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Cinchona, or quinine bark, is
one of the rainforest's most famous plants and most
important discoveries. Legend has it that the name cinchona
came from the countess of Chinchon, the wife of a Peruvian
viceroy, who was cured of a malarial type of fever by using
the bark of the cinchona tree in 1638. It was supposedly
introduced to European medicine in 1640 by the countess of
Chinchon, even before botanists had identified and named the
species of tree.
Quinine bark was first advertised for sale
in England in 1658, and was made official in the British
Pharmacopoeia in 1677. Physicians gave credit to the drug
and, because of its effectiveness with malaria, it was
recognized officially even while the identity of the tree
species remained unknown. Several years after the "Countess's
powder" arrived in England, it arrived in Spain.
It is used for anemia,
indigestion, gastrointestinal disorders, general fatigue,
fevers, malaria and as an appetite stimulant. Other folk
remedies in South America cite quinine bark as a natural
remedy for cancer (breast, glands, liver, mesentery, spleen),
amebic infections, heart problems, colds, diarrhea,
dysentery, dyspepsia, fevers, flu, hangover, lumbago,
malaria, neuralgia, pneumonia, sciatica, typhoid, and
varicose veins. In European herbal medicine the bark is
considered antiprotozoal, antispasmodic, antimalarial, a
bitter tonic, and a fever-reducer. There it is used as an
appetite stimulant, for hair loss, alcoholism, liver, spleen,
and gallbladder disorders; and to treat irregular heart beat,
anemia, leg cramps, and fevers of all kinds. |
