Edward Stone (natural philosopher) piece of bark from a willow tree and was struck by its extremely bitter taste. Knowing that the bark of the Peruvian cinchona tree − from which quinine (used in the treatment of malarial fevers) is derived − has a similarly bitter taste, he surmised that the willow might also have therapeutic properties. Stone's interest in willows was due to the ancient "doctrine of signatures" – whereby the cause of a disease offers a clue to its treatment. According to Stone: "As this tree delights in a moist or wet soil, where agues chiefly abound, the general maxim that many
Cinchona Garden in January 1861. James Taylor, the pioneer of tea planting in Sri Lanka, was one of the pioneers of cinchona cultivation. By 1883, about were in cultivation in Sri Lanka, with exports reaching a peak of 15 million pounds in 1886. The cultivation (initially of "Cinchona succirubra" and later of "C. calisaya") was extended through the work of George King and others into the hilly terrain of Darjeeling District of Bengal. Cinchona factories were established at Naduvattam in the Nilgiris and at Mungpoo, Darjeeling, West Bengal. Quinologists were appointed to oversee the extraction of alkaloids with John Broughton in