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MEMORIAL TO CONGRESS

ON THE

CULTIVATION OF THE CINCHONA TREE IN THE
2A UNITED STATES.

BY THE

- AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION.

PHILADELPHIA:
COLLINS, PRINTER, 705 JAYNE STREET.
1870.

MEMORIAL TO CONGRESS

ON THE

CULTIVATION OF THE CINCHONA TREE IN THE
UNITED: STATES.

BY THE

AMERICAN MEDICAL: JASSQCEATION.,

PHILADELPHIA:
COMLINS, PRINTER, 705 JAYNE STREET.
ESO )

IN EXCHANGE

MEMORIAL TO CONGRESS.

To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the United

States of America.

The American Medical Association, representing the whole of
the regular profession throughout the United States, would re-
spectfully present, for the consideration of your honorable body,
the following memorial on the cultivation of the cinchona in the
United States.

Upon the importance of the bark of this tree for the good of
mankind it is unnecessary to dwell at any length. With especial
reference to the use of cinchona and its preparations, in the treat-
ment of a class of diseases peculiar to tropical and miasmatic
localities, an eminent authority says :—

.“ There is no substitute for these. They are universally relied
on for this purpose. In all countries, and at all periods, since the
discovery of the properties of this invaluable and incomparable
substance, amidst all the conflicting dogmas of different medical
doctrines, Peruvian bark has never failed to sustain its reputation,
and to answer the expectations that have rested upon it. Amidst
the manifold uncertainties of medical science, and the perpetual
contingencies of medical art; amidst the disheartening scientific
infidelity which has lately been taking possession of the medical
mind, shaking to its deepest foundations the firm old faith in the
potency of drugs, and threatening to overturn and demolish it
altogether, it is gratifying and consolatory to feel that here, at least,
we stand upon solid ground; that here we may hold that there is
one great and important therapeutical relationship definitely and
positively ascertained and established, defying alike the open
assaults of quackery from without, and the treacherous machina-
tions of indolent skepticism from within.”—(Bartlett on Fevers.)

4 MEMORIAL TO CONGRESS.

But, although, as thus indicated, its chief value as a therapeutic
agent in the treatment of this wide-spread class of diseases cannot
be overestimated, yet it is not here alone that the physician finds it
a ready servant to do bis bidding; it is so highly valued for its
tonic properties that many have expressed the belief that, with
this in their hands, they do not need or desire any other articles of
this class. As a preventive of these diseases it is also of great
value. In exposure to malaria an almost certain immunity from
danger may be obtained by the use of this substance in some one
of its preparations. A collection of facts, illustrating and conclu-
sively proving this point, has been published by the Sanitary Com-
mission in a little monograph, entitled “ Quinine as a Prophylactic
against Malarial Diseases.”—(Doc. D. U. S. San. Com.)

But perhaps a more convincing proof of the high estimation in
which this substance is held may be found in the figures which
indicate the amount of the bark and of its active principles im-
ported for our use, and the price paid for the same. The figures
are from the reports of the Secretary of the Treasury on Com-
merce and Navigation, as quoted by Dr. Thomas Antisell, of the
Agricultural Department, in an article upon the cultivation of the
cinchona in the United States, in the report of the Commissioner
of Agriculture for the year 1866.

In a period of six years (from 1859 to 1865) there were imported

Of bark no less than 1,631,876 lbs., of the value of $1,874,112.
Of all the salts of quinine, ‘7,526 lbs., : 287,188.

Dr. Antisell furnishes also in this article a statement of the
amount consumed or purchased, for the use of the United States
army, for the period of five years, from Jan. 1, 1861, to Dec. 31,
1865, inclusive, as communicated to him by the Surgeon-General.

Sulphate of quinine, 595,544 oz.
a cinchona, 348,226 oz.
Powdered Calisaya bark, 259,258 oz.

Tn view of the great medicinal value of this bark, it is no great
wonder that the attention of scientific men was early attracted to
an investigation of the nature and habit of the tree which produced
it. And yet no description of the tree was published until the
lapse of a whole century after attention was first especially drawn
to its properties in 1638, by the cure of the Countess of Cinchon,
wife of the viceroy of Peru, by its use. In 1788 La Condamine
published a degeription of the cinchona, accompanied by a draw-

MEMORIAL TO CONGRESS. Fy

ing. This learned man had been sent to Peru by the Academy of
Sciences of France to measure a degree of the meridian. In com-
pany with Joseph de Jussieu, the botanist of the expedition, he
visited the localities which furnished the bark, with the view of
examining and describing the tree. Jussieu remained to prosecute
these investigations after the rest of the expedition had returned
to France, but on his own return, in 1771, the condition of his
health prevented him from publishing the results of his labors.
Five years later Dombey was instructed to make a collection of
the plants of Peru. He accompanied a Spanish expedition sent
out for the same purpose under the direction of Ruiz and Pavon.
Dombey returned in 1785, Ruiz and Pavon four vears later. Even
the learned Humboldt was induced by his interest in the matter to
visit and explore the quinine regions. After that time many more
entered this field of investigation, among whom we may mention
Weddell, De Londre, Hasskarl, Markham, and Howard.

The first attempts to acclimate the tree in other countries than
those to which it is indigenous were unsuccessful. De la Con-
damine, who attempted to transport some young trees from Peru,
was so unfortunate as to have them washed overboard after eight
months of careful nursing. Dr. Weddell carried with him to Paris
some seeds, which were planted in the Jardin des Plantes in 1848.
About the same time, under instructions from the Dutch govern-
ment, Dr. Hasskarl obtained some young trees, and planted them
in Java.

As early as 1839, Dr. Forbes Royle recommended the Eng-
lish government to undertake the cultivation of the cinchona
in certain localities in India. An official proposal was not made,
however, until 1852. This proposal having been referred by the
government to Dr. Royle, he zealously urged its acceptance by the
government, for reasons of economy. Dr. Royle did not, however,
live to see the accomplishment of his desires. In 1859, and after
the death of Dr. Royle, Lord Stanley, Secretary of State for the
Colonies, intrusted Mr. Clements R. Markham with the duty of
_ superintending the whole matter of selecting and transplanting the
tree. He was aided by Mr. Richard Spruce, an able botanist, who
forwarded 529 plants, 1000 cuttings, and at least 100,000 dried
seeds to India, where a site upon the Neilgherry Mountains had
already been prepared for their reception by Mr. Markham, and
where the plantation was commenced in 1860. This attempt has
met with perfect success. In May, 1866, we find the number of

6 MEMORIAL TO CONGRESS.

plants to be, according to the official report, 1,123,645. The
analyses of the bark made by Mr. Howard and others have been
very favorable, proving that the plant may be transplanted, and
that, under the proper conditions of cultivation, it will furnish a
bark equally efficient with that brought from South America.

There remain but two questions, we think, to be discussed, when
the matter will be seen in its proper light. 1. Is not the supply so
near at hand as South America inexhaustible? 2. Have we within
the limits of our own country the proper climatic and other con-
ditions to grow the plant with success?

With regard to the first of these questions a single quotation
from Mr. Markham’s Zravels in Peru and India will be a sufficient
answer. “A century ago, Condamine raised a warning voice against
the destruction that was going on in the forests of Loxa. Ulloa
advised the government to check it by legislation; soon afterwards
Humboldt reported that 25,000 cinchona trees were destroyed
every year, and Ruiz protested against the custom of barking the
trees, and leaving them to be destroyed by rot. But nothing was
done in the way of conservancy, either by the government or by
private speculators whose subsistence depended on a continued
supply of the bark. Dr. Weddell, alluding to this recklessness as
regards C. calisaya, observes that ‘the forests of Bolivia, rich as
they are, cannot long resist the continued attacks to which they
have been recently exposed. He who, in Europe, sees these enor-
mous and ever-increasing masses of bark arrive, may perhaps
believe that they will continue to do so; but he who sees the
cinchona trees in their native forests, and knows the real truth, is
obliged to think otherwise.’ . . . . Then, again, the supplies of
bark from South America are not nearly sufficient to meet the
demand, and the price is kept so high as to place this inestimable
remedy beyond the means of millions of natives of fever-visited
regions.”

In reply to the second question we would present the following
facts as to California, which render it a field where cinchona may
be cultivated with success.

Perhaps in no other part of the world will there be found such
a multiplicity of climates in juxtaposition to each other, consti-
tuting, as it were, a heterogeneous mixture of the Tropical and the
Arctic.

A glance at the topography of the State will at once give some
idea of this peculiarity. California covers about 189,000 square

MEMORIAL TO CONGRESS. T

miles, between 32° 30’ and 42° of north latitude, and is traversed
throughout its whole extent by two distinct lines of mountain
ranges, while its southeastern limits stretch off towards the 114th
degree of west longitude, into the table-lands of New Mexico.
Sloping back to the first of these mountain ranges is a long line
of coast under the control of the ocean—being the only portion of
the State preserved from desiccation during the rainless summer,
by showers of mist—which has a uniform climate of about 56°,
the mean temperature of any one month never exceeding 61°, and
never falling below 50°. The extensive region bordering on the
great Bay of San Francisco, which seems to adopt one-half of its
climatic features from the ocean, and the other half from the
interior and more heated valleys, is inexhaustible in agricultural
resources. The Pajaro, and some other valleys further south, to
which the oceanic winds gain access through gaps in the Coast
Range mountains, belong also to the same system, as well as the
Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys, although in a less degree,
these latter being further removed from the ocean. The mean
temperature of the two last-named valleys is about 60°; while the
hottest day is 94°, and the coldest 82°. Next we have the interior
mountain region (Sierra Nevada), with innumerable little valleys,
buried more or less in snow during the winter, and converted by
the summer’s sun at midday almost into furnaces, and yet luxuriant
with all kinds of delicious fruits. Finally, the southern region,
which includes nearly one-fourth of the State, being removed alike
from both extremes of temperature which operate, as we have just
seen, in the more northern parts, and uninfluenced either by moun-
tain or ocean, enjoys a most genial and equable climate. Moreover,
it has been found, practically, that California covers all the zones
that belt the earth with climatic differences, for there is scarcely a
cereal, fruit, plant, or tree, wheresoever it may be indigenous, that
cannot be grown or nurtured in the open air in some part of
this State. Another remarkable fact connected with the complex
atmospherical conditions of California is that the well-known ordi-
nary effects of latitude, longitude, and altitude seem to bear with
but comparatively little direct relations in some portions of the
State. In the more southerly part of the interior mountain system,
the general character of the vegetation has obtained for these
mountains the title of the “Alps of California,” but their analogue
is found in the arctic zone rather than in Switzerland. In the
Swiss Alps, trees are not found higher than 6200 feet above the sea.

8 MEMORIAL TO CONGRESS.

In the California Alps, trees are found 11,000 feet above the sea,
and good pasturage extends from 5000 to 10,000 feet above the
sea level, and even higher—up to the very crests of the peaks.
At 3500 feet above sea level the dense forest begins. The trees
are mostly sugar and yellow pine, Douglass spruce, fir, and bastard
cedar. Along the western slope, at an altitude of 5000 to 7000
feet, the big trees, or giant sequovas, are abundant, not merely
occurring in isolated groves, but scattered abundantly in common
with the timber for a distance of at least twenty-five miles along
the tributaries of Kings, Kewent, and Kern rivers.

Considering, therefore, the peculiarity and variety of the climatic
conditions and vegetable productions of California, it can scarcely
be doubted, that a locality may be found here for the propaga-
tion of the cinchona as readily as in India, where its cultivation
has been attended with success. As is well known the native
habitat of the cinchona genus is in the mountain region of South
America, from 10° north latitude to 20° south of the equator,
and extending eastward from the Peruvian Andes to the confines
of Brazil, at elevations varying from 6000 to 11,000 feet. The most
esteemed kinds are found between 7° north and 15° south, and at
an average temperature of about 68°; but it has been recently
ascertained that on the dry slopes of the central Cordillera of New
Grenada, a most valuable species flourishes in a temperature vary-
ing between two ranges, thus: Lower limit—day, up to 59° to 60°;
night, 46° to 48°. Upper limit—day, up to 40° to 48°; night, 85°
to 86°. At the lower limit the night-temperature at times ran down
to freezing. Now the success attending the plantation of these
trees at Sikhim and Jamaica—stations far removed in latitude and
absolute elevation from their natural habitat—and especially on
the Neilgherry Mountains and country south of Calcutta, shows
satisfactorily that, if we can obtain an equable climate and a suffi-
cient rainfall within the limits of the United States, they will
flourish here also as well. Following out this conclusion, Dr.
Thomas Antisell, in his elaborate contribution on the subject of
this communication, in the United States Agricultural Report for
1866, recommends the experiment of a plantation in this State
(California) at some distance from the coast in San Luis Obispo,
and San Diego counties. The following abstracts of mean tempera-
tures of the district at the base of the Sierra Nevada, from 40° to
32° north latitude, extracted from his report, will serve to contrast
this locality with the stations in the East Indies: Spring 55° to

MEMORIAL TO CONGRESS. 9

65°—range 10°; summer 70° to 80°—range 10°; autumn 60° to
70°—range 10°; winter 45° to 52°—range 7°. Yearly mean
average from 45° to 80°.

The rainfall during the same seasons was—spring, 10 cubic
inches; summer, 2 cubic inches; autumn, 8 cubic inches; winter,
10 cubic inches—total for the year, 25 cubic inches. Higher up
the slopes of the range, the temperature would of course be lower,
and the rainfall greater; hence it would not be difficult to select
there a station which would combine the necessary moisture and
warmth. These temperatures may be contrasted with those on the
Neilgherries. Ootacamund is in the centre of a plateau, by no
means a flat surface. The rains come in the southwest monsoon
from May to September from the west, and at other times it receives
the rain of the northeast monsoon. The total rainfall is from 65
to 75 inches. The mean temperatures range from 42° to 58°. At
a station lower down on the range (Conover), the mean tempera-
ture is from 52° to 71°.

Anywhere between 84° and 87° in the western slopes of the
Sierra Nevada, Dr. Antisell thinks a temperature similar to that
of India may be obtained by ascending the range from 1500 to
2000 feet above its base. We believe with him that all the condi-
tions of climate which would support the cinchona could be
found immediately below the altitude of the Sequo/a.

The American Medical Association therefore ask, in view of the
foregoing facts, that the Congress of the United States would ap-
point a commission of scientific men for the following purpose :—

1. To determine what portion, if any, of the public domain of
the United States will produce the cinchona, and which may be
set apart for this purpose.

2. To determine what species may be best transplanted, and will
furnish the greatest amount of the active principles. '

3. That they be authorized to visit such South American coun-
tries as they may deem necessary in order to determine these points
employ a competent botanist to assist them, and that our consuls
in such States be instructed to further these investigations.

4, That they be empowered to negotiate for, and obtain a proper
quantity of seeds and plants.

We would add to this that the Sacramento Medical Society has
pledged itself, provided the requisite plants or seeds are furnished
free of cost by the Government, to use every effort in endeavoring
to find a proper habitat for the cinchona tree in California, and

10 MEMORIAL TO CONGRESS.

to report the results of their experiments to the Agricultural
Bureau at Washington. The “State Board of Agriculture,” of
California, through one of its members, has promised its co-opera-
tion in any plan which may be deemed most advisable for the
accomplishment of the objects contemplated by the appointment
of this committee.

LEMUKEL J. DEAL, M. D., Chatrman.

THOS. M. LOGAN, M. D.,

For the Committee.

By order of the Association,
GEORGE MENDENHALL, M.D,
P resident.
WM. B. ATKINSON, M.D.,
Permanent Secretary,
1400 Pine Street, Philadelphia,

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