XIV.

An Account of the QuaJJla "Polygama, or

Bitter-wood of Jamaica; and of the Cinchona

Br achy carpa t a new Species of Jefuit's Bark

found in the fame IJland. By Mr. John Lindr

fay, Surgeon IVeft-mor eland, Jamaica. Vide

in

tfranjattions of the
Royal Society of Edinburgh,
Vol. III.

| "HE tree, which is the fubjedt of this

r
paper,
JL has been long known in Jamaica, and in
Tome other iflands in the Weftlndjes, not
only
as an excellent timber, but as
affording an ufe-
ful medicine in putrid fevers and fluxes. In
Jamaica it is called Bitter wood; in the wind-
ward iflands, Bitter ajh; and in the French
iflands it is known by the name of Ecorfier.
The
 . r 141 ]
The bark has for fome time been prefcribed by
i-aedical pra&itioners in Jamaica, and confide-
rable quantities of it have been exported to
England for the purpofes of the brewers of ale
and porter. On thefe accounts Mr. Lindfay
has been induced to communicate the prefent
defcription of this tree to the public.
Prefixed to this defcription is a fhort hiftori-
cal account of the tree in queftion, collected
from preceding writers.
The fir ft of thefe is Sir Hans Sloane, who, in
his vifit to Barbadoes, having noticed the Bitter
wood, given the following defcription of it in
has
"
his Catalogue; Melanomma et melanoxylum,
(f
arbor laurifolia nucifera, gemmis nigricanti-
"
bus, Americana and refers to Plukenet's
Phy tographia, Tab. 205, fig. 3; but the plant
there delineated, our author obferves, is diffe-
rent from the prefent.
Dr. Patrick Browne, and after him Mr.
Long, in their Hiftories of Jamaica, mention
this by the names
tree of Xylopicrum, Xylopia
glabra, Bitter-wood, or Bitter Ajh. Mr. Long,
in fpeaking of the ^uajfia Aniara, thinks the
Bitter A(h of Sr. Chriftopher's is the fame, but
does not feem to know whether the Bitter Afh
has been found in Jamaica.
Dr.
 C j
?)r. William Wright, in his Account of the
Medicinal Plants growing in Jamaica *, men-
tions this under the title of Pkranta dinara,
tree

a new
genus belonging to the clafs Pentandrid
Monogynia, and fays it is ufed in putrid fevers
as an antifeptic, and that lefs of it wiil do' than
of the QuaJJia Amara of Linnaeus. Di\ Wright,
our adthor obferves, was naturally led to place

this tree in the clafs and order he has done^

from finding hermaphrodite flowers and feeds
on the fame tree; but at the fame time he was
aware that this tree has a great affinity to the

genus Quaffia.
The laft writer referred to by our author is
Dr. Olof Swartz, concerning whom he re-
marks, that having examined mod of the
plants in Jamaica, he probably had feen this
tree in flower and fruit, as he ftyles it in his
"
Prodrofnus, ?>ua]Jia Extelfa, floribus herma-
phroditis $dr\^ paniculatis, foliis impari-pin-
fC

"
natis, foliolis oppofitis petiolatis, petiole)
"
nudo."
Mr. Lindfay fuppofes that no other
defcrip-
tion of this tree has yet
appeared ; of courfe he
had had no opportunity of knowing, at the
* London Medical Journal, Vol. VIII. p. 275.

time
 t '43 1
time his paper was written, that Dir. Swartz*
in the fame year in which he publifhed his Pro-,
dromus, communicated to the Royal Academy
of Sciences at Stockholm a botanical
defcrip-
tion and figure of the Quaffia Excelfa, which
the Academy have publifhed in their Tranfac-
tions for the year 1788.
We now come to Mr. Lindfay's Account of
this tree, which he defcribes being very as

common in mod of the woodlands in Jamaica;

and as
being beautiful, tall, and ftately. He
has meafured one, it feems, which was an
hundred feet in length, and ten feet in circum-
ference.
He obferves that the trunk is ftraight, fmooth
and tapering, fending off its branches towards
the top ; that the outfide bark is pretty fmooth,
of a light gray or afh colour, from various li-
chens; that the bark of the roots is of yel-
a

low caft, fomewhat like the Cortex Simarouba;

and that the inner bark is tough, and compofed
of fine flaxy fibres; that the wood is of a
yel-
low colour, tough, but not very hard ; that it
takes a good polifh, and is ufed as flooring;
that the leaves are Cub-alternate; the fmall
leaves being in pairs, from five to eight, {land-
ing opppfite to each other on fhort foot-ftalks,
and
 t '44 j
arid ending with an odd one; that they are of
an oblong oval fhape, and pointed ; the ribs
reddilh, and the yoUng leaves covered with a

fine brownifh down ; that the flowers come oat

in bunches clutters from the lower part of

or

the laft fhoot before the leaves, and ftand on

round footftalks; that the flowers are fmall,
of a yellovvifh green colour, with a very fmail
calyx; and that the male or barren tree produces
flowers nearly fimilar to the hermaphr'odite, but
which have only the rudiments of a
ftyle.
Thefruit, he tells us, is a lniooth black
drupa, round fhaped* and of the fize of a pea.
There is but little pulp, and the nut covers a
round kernel. Thefe drup<e, he obferves, arc
generally three, fometimes two, and often oniy
one, attached fideways to a round ifh flefhy re-

ceptacle. It flowers in October and Novem-

ber, and its fruit is ripe in December and Ja-

nuary.
Except the pulp of the fruit, every other
part of this tree, we are told, has an
intenfely
bitter tafte. From this quality, Sir Jofeph
Banks, Dr. Solander, and Dr. Wright, were
induced, it feems, to give it the name of Pi-
crania Amara. In tafte and virtues, our author
has found it nearly equal to the Quaffia of Su-
ripam,
 C J45 ]
rinam*, credibly informed that it
and has been
js fold in London for the Quaffia Amara, and.
he thinks, it may be fafely ufed in all cafc-s
where

"
paper entitled
** From a o,f the true Quaffia Amara,
44
and of the falfe (Om den ritte 2>uajjia Amara, og om
11
deti faljke)" lately publifhed by Mr. N. Tonder Lund,
in the Tranfaftions of the Natural Iiiftor) Society at Co-
penhagen, it would feem that what has been generally im-
ported into Europe under the name of Quaffia Amara, is
ipurious. '.Mr. Von Rohr,' fays the author of the pa-
per in queftioti,
4
who in the years 1783, 4, and 5, vi-
*
fited different parts of the Continent of America* and fe-
4
veral of the Weft India iflands, and collected many rare
4
plants, has fent to me, among other thing9, a fpecimen
4. of the Quaffia Amara, and with it the following note t
**?
In my whole voyage I faw only a lingle wild (hrub bf
Quaffia Amara* and that was the river Tamaco, in.
near
44
the neighbourhood of St. Martha. The planters in Su-
44. rinam and Cayenne cultivate it on account of the mag-
44
nificence of its flowers* and its ufe. In Surinam, the
44
flowers alone are ul'ed as tea; The wood is extremely
4*. dear.; and I can with truth fay that I know riot where I
44
could buy a lingle pound of it. The (lem never exceeds
tc
two inches in diameter. Had I been defirous of extir-
44
pating this fhrub from the neighbourhood of the Ta-
4t. maco, I might perhaps have got together ten pounds of
44
it. It. is certain, therefore, that impoftors have fent
44
into Europe, under the name of Quaffia Amara, the

wood of another fpecies of Quaffia, which has the apf

u
Vol. Vr L pearaae*
 E 146 ]?
where that drug has been thought proper, whe-
ther antifeptic, or in cafes of weaknefs
as an

in the ftomach and bowels. It may either, he

obferves, be given alone, or joined with the
Peruvian bark.
He has feen, he tells us, the happieft effecfts
from the ufe of this medicine in obftinate re-
mitting fevers from rnarfti
miafmata, in agues
which had refilled the ufe of Peruvian bark, and
in dyfenteries of long ftanding. In Jamaica,
it feems, it is in daily ufe in dropfies from de-
bility, either in fimple
tindture, or infufion or

joined with aromatics and

chalybeates.
Dr. Drummond, an eminent phyfician in
Jamaica, is faid to prefcribe it with great fuc-

pearance of an afh tree, and which is likewife bitter. In

"
a word, you may be aflured that any fpecimen of Quaf-
lia, the fte;m of which, including the bark, is more than
two inches in diameter, is not the true Quaffia." From
4
.this account," adds Mr, Lund, " it feems pretty cer-
4
tain, that the pieces of wood which are met with in the
4
(hops, and which have more the appearance of timber
*
.than of a,.medicine, the
true Quaffia, but are
are not
4
procured from that fpecies of it which the Englifh call
4
the bitter afh."?See Skrivter af Naturbifioric-Selfcabet.
'8vo. Copenhagen, 1790. Vol* I. Part 3, page 68,
Epitor, -
,,,v > <?

. . cefs
 [ '47 ]
cefs in the above cafes, as well as in amenorrhcea,
chlorofis, dyfpepiia, and in that fpecies of pica,
called Dirt-eating, fo fatal to a number of ne-

groes.
The bark of the tree, but ^efpecially the
wood, Mr. Lindfay obferves, is intenfely bit-
ter. He has lifed both in various forms.
Thebark, it feems, is difficult to be re-
duced to powder. The dofe, he obferves, is
from 15 grains to 1 drachm, either by itfelf,
or joined with the Peruvian bark.

Mr. Lindfay has employed the wood as well

as the bark of this tree, both in infufion and
decoftion; for the former he diredts the pro-
portions to be from two drachms to half an
ounce of the bark or wood to a
pint of water ;
and for the latter the fame quantities to a
pint
and a half of water, which is to be boiled to a
pint. Of either of thefe the dofe is dire&ed
to be a wine-glafs full every three, four, or fix
hours, according to circumftances:

In certain cafes ofdropfy, in amenorrhea

and chldrofis, this remedy aromatics
he joins to

and other medicines and in worm fevers, the

fcabbage bark or other vegetable anthelmintics.

Mr. Lindfay gives the following botanical
L 2 defcrip-
 [ HS ]
(fcfcription of the Quaffia Polygama*. Thil
defcription is accompanied with engraved
figure?
*
As we think ir will be a gratification to many of outf
readers t6 fee Dr. Swartz's defcription of the fame tree, un-
der the name of Excelfa, we (hall here infert it.
"
Arbor excelfa.
"
Tmucus craffus. Cortex cinereu's, rimOfus.
"
Lignum duriffimum, album.-
"
RaniI patentes.

pinnsta cum impari, akerna, fparfa. Petioli tc-

"
Folia
**
retes glabri.
"
Foliola pe.tiolatay 4-6juga, oppofita, elliptica, acumi-
"
nata, integerrima, nervofa, venofa, glabra, confiftentia.
"
Petiola partiales breves, teretiiufculi, glabri.
"
Racemi axillares, compofiti, paniculati, ramis dicho-
**
tomis patent it) bV diffufis, multifloris.
"
Flores parvi, albidi, polygami, inafculis et hermaphrc*
"
ditis in eodem racemo.
"
MasC.

j* phyllus. Foliola cortica, dentiformia, minuta.

"
Cal.
" inter dentes
Cox. Petala 5 fub receptaculo calycis in-
M*
ferta, obkmga, adfcendentia.
"
Stam. Filamenta 5 a latere
receptaculi exferta, fubu-
**
lata, adfcendentia, petalis longiora, yillofa. Anther*
ic
fubglobofae, bivalves.
'
"
Fist. rudimfcntum.
"
Hermafhrod.
*'
CALvetCoR. utin mare.

Filamenta 5 breviora. Antherfettilcs,

M
Pl?T?
 L *49 ]
figures of the leaves and fru?tification, for
.which we muft refer our readers to the work
itfelf.
"
Arbor ejccejLfafape centum pedes aka.
c<
Caudcx fpedjtabilis, ere&us, glaber. Cortex
H cinercus in Epidermitle, interne aJbido fla-
"
vefcens, tenax et ex fibris lentis confedtus.
Hamuli alterni teretes.
"
Folia fub-alterna. Foliola 5?10 jugata
f1 impari-pinnata, oppoiita, oblonga, obtufe-
"
-acu mi-

ff Pist. Germina 3. contigua, receptaculo tumido infi-

{* dentia, globofa, gl&berrima. Stylus ftaminibus longior,
?' jqaeter, 2-ndus. Stigmata fimplicia.
"
Per.. Drupes tres, globofss, uniloculars, bivalves, re-
"
ceptaculo ampliato, hoemifphserico infidentes, diftantes,
f* magnitudine pill majoris.
"
Sem. Nuces folitaria:, globofc, glabra:, nauco fra-
"
giii-"
From this defcription, Dr. Swartz obferves, we may

'perceive the near affinity of this tree to the genus of Quaffia.

It approaches, he thinks, nearer to the Simarouba than
to the Amara; but differs from both in being without the
fnuamula; neclarii, which are placed under the germeb on the
baiis of the filaments, and in having in general five, and
fometimes, though rarely, only four flamina inftead of ten.
Thefe two charafleriftic differences, however, are not, in
his opinion, fufficient to conftitute a diftindt genus.
L 3 Dr.
 [ 15? 3
ff acuminata, glabra, integerrima, venofa, brc:
((
viter petiolata. Petiolus communis fubtus nu-
"
dus. Stipule laterales parvas, lanceoiatas,
{e
ereda?, decidual.
"
Inflorefcentia cymofa. TeduncuU folitarii,
<c
teretes, plerumque nudi, in plurimos ramu-

"
los divifi.

u
Flos MAScfcics/ *

"
Cal.
Terianthium, infernum, minimum, ex
ic
fquamnlis quatuor compofitum. Foliolis
?c ovatis perfiftentibus.
"
Cor. Petala 4, oblonga, obtufa, asqualia, feffi-
<c
lia, fubere&a. NeElarium ex fquamis 4 ovatis,
ct
villofis, bafi filamentoriun interiori infertis.

Dr. Swartz agrees with Mr. Lindfay in his account of the

by every part of the tree;

intenfely bitter tafte poffeffed
and obferves that the negroes have recourfe to an infufion
of it in rum in fome affe&ions of theftomach. Ke likewife
mentions its ufe as an anthelmintic. His figure of the plant

agrees with that given by Mr. Lindfay.?-See Kongl. Ve-

tenflcaps Academien nya Handlingar, Tom. 9, p. 302. 8vo.

Stockholm, 1788. Editor.

"
Stam,
 E '51 J
(t
St am.
filament a. 4, 5, 6, filiformia, fube-
f?
re6ta, ^qualia, corolla longiora, receptaculo
#<
inferta. Anthera firriplices ere&ze.

Flos HermaPhroditus in diver/a Arbore.

<c
Cal. et Cor. ut in mare,
"
Stam. ut in mare, fed filamenta corollam
(i vix fuperant,
"
Fiji. Receptaculum carnofum, orbicula-
i4
turn, elevatum, gcrmine latius. Germen fub-
"
ovatum, ex duobus, tribus, raro quatuor
f? leviter coherentibus.
compofitum, Styli
craffiufculi, eredti. Stigmata 2, 3', 4, fim-
"
plicia, declinata.
"
Per. Drupas 2, 3, 4, globofa?, laterales,
"
diftantes, nigerrim^, nitentes, receptaculo
infertae.
"
Sem. Solitaria globofa, unilocularia, nauco

fragili tedta."

Lindfay next gives an account of the

Mr.
Cinchona Brachycarpa, a new fpecies of Cin-
chona growing in Jamaica. This tree was
firft difcovered by him in November, 1784, on

L. 4 the
 I M? 3
the north-eaft fide of the hill that overlooks
*
? '
^
the works of Mountain Spring eftate, in the pa-
rifli of Wcftmoreland, and afterwards on fome
of the mountains near the Moreland eftates in
the fame parifh. As it has hitherto been un-

known naturalifts, he has given the following

to

botanical of it, which in the work itfelf

account

is illuflrated by an engraving.

"
Pentandria Monogynia.

"
Cdl. Perianthium monophyllum, fuperum,
<e
campanulatum, parVum, 5 dentatura, per-
'
"
fiftens, dentibus acutis, ere<?tis. -

"
Cor. Monopetala, infundibuliformis. Tu-
"
bus cylin&iaceus longiffimus. Laclniis, an-
(e
gufto oblongis, patente revolutis.
"
Stam. Filamenta 5, interdum fex, fili-
11
formia, tubo longiora, in fauce tubi inferta.
{i
Anther<s liheares erectas.
c<
Piji. Germen ovatum, inferum. Stylus
"
filiformis longitudine ftaminum. Stigma
ci
craffiufculum fimplex.
ovatum
"
Per.
Capfula obiongo ovata magna, calyce
u
coronata, bipartibilis./ dehilcens in duas
'
? "
partem
 [ ?53 3
<4
partes intcrius dehifcentes, diflfepimcnto pi-
fi<
rallelo. ?

"
Semina plurima, parva, comprefla, mar-
u
ginata,
"
Arbor eredVa 20 pedes alta, ramis patenti-
"
bus. Cortex fufco-cinereus, fapore primo
"
dulci, mox amarefcente.
<c
Folia oppofita, oblongo-ovata, integerri-
glabra, fubtus venof3, petiolata. Pe-
"
ma,
breves, fupra fulcati. Stipul# laterales,
"
tioli
"
' ovato-lanceolatae, Integra,
'
caulem ardle am-
|" : i *!?"?
.1 '?>? ,C-?
?. ?

plexantes.
"
Injiprefcentia paniculato-corymbofa, termi-
"
nalis. Pedunculus plerumque brachiato-tri-
"
ternatus, teres, nudus. Corolla glabra, pal-
"
lide rubra vel carnea, tres circiter pollicc*
"
longa."
Mr. Lindfay has met with this tree only in
three places; in the inland, woody, and moun-
tainous parts of Weftmoreland and Hanover
parifhes. The tailed he has ever feen was
about thirty feet high, and 7 or 8 inches in dia-
meter. The branches, we are told, are few
and fpreading. The leaves ftand in pairs, arc

fmooth and fhining, and are

very like thofe of
the Portlandia grandiflora. The flowers grow
in pretty large clufters, on the extremities of
I tfcc
 C '54 ]
the branches; and have nearly the beauty and
appearance of the common
honey fuckle, but
are rather larger.

The feed-pod, he obferves,is larger than in any

other plant of this genus; is oval, adorned with a
calyx of a firm confidence, fomewhat ftriated,
and black-coloured; and when ripe, fpiits in
two, and difcha'ges a number of fmall, flat,
brown feeds, with a membrane nearly round
the edges.
The trunk and branches are defcribed as be-

ing of a brownifh gray colour, with a few fur

perficial furrows, and crofs cracks like the Pe-

ruvian bark. The bark of the
trunk, we are

told,'is pretty thick; and when wounded, exr

udes a fmall quantity of a milky juice. The

bark, when dried, is of a
purplifh brown co-
lour on the infide. It is fibrous, and more

difficult pulverife than the Peruvian bark.

to

The powder is of a purplifh gray colour, and

taftes fweet, then bitter and aftringent.
This fpecies, our author thinks, might be
ufed as a fubftitute to the Peruvian bark; but

tinfortunately the tree is fcarce and fmall, and

enough of it cannot be had, at lead in thofe

he has found it
parts of Jamaica in which
growing. This lofs, he obferves, may be com-

penfated
 [ ?
H5 J
pcnfated by the abundance of the Cinchona
Caribasa feu Jamaicenfis, defcribed by Dr.
Wright in the ,67th vol. of Phil. Tranf. and

which, he is allured, has been found to anfwer

all thepurpofes of the Cinchona Officinalis.
He does not pretend to hold up this new
bark as fuperior, or even equal to the Peruvian.
He has given it, however, in the ilighter cafes
of intermitting and remitting fevers, with good
effedt; and in a few inftances, it produced a
cure, where the patients had taken the common
and red barks to no purpofe.
To perfons afflicted with intermittent?, he

gives of the powder from twelve grains to

thirty every hour, or every two hours in the
abfence of fever. By this means, a flop has
been put to the fever, and the patients have.
recovered. He has alfo adminiitered this new
1
'

bark in dyfpepfia, both in

powder and infufion,
and found that it fateafy the ftomach, and
on

promoted appetite. He had fhewn this fpe-

cies of Cinchona to Dr. Wright, before he left
Jamaica, *and gave him a little of the bark.
The Docftor gave it in powder to a
patient,
but found it emetic, which could only happen,
our author thinks, from fome peculiarity of
con-
 [ 'j6 3
In letter
^onftitution *. a to Mr. Lindfay, bfc
intimates, that probably the fame thing would
happen, with the bark of every other tree of
thi|
genus, if given before it is completely dried.
Mr. Lindfay's paper clofes with fome few
remarks on the red Peruvian bark. ?

fubftance, when genuine, and giver?

This
l>riJkly in pretty large dofes, will, he obferves,
in particular cafes, occafion a degree of anxiety,
depreffion, giddinefs, and faintnefs, that are
alarming to the patient and his friends, and
perhaps, if not timely attended to, might be
of ferious confequence. This, he adds, only
happens in certain conftitutions, and in weakly
habits, or thofe rendered fo by difeafe.
This effedt of the red bark, fo far as he
knows, has not been taken notice of by any
writer, and when it occurs in private practice,
is either pot attended to, or imputed to fome
other caufe. Mr. Lindfay gives the following
extradl of a letter from James Graham, Elq.
a refpcctable inhabitant of Jamaica, which, he
thinks, places this circumftance in a ftrong
light.
? See London Medical Vol. VIII, page 241.
Journal,
Mr.
 t 157 3
Mr. Graham, after having been afili<9:e<$
with a fever and ague for feveral months, at
length took the red bark in dofes of thirty
"
grains each. On
taking the firft," fays he,
I inftantly perceived an unufual pungency
on my tongue. After the fifth, I felt an
anxiety about my breaft with faintiflinefs;
and had hardly done fwallowing the fixth,
when I was feized with giddinefs, an uni-
verfal tremor, and a profufe cold fweat. A
little wine, which was given me in this fituzt-
tion, relieved me confiderably. In about
an hour, ail the
alarming fymptoms difap-
peared, but I remained weak and languid.
From that day, however, the fever left me,
and did not return till feveral months after,
when it was brought on by a cold, and was
removed by the bark adminiftered in the
fame manner, and attended nearly by the
fame fymptoms as before."

XV. Ex-