The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1890-06-26
SECOND LECTURE ON MALARIA
Does Ouinine Cure Malaria Pts There
Any Cure for Chronic Cases?
Ague Cures, New and Old, Discussed
New Facts of Interest to Malaria Suf-
ferers.

made some assertions concerning the
treatment OF malaria in ali of its forms
which l did not stop to prove, although
what said was very much at variance
to what is commonly taught on the
subject. 1t is the purpose of this lee
! ture to set forth more fully my reasons
for claiming that the remedy Pe.ru.na
is OF more value in this disease than
any or all remedies heretofore used.
need only to refer every one to
their own observation in malarial dis
eases to prove that the usual remedies
have not, as matter of fact, been
successful in curing them. Go to any
malarious section of the country and
you find its inhabit lnts taking rcgu.
larly enormous doses of the medicines
that are lauded as cures of these affec.
tions, with little or no effect. The
various preparations of cinchona OF
calisaya bark, known as quinine, sui
phate of cinchona, sweet quinine
and tasteless quinine, are taken with
wonderful persistency, with seemingly
no other effect than to depress the
hearts action, lower the nervous vital
ity, and produce a most pernicious
form OF biliousness.
When travelling through the mala-
rial districts it is often pitiful to see
the sallow, hollow-eyed, listless, woe
BECOME victims industriously swallow
ing huge doses of these harmful
chemical preparations, vainly hoping
through them to regain their health
but rarely realizing their hopes.
have much to say in favor of Gin
chona bark in the treatment OF
malarious affection, but these peculiar
chemical salts, quinine, etc., which
are obtained from cinchona banks
by adding to them poisonous acids 1
cannot too strongly denounce as
dangerous drugs Which will inevitably
produce much worse condi-
ton of the system than the
disease for which they are taken. To
illus trate: coffee is very useful and
wholesome stimulant, producing, in
moderate quantities, the best of re-
suits, benefcially invigorating the
whole system. But citrate of caffeine,
made by the chemist from coffee by
the addition OF an acid, is harmful
nerve stimulant, which cannot be
taken any length of time without do
ing incalculable harm. Again, con-
slider oats in the form of oatmeal, prop
erly prepared, as one of the most
healthful and strengthening cereals
known, but the chemist is able to
make an extract from oats, known as
avena saliva, which can only be taken
with danger to life and certain injury
to health. Exactly the same is it
with these chemical extracts from
Peruvian bark, called quinine, quinid-
inc, cinchonine and conchonidine.
They will either of them invariably
bring physical disaster to any one who
continues their use, while the bark
from which they are taken is an ex
cellent remedy, which, if used with or
binary caution, will do no one harm.
Bnt even the Peruvian banks
(calisaya and cinchona do not meet
all the requirements in the treatment
of malaria, and taken uncombined
with other useful adjuncts, cures only
a small fraction of cases. 1t is not
denied but that quinine and other
salts of cinchona bark seemingly cure
fever and ague where the chills are
distinct and the patient strong, but in
the vast majority of cases they not
only fail to cure, but do ire
parable harm. To permanent
ly cure any case of fever and
ague remedy must combine two
general effects on the system. 1t
must increase the powers of the sys-
tenn to resist the malarial poison and
neutralize or destroy the poison it
self. The best that can be said of
cinchona or any of its preparations is
tt q they stimulate the system tenn
porarily to resist the action of the
malarial poison. Quinine powerfully
arouses the vital powers to throw off
the poison, but IL is more and more
apparent to the advocates of this
remedy that it can not DESTROY
the poison. 1t is for this reason
that the patient must continue
to take these drugs necessarily or
be liable to have another attack. I'm
fortunately, the system soon becomes
accustomed to the stimulating effect,
and then they will utterly fail to pro-
tect or in any way affect the patient,
except to terribly derange the bodily
functions and depress the nervous
system.
In Pe-ru-na, as given in my formula
now prepared by the Peruna Medicine
Company, advantage is taken of the
beneficial action of Peruvian bark, but
it is upon the peculiar combination
with the other ingredients of this
remedy that chiefly rely for
the permanent cure of any kind of
malarious disease. In this COM
pound the anti-perodic action of Gin
chona is assisted by cedron (another
South American remedy of great val
ue), so combined with other medicinal
ingredients as to destroy effectually
the malarial poison which saturates
the system. A person taking course
of treatment with Peru ma for anv