J. de Morainville y el primer dibujo universal de la quina o cascarilla

Abstract

The French Geodesics Mission under Louis Godin and Charles-Marie de La Condamine command arrived to the Presidency of Quito in 1763. This mission was sent by the Sciences Academy of Paris to carry out studies aimed at defining accurately the Earth’s shape. One of the members of this Mission was the engineer J. de Morainville who went to the Zaraguro site (Loja Province, Ecuador) in 1738 accompanied by La Condamine. The purpose of their trip was to study the “quina or cascarilla”, a tree which was used to treat malaria. In this occasion, Morainville made the first drawing of the cascarilla.

Keywords

• Ecuador
• De Morainville
• voyagers
• XVIIIth century
• quinine.