The Cephelis take rank next the Coffee-trees. They are small shrubs, natives of the solitary forests of Brazil. They are chiefly distinguished by the properties of their roots which yield ipecacuanha, a drug having bitter, acrid, and nauseous properties, but a valuable medicine; it is the produce of Cephelis ipecacuanha and some other species. The drug in which the emetic properties of this plant reside is found in the bark of the roots.

The CrncHonace” also belong to this group (Fig. 444). These are evergreen trees or shrubs which grow in the tropical Andes, — between ten degrees of north latitude and nineteen degrees south, at a height of from seven to eight hundred feet above the level of z

the sea. The Cinchones have regular hemaphrodite flowers; monosepalous calyx with five teeth; the corolla is monopetalous, cup-shaped, and five-lobed; stamens five, alternate with these lobes, inserted upon the tube of the corolla; anthers two-celled, opening from within. The pistil consists of an inferior ovarium surmounted by a style, divided into two stigmatic branches. The ovarium has two cells, in each of which is a large placenta filled with anatropal ovules; the first is a capsule which opens from above in two valves; the seeds are winged. Wonderful medicinal properties reside in this family. The bark of most of the ligneous species contains an astringent and bitter principle, which, 7's: 4#4—Flower of Cinchona. though existing in other genera, is more abundant in the Cinchona, and especially in C. calisayra, the bark of which appears to be the richest in quinine of all the known species.

The mode of procuring this invaluable febrifuge is interesting, and has been recorded in the following notes. “‘ About the end of June, 1847,” says Mr. Weddell, “I set out to walk to the province of Casabaya. This province is divided by the Cordilleras into two

distinct regions; the one forming table-lands, the other comprehending a long series of parallel valleys..... These valleys furnish the greater part of the Peruvian bark. It would be difficult to give an idea of all the treasures of vegetation buried in these vast solitudes. The thirst for gold formerly peopled them, but the wilderness has resumed its empire, and the axe of the cascarillero alone breaks its silence now.

“The name of cascarillero is given to those men who cut the Peruvian bark in the woods; they are brought up to this occupation from their childhood, and instinctively, as one might say, they find their way to the centre of the forest, through almost inextricable labyrinths, as if the horizon were open before them.

“These cascarilleros do not gather the Peruvian bark for their own profit; generally they are enrolled in the service of some radesman or small company, who send a sort of overseer to superintend their labour. Having fixed upon a portion of the

forest favourable to their purpose, the party proceed to make roads to the point which is to be the centre of their operations. From this time, every part of the forest—a view of which is com-manded by the new pathway—becomes provisionally the property of the party, and no other cascarilleros dare work it.

“The overseer, having established his camp, proceeds to build a hangar, or wooden hut, in which he can shelter himself and store his provisions; and if their stay is likely to be prolonged, he does not hesitate to sow maize and vegetables for the use of the party; the cascarilleros, in the meantime, wandering over the forest one by one, or in small bands, each enveloped in his poncho, with provisions for several days, and the blankets which constitute their beds. They range the forest, axe or knife in hand, to clear away the innumerable obstacles which arrest their progress at every step; for the cascarillero is exposed to dangers which often endanger his life. The forests are rarely composed entirely of Cinchonia; but these shrubs form groups more or less numerous, scattered here and there in the depths of the forest; sometimes-and this is commonly the case—they are completely isolated. If the position be favourable, a glance at the branches: a slight display of colour, peculiar to the leaves—a particular colouring of these same organs—the aspect produced by a large mass of inflorescence, reveals the branch of the manchas, as the Peruvians term the tree, at a great distance. In other circumstances, he must content himself with an inspection of the trunk, in which the outer layer of bark—the fallen leayes, even—are sufficient to make known the neighbourhood of the object of their search. Having marked the group, they begin operations by felling the tree with the axe, 4 little above the root, taking care, in order to lose none of the bark, to bare it at the place where the axe is to be laid; and as the thickest part is surrounded by the largest quantity of bark, and is the most profitable, it is usual to dig out the earth consequently at the foot of the trunk, so that the barking should be complete. “The Cinchona is sometimes completely surrounded, as in a pit, with dianes, which shoot from tree to tree. ‘‘T remember having cut down a large tree, hoping to get the flowers, but after having knocked down three neighbouring trees, it still remained standing, supported in that position by the, “anes,

Plate XVI.—Gathering Bark in a Peruvian Forest.

FAGUET LAPLANTE

which were wound round its branches, supporting it as if wrapped in a shroud. When, at last, the tree falls, the outer bark is gathered by means of a wooden mallet, or the back of an axe. The part thus stripped is then brushed, and divided throughout by uniform incisions. e bark is separated from the trunk by means of a knife, with the point of which the surface of the wood is raised. The bark of the branches is separated much as that of the trunk. The details of dressing the bark vary alittle in the two cases; in fact, the thinner plates of the bark of the branches, which make the rolled quinine, called canuto, are merely exposed to the sun, when they take of themselves the desired form, which is that of a hollow cylinder; but those which are the produce of the trunk, and constitute the ordinary bark, which is called tabla, are subjected during the drying process to great pressure, without which they would take the shape of the others. After their first exposure to the sun, the squares are disposed one on the top of the other, just like the planks of deal in a timberyard, and are kept level by means of heavy weights laid on the pile. The next day the squares of bark are put back again in the sun for a short while, then back again into the press, and soon. In this state they are left at last.

“But the work of the cascarillero is not nearly finished, even when the preparation of the bark is over; his spoil has to be conveyed to the camp. With a heavy load upon his shoulder, he has to retrace the intricate paths that he traversed with difficulty without his burden. I have seen more, than one district where the | bark had to be carried through the wood during fifteen or twenty _ days—it is difficult to conceive how such Jabour can be properly - remunerated.; “The care of cine the bark, which devolves upon the overseer, is no: unimportant part of the labour. He arranges the different loads, as the cutters bring them into the camp, in parcels, which are sewn up in woollen canvas packing.” . In this condition the bales are transported on oe backs of men, dana: or mules, to the town depéts, where they are packed in copper, in which state they acquire a great solidity. When dry they are called swrows, and in this condition they reach Europe. Plate XVI., copied from Mr. Weddell’s work, represents

the harvesting of the bark of the Cinchona in the manner described in a Peruvian forest.. We cannot conclude our remarks on the Rubiacex without mentioning a few of the more ornamental species which embellish our hothouses. Such are the /xora coccinea; beautiful shrubs of the island of Ceylon, with persistent leaves, slightly succulent, and a bright red flower, disposed in tufts, which long preserve their brilliancy. The Jzora odorata is another species, a native of Madagascar, whose large red and white corolla exhales a delicious odour. The /ondeletia speciosa, from the Havanna, has tubular flowers, of a brilliant scarlet outside, with yellowish orange mside the throat. The Rogiera, from Guatemala; the Bouvardia, from Mexico; the Luculia gratissema, from Nepal, whose rose-coloured corollas exhale a delicious perfume; and the Gardena Horida, commonly called the Cape Jasmine, are all beautiful members of the interesting order Rubiacez. The Capriro.races# are natives of the northern parts of Europe, Asia, and America, but rare in Northern Africa, and still less known in the southern hemisphere. Many of the family are climbing plants, of which section the Honeysuckle is an example. The British species are sometimes divided into— 1. Sambucinee, with rotate corolla and five-celled fruit, including the Guelder Rose (Viburnum) and the Elder (Sambucus); and 2. Caprifolice. Corolla tubular and campanulate, with a two-lipped or five-cleft limb, including the Honeysuckle (Lonicera) and Linnea. Among the fine exotics belonging to the order are the Loniceras and Viburnums of China and J apan, and Leycesterva Jormosa, named by Wallich in honour of Judge Leycester, = elegant and beautiful flowering shrub, the deep green hue of its stem and leaves contrasting finely with the purple of its large bracts and berries. The Sambucez, or Elders, are familiar inhabitants of our hedgerows, and about cottages and farmhouses, generally near ponds # ditches with stagnant water. The dwarf species (S. ebulus) 18 foetid, and somewhat nauseous. The common Elder (S. nigra), a small bushy tree, is an elegant shrub, with delicate cream coloured flowers in cymes, which are in full blossom in J une; and its dark purple clusters of berries are equally beautiful im Sep- 5

tember and October. Large orchards of Elders are cultivated in Kent for the purpose of making wine from their fruit. The flowers are also distilled with water and alcohol, and yield a perfumed liquid known as elder-flower water, much approved for the toilet, and in confectionary.

The Guelder Rose and the Laburnum have a fine effect in a well-arranged shrubbery, the balls of white blossom of the first contrasting beautifully with the rich yellow clusters of the latter.

The Honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum) is also the Woodbine of the poets, the “ twisted Eglantine”’ of Milton and of Shakespeare, who combines them in one stanza—

**So doth the Macraeon— honeysuckle, ently entwist the

In many green lanes in Britain ss sweet-scented climber may be observed encircling the stem of some young tree, which bears indelible marks of its friendly embrace as it winds round the stem from left to right. The bright red, or rather crimson, berries of the Honeysuckle succeed the fragrant verticiles of flowers, equalling them in beauty. Linnea is a lowly slick the name of which was changed from Nummularia, at the request of the great Botanist, to commemorate his own name. “Its lonely, depressed growth,” he said, “was a fitting emblem of his own early fate.” It is found in Fir woods in the North of England and Scotland, and also in the northern regions of Europe, distinguished by its slender, trailing stem, and drooping flowers of pale purplish’ rose colour, and something between a bell and funnel shaped corolla.

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