Note 33 — Chapter I

The word quinquina is generally adopted for the medical preparations which are taken from Peruvian bark. Quina signifies bark in Quichua, and quinquina is a bark possessing some medicinal property. Quinine is, of course, derived from quina, chinchonine from chinchona. The Spaniards corrupted the word quina into china; and in homœopathy the word china is still retained. In 1735, when M. de la Condamine visited Peru, the native name of quina-quina was almost entirely replaced by the Spanish term cascarilla, which also means bark.