Omaha daily bee., 1884-11-14
A POTENT DRUG.
The Value and Universal Medical Use
Of QUiIlIG,
What IL 10, How II is Prepared, n
What II is Used fora Great
Range of Price, Size
of Doses, Etc.
prairie Farmar

Brairle Farmer,
: No other substance in the whole range
OF the materia med1ca has been 80 great o
boon to the human race as quinine; and
in later years 1t has been administered to
many ailing domestic animals with de-
cided benefit. A vast amount of suffer
ing has been alleviated by it, and many
hundreds of thousands of lives have been
saved or prolonged, during the settle
ment of our new country, where there
has been constant exposure to decaying
accumulations of centuries OF vegetable
growth. "Ague," ''chills," "fever.and-
ague" have been the thing, Of all others,
to be dreaded by those going into new
regions, especially those covered with
forests in somewhat level countries. We
well remember that when our neighbors,
in families and groups, emigrated to the
wilds OF Michigan, the first inquiry made
concerning them whether they had yet
had, or how they got through with the
inevitable intermittent fever, or 'fever-
nague," as it was usually termed. Dur
ing the late wal probably more men were
placed hors du combat and came home
with health shattered by malaria than
persisted from the rifle and cannon mis-
siles. 1t is perhaps safe to say that the
amount of suffering from this would have
been doubled had not quinine been a
leading article In the army medical sup
plies.
The large increase in the average length
of human life during the last forty years
ia due in no small measure to the In
creased production of quinine, and its al
most universal use by physicians. The
writer of this can but speak with graft
tude, and feelingly, on this subject, after
suffering more or less for a dozen years
from the effects of malaria brought homo
from long day and night service in the
hospital camps of Virginia during 1863-G4.
Finding little relief from any other
treatment, excepting when residing
among the mountains of Switzerland, ne
began the use of quinine in 1876, by the
advice of the late Bishop Simpson. The
change was wonderful. With the ex.
ception OF a temporary prostrat!on by
heat in the summer of 1883, he has not
Lost o dozen days from ill-health aimee
taking the bishops advice; and to-day by
the continuance of very small quantities
Of q~uinine only, he is more vigorous than
even in ''the prime of life" period,
between forty and fifty. He goes through
fourteen to sixteen hours a day of vigor-
Gus work, and even enjoys it. We
attribute this almost wholly to q%uinine,
and one reason why will be seen further
on.
A little history of q~uinine will be in
teresting. The natives of some parts of
South America, particularly in Peru and
Ecuador, had long known the beneficial
effects of the Cinchona tree or shrub. Per-
haps from its having been found largerin
Peru, it received the appellation of "Pe-
ruvian bark" 1t has, in it's different
varieties, been called Cinchons bark,
Callsaya bark, and a score of other less
common m One report is, that the
Spanish Countess of Cinchon, whose
husband had been Viceroy of Peru,
brought the remedy into Spain on his
return in 1640. After its introduction it
was sold by the Jesuits for it's weight in
silver. 1t only became generally known
in England and France just about 200
years ago. But the powdered bark, or a
decoction of it, was employed up to the
present century, and In leading medical
works of only 40 years ago the bark was
chiefly specified. Since then the work
of extracting quinia, or quinine, from
the bark has gone forward with rapid
strides, and during 90 years past the use
of quinine has very greatly extended.
There is now made and used double if
not three fold the quantity of 90 years
ago. The English Government estab-
llshed the culture of the cinchons tree in
East India possessions, and these planta-
tions are now supplying an immense
amount of the bark from which ~quinine
is extracted. The present unprecedent-
ed low price is largely due to this new
source of supply.
Quinine is an alkaline substance OBJ.
tanned by chemical processes somewhat
tedious and expensive, from cinchona
bark which yields 2 to 8 per cent of it's
This quinia, or q~uinine, is now
almost universally used in the form of a
sulphate-a union of the alkali with sui.
phuric acid-and whenever quinine is
of without qualification, the sui
phate of q~uinine is meant. The reader
has doubtless noticed that in ell prescrip.
the sulphate of quinine is specified.
Its effects are quite similar to the powd-
cred bark, or the simple quinine.
the war when providing 1t for the
use of the United States
Sanitary commission, or for private use,
it cost, if we remember rightly, about
300 a pound, or So TO So per ounce.
1t Is quoted in Europe as low as
an ounce (4379 grains), and can prob.
ably be bought in large quantities as low
AZ that in New York. This very low
rate, as stated above, is due to the
present over stock, resulting in part from
The production of the cinchona trees by
,he English government. 1t is said that
,ven with the recent great improvement
IN the processes of manufacture or ex.
present prices are below actual
cost. But it is doubtful IL the wholesale
prices will ever rise to So an ounce, un-
it be during some temporary ''cor-
Formerly there were only two or
three manufacturers in our own or in any
one European country. Now there are
and competition is likely to keep
prices within reasonable limits. The old
of 3 to 6 cents a grain may be
by druggists dealing it out in
small doses; but any one can get an ounce
Of sulphate OF quinine for from $3.50
10 SO.
We do not believe in recommending
any medicine to promiscuous use. We
refuse all medical advertisements, be-
cause, however good a medicine may be,
no unprofessional person can say that
this or that may be used or useful in his
- l. "