Notice of the copalchi-bark : a new and valuable bitter analogous to the cascarilla / by James Stark.

  • Stark, James, 1814-1883
Date:
1849
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Notice of the copalchi-bark : a new and valuable bitter analogous to the cascarilla / by James Stark. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    NOTICE, &c. Tn the course of some inquiries into the remedies used in Chili and Peru, I received from one of my correspondents in Chili, a bitter bark under the name of Natri, which was stated to be much employed by the medical practitioners and natives of Chili in the treatment of intermittent and other fevers, and held in higher repute than even Peruvian bark itself. The bark and leaves sent enabled me to ascertain that the Natri was the pro- duce of a species of Croton, but, from the want of the flowers and fruit, the particular species could not be ascertained. In the course of a correspondence with my friend John Eliot Howard, Esq., Tottenham, he mentioned to me that a quantity of bark had been received by the Messrs Gibbs of London, from San Bias, which appeared to be analogous to, if not identical with the Natri. A small quantity of the same bark had also been brought over from Santa Cruz by a gentleman, who stated that it was there known under the name of Chiquique, and was alv'.ays given to the Indians in fever cases, and was considered by the medical practitioners there as superior in certain cases to cinchona bark itself. Mr Howard at once recognized this bark as the Copalchi Bark of Goebel, a valuable Mexican bitter, described by him as the product of the Croton suberosum ; and through the liberality of the Messrs Gibbs, that gentleman sent me first a few pounds to make trial of it in practice, and then the whole quantity imported into this country. Though it has not been in my power to lay my hands on Goe- bel’s description, I have satisfied myself as to this bark being that known in Europe since 1825, and described under the names of Copalchi Bark and Quina blanca,—the product of one tree, variously termed Croton suberosum by Humboldt and Bonpland, Kunth, &c., Croton pseudo-china by Scldechtendal and Nees Von Esenbeck, and Croton Cascarilla by Professor Don. The description of the bark given in the Dictionnaire Univer- selle de Matiere Mcdicale, accurately corresponds with the speci- mens in my possession, as does also that given in the Diet, des Drogues Simples ct Composees. In these articles it is described as a new and valuable bitter used in Mexico, similar in properties to Cascarilla, and believed to be the produce of the Croton sube- rosum of Humboldt.
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