Cinchona economically practical source of quinine, a drug that is still recommended for the treatment of "falciparum" malaria. The Italian botanist Pietro Castelli wrote a pamphlet noteworthy as being the first Italian publication to mention the cinchona. By the 1630s (or 1640s, depending on the reference), the bark was being exported to Europe. In the late 1640s, the method of use of the bark was noted in the "Schedula Romana." English King Charles II called upon Robert Talbor, who had become famous for his miraculous malaria cure. Because at that time the bark was in religious controversy, Talbor gave the king
Tree of the Virgin Tree of the Virgin The Tree of the Virgin is a sycamore tree in the El Matareya suburb of Cairo, Egypt. According to local beliefs, the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph stopped at El Matareya (then a small village) on the Flight into Egypt. Mary rested against the tree and a spring of water sprang up near it for Mary to wash Jesus. For many years its bark was taken by Christians in the belief that it had miraculous properties. It has been a place of pilgrimage for Coptic Christians for many centuries, who come to pray by it or