Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1879-07-17
QUININE.
From the New York Times.

modern practice OF medicine probably
the most valuable of all remedial
drugs at the command of the physi-
cain. Mercury-much abused by some
quacks, and much villitied by others,
but priceless specifc-and opium are
its chief rivals, but it may be doubted
whether, rs it is now used, quinine
does not bear the palm, even in com
parison with those great staples of the
pharmacopeia. We say as now used,
for the virtues of quinine were not
really known to physicians of the past
generation-hardly suspected by them
and their use of it was timid as well
as restricted. Readers of old novels
and diaries will remember records of
patients taking bark" or port wine
and bark" This was the old way of
taking quininc, which is the active
principle of the bark of the cinchona,
known as Peruvian bark. All our
readers may not remember the story
that the virtues of the bark of this
tree i'll periodic malarious fcvers were
discovered by the so-called Indians Of
Peru, where such fcvers greatly pre-
/ vail in their most destructive form,
and where the inhabitants found that
those who drank of the waters of n
certain pool were cured of the fever,
or protected against it. the reason be-
ing, rs was discovered, that branches
of this tree fell into the pool, and lay
there stepping and impregnating its
waters with their icbriiugal qualities.
The truth of this story is doubted, aud
it has even been denied that the Peru.
vians knew of the medicinal use of
this bark. The way in which our
grandiathers and grandmoihers avail
ed themselves OF its curative powers
was by taking it in bulk, ground fine
and mixed with port wine. The rene
. dy Is invaluable, but the "mcss" was
Il somewhat repulsive one, and from
its consistcncc, if not from it, taste, it
stuck in the throat of the takcr."
Large and frequent doses, too, were
required to get thoroughly remedial
effect from the medicine in this crude
state. H. B. the great English
caricaturist of forty or fifty years ago,
represented servant coming in with
Il message from his master to n fellow
lodgcr, begging him to quiet his dog
Dog y is the reply. I've no dog.
Ny medical man told me to drink
port wine and bark And so sips
winel bow, WOW, WOW ~
J The change in medicinal practice
/ produced by the comparatively recent
discovery Of the active principle OF the
bark in certain alkaloid salts was very
great, and the efficacy of the drug, a,
| we'll as the convenience of taking il,
was largely increased But, rs We
| have before remarked, the Use of qui.
nine was timid, and the range OF it,
curative power was supposed to be re-.
| stricted. Its use was confined almost
entirely to cases of periodical fever
and it was given in doses of from two
\ to three grains three times a day. II
was taken, too, with apprehension of
di-agreeable and even very injurious
consequences, because its use was some
times followed by sense of buzzing
in the head and singing in the ears
Its use, however, increased steadily,
and it became, rs il must needs have
become, the one great remedy against
that most widely.diffused of all en-.
dcmic diseases, fever and ague, the
"tcrtian ague" of our forefathcrs
Against this it is specific, and to all
intents and purposes, an untailing
remedy, the number of cases that re-.
sist a course of quinine, faithfully fbl.
lowed and continued for twcnty.one
days, being practically incoDsidcrable
But physicians nowadays deal with
this bcnefccnt drug with little fear
1t is not uncommon to give doses OF
ten grains three times n day, making
thirty grains in the twenty.four hours,
instead of the six or nine Of our faith.
ers' days nor is it found that dis
agreeable consequences manifest them
selves in this treatment in n greater
degree or more frequently than they
did in the more timid exhibitions Of
the drug in past years. Indeed, some
intelligent physicians have inclined to
the opinion that these consequences
are the result Of insufficient doses, and
are the signs Of an incomplete cure.
However this may be, quinine is now
given with beneficent effect and with
impunity rs to consequences, in doses
that would have frightened the medi-
cal men of the last generation, and
cases of quinine poisoning seem to be
rarer than they were formerly.
1t is, however, in the range Of its
efficacy that the great advance has
been made in the use of quinine, and
that advance has been within very late
years. 1t has come greatly into use in
neuralgia and all nervous, hystcrical
and spasmodic diseases. II is used to
break up periodicity in diseases of all
1 4. 4 Il. A 4