues, brought over by James Thompson, Merchant of Antwerp, is to be had either at his own lodging at the Black Spread-Eagle in the Old Bailey over against Black and White Court, or at Mr. John Crooks, Bookseller at the Ship in St. Pauls Churchyard, with directions for its use. Which Bark or Powder is attested to be perfectly true by Doctor Prudjean and other eminent Doctors and Physitians who hâve made expérience of it.” Several papers were written about this time on the properties of the bark, but for many years its name acted against its becoming popular. In 1677 it appeared in the London Pharmacopoeia as Cortex yeruvianus . Sir Robert Talbor gained famé by his method of administering the bark with other ingrédients (Talbor’s powders), being appointed Physician-in-Ordinary to Charles II in 1678 and knighted : the following year he cured the king of malaria and shortly afterwards was sent by him to France to treat the Dauphin. Successful in this he sold his secret to Louis XIV on condition that it was not to be revealed till after his death. It was published in France in 1682 and immediately translated into English : “ The English Remedy : or his (Talbor’s) wonderful Secret for cureing Agues and Feavers.”

Although the bark was well known there seems to hâve been some doubt about the botanical characters of Cinchona. John Evelyn in his Diary for August 7, 1685, says, 4 4 I went to see Mr. Watts, Keeper of the Apothecaries’ Garden of Simples at Chelsea, where there is a collection of innumerable rarities of that sort, particularly, besides many rare annuals, the tree bearing Jesuits bark, which had done such wonders in quartan

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agues.” Nothing further is known of the Chelsea plant. In the collections of the Department of Botany there is a specimen of Cinchona officinalis from Philip Miller’s herbarium. Miller was appointed gardener at Chelsea Physic Garden in 1722, and we know that dried specimens of the early plants were kept and that one of the conditions of Sir Hans Sloane making over the Garden to the Apothecaries’ Society in 1722 at a nominal rental of £5 was that fifty herbarium specimens annually should be presented to the Royal Society. No data are given on the herbarium sheet, and there is thns a remote possibility that the specimen may be from the tree Evelyn saw : there is no specimen among the tributary specimens which are now in the Department.

The botanical reference to the bark in John Ray’ s “ Historia Plantarum ” (1688) is : “ Arbor febrifuga Peruviana China Chinae & Quinquina & Gannan peride dicta, Hispanis Palos de calentura, Cortex arboris Cortex Peruvianus vulgo dicitur, inque pulverum redactus Pulvis Patrum [Sci. Jesuitarum] & Pulvis Cardinalis de Lugo. Angl. The Jesuits’ Powder.

The account is mainly concerned with the medical history of

the bark.

Sir Hans Sloane was an advocate of the use of the bark, and owing to his eminence played a considérable part in obtaining proper récognition of its properties. His catalogue of barks has a reference to Jesuits’ powder and three to bark “The Jesuits’ bark from the Island of Providence” ; “ China Chini, Guinana peribe, Jesuits’ bark, China China ” ; and 4* The Bark of ye Tree wch ye Malabars call Ette and wch I think to be ye Jesuits’ bark but not colected in a good time nor from a large flourishing tree.” The last specimens are of considérable interest because of the reference to Malabar : it remains to be proved whether they are Cinchona bark, and if so whether there is any additional evidence that the plant was introduced so early into India. In Sloane’ s herbarium there are two plants referred to Ray’ s Arbor febrifuga Peruviana and a third number is crossed out. Ail three plants are from L. Plukenet’s herbarium and are given in his 44 Almagestum Botanicum ” (1696) as Agerato affinis Peruviana frutescens , and also hgured but with an idealised fruit.

This is Iva frutescens , which according to Britton and Brown’s 44 Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States, etc.” (1913) has the popular names marsh elder, high-water shrub, Jesuits’ or false Jesuits’ bark. It is remarkable that Sloane should hâve been mistaken in referring Quinaquina to this species, and the fact that it is mentioned in the Oxford

JESUITS’ BARK

Dictionary as False or Bastard Jesuits’ Bark suggests that the mistake was not uncommon.

That there was confusion, probably caused by the use of native names, is also shown by a letter from John Hawkins (for some time in the employ of Sir Hans Sloane) to Sir Joseph Banks written in 1794 concerning two engraved plates “ arvore da Quina Quina ” he had made in 1731.

Sir,

My son acquainted me that you wish’d to know the origin of the engrav’d plate of the Jesuits bark you hâve in your possession.

Doctr. C. Mortimer in 1740, then Secretary of the Royal Society (my relation) was a correspondent of Monsr. de la Condamine’s, who being then in Peru, sent the Doctr. a présent of a Serone of Bark (I think it was so called) wh. might be about half a Hundred Weight, pack’d up in a Bullocks hide, in wh. was enclosed several specimens of the Jesuits bark tree, also some large peices of the wood with the Bark on, and some specimens of an uncommon form’d branch of a Tree which he called Quinaquina ; together with its Almond like seeds.

I being then an Apprentice in London, having pleasure in the Study of Botany, drawing Plants, &c. Doctr. Mortimer gave me the several Specimens that I might form a drawing to be engraved for the Royal Society. The specimens were crumpled up, but by soaking them in warm water, I got them expanded so as to -form an exact représentation, as the plate shows.

I also made a drawing of the uncommon form’d specimen, with the triangular stalk with thick farinaceous winged leaves set on every side : wh he called Quina Quina, the drawing of wh I enclose for your acceptance ; a foui copy of the same I gave to Mr. Lambert with descriptions of both; I also send, for your perusal, a letter from Dr. Dillenius, with whom I used to correspond on Botanick matters, as it alludes to the présent subjeet, on the other side I hâve transcrib’d Monsr. Condamines description of the first Quinaquina.

I am Sir Your most Obeclient

Humble Servt.

John Hawkins.

Dorchester, Feby. 8th 1794.

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The plate shows three drawings ; the specimen with the triangular stem ; transverse section of stem and leaves ; seeds which are of Myroxylon , the Peruvian Balsam. It is of interest to note that according to Pavon’s labels the native name for Myroxylon punctatum (Myrosperum balsamiferum) is Quino Quino.

The transcription from La Condamine reads : —

“There is another famous tree known in several provinces of America under the name of Quina Quina; a famous Balsam distills from that tree, by means of an incision : the seeds called by the Spaniards Pepitas de Quinaquina, hâve the form of beans, . . . their chief use is to make fumigations. This Tree grows in plenty in several Provinces of high Peru. . . .

“ Amongst the several virtues attributed to this Balsamic Tree, wh has ever been called Quina Quina by the Natives, and afterwards by the Spaniards, the most considérable is that of the Bark, wh passed for an excellent fébrifuge. This, before the discovery of the Tree of Loxa, was in great repute for curing tertian Pevers, & the Jesuits of La paz, or Chuquiabo, gather’d its Bark very carefully, wh is of the utmost bitterness ; & were used to send it to Rome, where it was distributed under its true name of Quinaquina, & was used against Intermitting Fevers. The Bark of Loxa having passed in Europe & at Rome by the same way ; The new fébrifuge has been confounded with the Old one, & that of Loxa having prevailed, it has retain’ d the name of the first, wh nowadays is almost entirely forgot. The name of Cascarilla or small bark, wh has been given to that of Loxa, seems likewise to hâve been invented to distinguish it from another, wh was undoubtedly that of the antient Fébrifuge.” *

Cinchona officinalis is the species which was first known, but the genus is widely spread in the rain-forests of the Andes from Bolivia to Colombia. The number of species accepted by botanists is roughly fifty. C. officinalis is pale bark or crown bark (because of it being reserved for the Royal Pharmacy at Madrid). Other species were soon exploited, and we find référencés to the efficacy of 44 red,” 44 yellow,” and other barks. So early as 1735 Ulloa called attention to the likelihood of the failure of C. officinalis unless steps were taken to reafîorest, and in 1792 Fée proposed its cultivation as a plantation crop; and these were not the only ones to réalisé the péril, though

* Cf. also ïtuiz’s title, “ Description of the Tree known in the kingdom of Peru under the name of Quinquino, and of its Bark, called Quinquina, which is distinct from the Quino or cascarilla.”

JESUITS’ BARK

others mainly urged the growing of Cinchona in other régions. La Condamine and de Jussieu attempted to transport living plants, but after bringing them 2000 miles lost them by a wave in the Amazon. They tried also to raise seeds in French Guiana without success.

The Spaniards meanwhile began to explore their South American possessions more thoroughly from a botanical point of view and much information about the species of Cinchona was gained. José Celestino Mutis was sent ont by King Carlos III of Spain in 1761 and worked for forty years on his flora of .New Granada. He found several new species of Cinchona and was in correspondence with Linnæus, to whom he sent specimens. His collections are at Madrid; his manuscript of “Instrucion sobre las Quinas” is in the Department of Botany.

The best known of these Spanish botanical explorers is Hippolito Ruiz Lopez, who was sent out to South America by King Carlos in 1777, accompanied by José Pavon, and José Dombey who was deputed by the Court of France. A Royal decree declared the object of this expédition to be 44 The examination and methodical knowledge of the natural productions of the American dominions, not only to promote the progress of the physical sciences, but to clear up doubts, and detect adultérations in medicine, dyeing, and other important arts ; to augment commerce, to form herbaria, and collections of natural productions, and to enrich the cabinet of natural history, and the botanical garden belonging to the Court.” For eleven years Ruiz explored Peru and Chili in a most arduous manner, and the results were of outstanding value : unfortunately much material was lost owing to shipwreck and to fire. Several new species of Cinchona were discovered; many of the type specimens of these are in the Department of Botany and numerous samples of bark. These were acquired for the Department by Robert Brown, the first Keeper of Botany, at the sale of the efïects of Aylmer Bourke Lambert in 1842. Lambert, an amateur botanist and for many years vice-president of the Linnean Society, is well known for his work on Cinchona (1797 ; 1821) and on P inus ; the originals of the illustrations to his 44 Description of the genus Cinchona ” by Ferdinand Bauer, one of Sir Joseph Banks’ s artists, are in the Muséum copy of the work. In addition to Ruiz and Pavon’ s plants the folio wing manuscripts of Ruiz are in the Department : Compendio historico-medico-comercial de las Quinas ; Reparos y reflexiones criticas sobre la Memoria de la Quina; Experimentos Quimicos sobre las Quinas ; Causas por que las Calenturas

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intermitentes no cortandose en los primeros accesos pasan à malignas y contagiosas ; Estampas de Quinas, No. 6 ; Razon de las siete especies de Quina ; as well as the descriptions of the plants collected during the expédition. Apparently Lambert bought barks and plants from Pavon, for there are invoices for tlieir pnrchase. The entry in the sale catalogue reads :

103. Ruiz and Pavon’s magnificent Herbarium, as arranged and mounted by Mr. Lambert, in the large cabinet, with 3 additional bundles.

This most important and invaluable collection embraces from 1500 to 1750 species. A Cabinet with Drawers, containing about 75 small boxes of dry Fruits, belonging also to Ruiz and Pavon’s Herbarium (see Prof. I). Don’s description of this collection in the Appendix to Lambert’ s Genus Pinus)

of the Palmæ there are about 16 species ,, Laurinæ ,, ,, 11 ,,

„ Myristicæ „ „ 7 „

and a large number of other very interesting specimens, and sundry sections of woods ; also a Box containing about 30 specimens of Cinchona and other Barks, and the original Manuscript, which came into Mr. Lambert’ s possession at the same time, viz. Ruiz (H.) and J. Pavon’s Original Manuscripts, in Spanish, of their Voyages, Travels and Botanical researches in Peru and Chili, 1777-88, consisting of their Journals, Lists and Descriptions of the Plants, Insects, &c. of Peru and Chili, a large quantity, filling a mahogany box 20 inches by 15; also a box containing a quantity of miscellaneous Fruits and Seeds.

The price paid was £270.

In 1820 P. J. Pelletier and J. B. Caventon isolated quinine from Cinchona bark. Other alkaloids are présent, which are not so antiseptie as quinine, the most important being quinidine, cinchonidine and cinchonine. Different barks hâve different proportions of alkaloids.

About a century ago many were alarmed at the increasing difhculty of obtaining Cinchona bark and the certainty of the supply failing. J. F. Royle, for example, urged the East India Company to take up the growing of Cinchona on at least three occasions.

The French were the first to attempt to acclimatize the plant in the last century as they had been in the previous one, being urged to it mainly by H. A. Weddell; planting was tried in Algeria, but failed, though plants had been raised from his

MOSQUITOES BREEDING IN PLANT PITCHERS 25

seed both in Paris and at the Royal Horticultural Society’ s garden at Chiswick. Similarly, the first Javan attempt with Weddell’s seedlings was not successful (1852), but in 1855, 20,000 trees were raised from a collection of seeds from Charles Ledger — which had been offered to the British Government. Sir Cléments R. Markham was sent in 1859 by the India Office to the Eastern Andes to collect Cindiona and to superintend its acclimatization in India : this was done successfully and plantations were established on the Nilgiri Hills and in Ceylon. Thomas Anderson was sent to Java in 1861 to study Dutch methods, and, bringing back plants and seeds, started the Government plantations at Darjeeling. In connection with the successful British attempt the work of R. Spruce and R. Cross deserves mention.

That quinine is the sovereign remedy for malaria is more generally known now than it was before the War. It has other uses which increasingly add to the demand, already such as make it possible to speak of a world shortage. For various reasons which need not be discussed here the Dutch hâve the command of the trade in the bark, which as one writer said had done for medicine what gunpowder did for war.

I wish to express my obligation to several of the speakers at the Wellcome Historical Muséum Célébration, who treated at length some of the aspects of Cindiona history touched on in this article.

MOSQUITOES BREEDING IN PLANT PITCHERS.

By F. W. Edwards, M.A., Assistant Keeper, Department of Entomology.

Among ail the modifications in form and function undergone by the leaves of plants, few are more remarkable than the water-holding 44 pitchers,” which are found in two distinct families of plants : the Sarraceniaceæ in America and the Nepenthaceæ in the tropics of the Oriental région. In the former the pitcher is formed by the whole leaf, in the latter by the blade only, the base of the stalk being changed into a bladelike structure, the outer portion so supporting the pitcher that it can be held erect. In both cases the function of the pitcher is the same, to act as a trap for insects. To this end the pitchers are often brightly coloured, a very attractive honey-like sécrétion is produced around the rim, and a spécial lid (closed in the young pitcher, but always open later) may serve as an alighting-place for insects. The pitchers contain a liquid

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which, though consisting largely of rain-water, is partly produced by spécial glandular cells in the pitcher itself. Several analyses of the liquid hâve been made, and it has been proved to contain digestive enzymes which can dissolve the soft parts of the insects which fall into the pitchers and are drowned, thus providing the plants with an important source of food. Great numbers of ants and other insects are so trapped, and not infrequently larger créatures such as scorpions and centipedes,

Fig. 1. — Camp on Mount Kinabalu.

Mr. F. N. Chasen holding pitcher of N epe?ithes rajali.

or even srnall mammals or birds, may also fall victims to these plants.

It is a common occurrence in nature for the structures developed by one species for its own spécial needs to be discovered and utilized by other species. Pitcher plants provide a case in point ; in them spiders, mites, moths, and a variety of Aies find food, or shelter, or both. The larvæ of Aies live in the liquid and And abundant food in the drowned or drowning insects, or in the protozoa and bacteria which are also there. Ail such larvæ hâve to develop the power of résistance to the digestive action of the Auid, and it is therefore not surprising to And that most, though not ail, of the species breeding in the pitchers are more or less restricted to this habitat. An interesting summary of the subject, giving an account of experiments on the chemistry