Empire and alternatives: Swietenia febrifuga and the cinchona substitutes

摘要

This paper focuses on a cinchona substitute, the Swietenia febrifuga (also known as Soymida febrifuga), whose medical virtues for treating intermittent fevers were discovered in India around 1791 by William Roxburgh, the English East India Company (EEIC) surgeon in charge of the Company's botanical garden in Samulcottah (north of Chennai or Madras). The bark was subsequently subjected to several experiments in three main cities, Samulcottah, Madras (the EEIC headquarters on the east coast of India) and Tranquebar (the Danish base on the same coast). The research and promotion of the bark were carried out by Roxburgh, other surgeons, missionaries and also the EEIC's commercial agents.