New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1886-06-27
QUININE cHGAP1R raAY EYER BEFoRI

WHAT CAUSES THIS PROFITS MADE BY EErMLFRs
-uow THE PUBLIC Is CHEATED.
Ii may be some consolation 10 sufferers from
malaria to know that there Is little If any impure
quiDine IN the market ut present. This desirable
state Of thing, is not due to any sudden spasm OF
virtue on the part OF druggists. but arises from
causes that purely economical. Quinine IL
lower in price than it has ever been; 1t Is
selling wholesale at % cents an ounce ana Is so
much cheaper proportonately than its usual adnI-
tcrants that loss rather than profit would result
from mixing these with II.
"People are almost certain to get quinine pure
this season. no matter where they buy it,, SAID the
proprietor OF one OF the large drug stores near me
Post -O0lce. "Ihc most INSCRIPTIONS druggist mas
no incentive to aduteratc II now rs he did whrn nc
used 10 pay ~ and - an ounce lot ~ Urn !,
paid 10 mix il with clnchon,a, when sofa lor - OF
50 an ounce. Yes. that Is about the only ingredient
used and il has the properties thpngh hot tn9
strength of quinine. About the only fault iouhi
with compound of tins Kind was that " Iachtu
power. Nothing in nrious ever resuitch from lls
use nor in fact do know OF any substance ii"b
would probably he mixed with quinlue wnich
might harm the system. The most desplcahle FORM
of fraud practiscd with this drug Is the short
weight dodge. This is worked by some oi inc
extreme cuf-rate' stores and unprncipled dealers.
They sell pill that contains but one gram "i
qunnc for a two-grain pill. thereby maF,ns liist
double the usual profit, which one wuud THINK
large enough ut present IN ounce Oh qulnlne co9.s
the retail druggist little over 30 cents. here are
iNO grains III an ounce. Al u cent Il gram 'iS
gives a profit OF over - an OuEcc, allowing Tor tue
cost of the rice flour and gnm-arabic which form
the body of the pills well rs Tor the time required
10 roll them. Some of the high-prced druggists
charge two cents grain. making profit OF aboht
80 an ounce OF something Ike 500 per cent on
their investment. The cheap stores referred 10
that give one grain instead of two to their Gus
toners, make almost as much as tnls ana low Vi
them are ever found cut. go,
How do yUu account Tor the cheapncss ol thc
drug Ut this time /" WIS asked.
~
Peruvian or Jcsnit's bark. obtained from various
species Of cnchona which grow III the Colombian,
Ecuador Bolivian and Peruvian forests OF Sonih
America. The Countess de la Clnchoil, we Oh Il
Peruvian NIccrUy, WAS cured of fever by us use,
and when she returned to Europe introduced the
medicine there about the middle Of the seventeenth
century 1t derived the name cInchona from iicr.
This bark uscl to lie gathered by the Cascati1la
Indians chiefly, who obtained 1t by cutting HoWh
the trees that produced il. This OF course, soon
Trimmed out he more valuable trees and snch was
the reckless stupldity o: the Peruvian government
that though ii put every obstacle IN the way OF the
tree being planted elsewhere IL never attempted by
system of forestry 10 renew the riches thus I'm
prOvidently wasted. The result was tBat qulnlhc
became scarcer and scarccr every year the price oil
il went up 10 an eytravagant Inquire, anu al one
timr IT seemed rs If this most important drug was
likely to become unCbtainable. IL was at TINS time
that the East Indian Gov crnment determined 10 tiy
To natural iLe the clnchona Tree IN INDIA 10 oplaii
seeds and young plants was difficult tash' but
Professor Clement H. Mari nam, Dr. spruce an,l
Others accomplished it. and in short time Hour
iShlng plantation yielding large quantities OF
uunne on the Nellgherry Hills OF southern nlIt.
ihe tree II is become natnrdllzel IN Java, the
mountainous regions OF Jamaica ana many other
ulaccs 80 that we are almost If not entirely lnde-
pendent of tho Peruvian forests Tor TINS great
fcbrllge 1t Is this Increased pro iuction OF IL al
over the world, one might say, which Is making me
Hrng cheaper aud cheaper every year as the demand
for il becomes more widespread III this and all other
countries where
Dose fni bake.