Manuel Incra Mamani

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Black and white photograph of Santiago, the son of Manuel Incra Mamari.

Manuel Incra Mamani (? – 1871) was a Bolivian cascarillero (bark and seed hunter) from Coroico.[1] He may have been of either Quechua and/or Aymara descent. Mamani found a cinchona tree species (Cinchona ledgeriana syn. C. calisaya) that had a higher proportion of quinine than most others.[2][3] This species went into Dutch commercial cultivation, providing most of the world's quinine well into the 20th century.[4][5][6]

Life and work[edit]

Mamani was an experienced bark and seed collector, and had worked for Charles Ledger since 1843.[7] He was able to identify at least 29 different sorts of cinchona trees.[8] Ledger had noted Mamani's knowledge in a letter where he recorded asking him for his opinion on finding good quality cinchona trees in the area they were staying. Mamani responded "No Señor, the trees here about do not see the snow-capped mountains".[1]

Mamani waited through four years of unsuitable weather (frosts destroyed the seeds from the high-quinine plants), and gave offerings to mountain spirits, in order to obtain a sample of seed from the high-quinine cinchona in 1865.[7][9][10] The seeds that Mamani provided were sent to Ledger's brother, George, who then sold them to the Dutch government, who then cultivated plants in Java.[11] Local people disapproved of Mamani helping Ledger.[3][12]

The plant from which Mamani collected seed was later named Cinchona ledgeriana (syn C. calisaya) after Charles Ledger. Mamani is noted only as a "native" in some accounts of its finding and cultivation.[13]

One researcher has suggested that 'Incra Mamani', as spelled by Charles Ledger in his letters, may be an Anglicization of 'Icamanahí'.[4][1]

Death[edit]

In 1871, whilst on a seed-collecting trip, Mamani was arrested, imprisoned and beaten.[3][14] Some have suggested that this was likely because of his providing seeds to foreigners.[8][12] Others suggest it was because he refused to identify his employer.[3][15] He subsequently died of his injuries.[3][12]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Ledger, Charles. "Letter from Charles Ledger to John Eliot Howard" (22 December 1874). JEH/1/42. Library & Archives, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  2. ^ Baird, J. Kevin (2004-04-01). "The Miraculous Fever Tree: Malaria and the Quest for a Cure That Changed the World". The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. 70 (4): 457–458. doi:10.4269/ajtmh.2004.70.457.
  3. ^ a b c d e Gramiccia, G (1988). The Life of Charles Ledger (1818-1905): Alpacas and Quinine. Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-349-09951-1.
  4. ^ a b Jaramillo-Arango, A (1949). "A critical review of the basic facts in the history of cinchona" (PDF). Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 53 (352): 272–311. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.1949.tb00419.x.
  5. ^ Roersch van der Hoogte, A; Pieters, T (2014). "Science in the service of colonial agro-industrialism: The case of cinchona cultivation in the Dutch and British East Indies, 1852–1900". Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences. 47: 12–22. doi:10.1016/j.shpsc.2014.05.019. PMID 24981994.
  6. ^ Roersch van der Hoogte, A; Pieters, T (2015). "Science, industry and the colonial state: a shift from a German-to a Dutch-controlled cinchona and quinine cartel (1880–1920)". History and Technology. 31 (1): 2–36. doi:10.1080/07341512.2015.1068005. S2CID 153489022.
  7. ^ a b Holland, J. H. (1932). "Ledger Bark and Red Bark". Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew). 1932 (1): 1–17. doi:10.2307/4107725. ISSN 0366-4457. JSTOR 4107725.
  8. ^ a b Bland, John (1988). "He gave quinine to the world" (PDF). World Health – via World Health Organisation.
  9. ^ Canales, Nataly Allasi (7 April 2022). "Hunting lost plants in botanical collections". Wellcome Collection. Retrieved 2022-05-09.
  10. ^ Honigsbaum, Mark (2005). The Fever Trail: In Search of the Cure for Malaria. Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-312-42180-9.
  11. ^ "Drinkable bark that lost its touch". Times Higher Education (THE). 2002-01-18. Retrieved 2022-05-09.
  12. ^ a b c "The weird and wonderful world of the plant hunters – part 4: Quinine, the cinchona tree and empires in competition". Trees for Cities. 2 April 2020. Retrieved 2022-05-09.
  13. ^ Zhu, Lihua (2018-06-27). "Products of the Empire: Cinchona: a short history". lib.cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 2022-05-09.
  14. ^ Chatterjee, Sria (11 March 2021). "The Long Shadow Of Colonial Science". Noema.
  15. ^ Lee, M.R. (2002). "Plants Against Malaria, Part 1: Cinchona or the Peruvian Bark" (PDF). J R Coll Physicians Edinb. 32 (3): 189–196. PMID 12434796.
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