The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-01-12
THE DISCOVERY OF euINrNE
And the Boon 1t Has Proved to Ma
Iaria-Cursed Regions of the World.

And the Boon Ii Has Proved to Ma.
Iaria-Cursed Regions of the World.
New York Independent.
In a company Of prominent physicians
each was asked TO write the six remedies
that he would take on board ship for a
voyage round the world if his life were
to depend on the number who should re-
turn alive. The first entry was opium
unanimously indorsed At the second
entry the vote was tie between ''mer-
curry and 'quinine;' and now that BIZ
chloride of mercury has been found to
be the most efficient of microbe killers,
probably that would have second place
unanimously, and the third would un-
hesitatingly be given to the various ex-
tracts Of the bark of the several varie-
ties Of the cinchona, of which the most
familiar is quinine, name derived from
that used by the Peruvian Indians, who
call the trees kina. The generic name
was given in memory Of the Countess of
Cinchon, who was the wife of the Span.
ish viceroy She had been cured OF
fever by 1T in $685. The Jesuits-mis-
siOnaries in Peru-were said to see its
merits and carried the wonderful bark
to Rome, distributing it where needed.
Thus it gained the name of Jesuits' bark,
and coming from a nonprofessional
source, was coldly received by the gen.
crafty of regular" physicians, though
great benefit to his patients; and it's
name excited SO much prejudice in
Protestant minds that many of them re-
fused to avail themselves OF it. But Sir
Robert Tabor gained fame and fortune
in France by using it for intermittents.
and in 1879 Louis XIV purchased the
secret of him and made it a free gift to
his people. Soon after Morton and
Sydenham-the most eminent physicians
of the day in England-used it with sue
cess, When 1t became an important
item of Peruvian export the country
tried to conceal the fact that the tree
was also growing in New Granada. The
old-fashioned method of administration
was by macerating the "QUills" of bark
In wine, and the great tonic In the early
part Of this century was bark and
wine," and as in these later days it has
been demonstrated to be directly fatal
to the bacillus malariae, we can easily
understand what a boon it was to the
settlers in the undrained and fever
and-ague" regions Of this country when
new. At last, by the advance of chem
ical skill. the secret of extracting it's
alkaloids was found. and Of these no
less than thirteen are known and used,
and some of them produce a valuable
medicine at a less cost than Quinine
itself
So great was the demand for it, and
that 1t was easy to see that the original
sources of supply would be exhausted.
and attempts were made to transplant
the trees to regions where similar eli
matte and typographical conditions gave
promise of success. Some Of these early
attempts failed, but in 1854 the Dutch
government undertook to raise the trees
in the island Of Java, and now they
have most prosperous plantations; but
the most extensive and successful of
what may be called intelligently con-
Quoted plantations are to be found on
the slopes of the Himalayas and in
British Burma In South America the
bark is obtained by first stripping the
trunk, then telling the tree: but under
English botanists in India a way is
found of partially stripping the trunk
and then surrounding Ii with moss, caus-
ing fresh bark to be produced. The
bOtanists have even found way of
making the bark fuller of the desirable
alkaIoids. We rejoice that such a
precious boon to malaria afflicted man.
kind has been brought under the sway
of intelligent men, but we do not forget
that ii came from South America. 1t
was the want OF quinine that has sent
mourning into many French homes; and
the letters giving the story of malarial
swamps and fever stricken soldiers in
Madagascar is most grewsOme reading,
and it is said that the Spanish general
in Cuba cries cut for hundreds of pounds
of quinine rather than more shot and
she'll. In one sense Germany may be
said to be the modern medicine puryeyor
of the world. 1t was her chemists and
doctors in the last century who demon
strated the value of the minerals mer-
curry, arsenic, anthony and sulphur,
and now they have planned a systematic
attack on the vegetable kingdom. The
Berlin pharmaceutical society has es-
tablished a central office for extending
the worlds knowledge Of poisonous and
healing plants, and they expect to re-
ceive reports from all parts of the world
on "the botanic. chemic and pharma-
Geological discoveries in plants of heal
ing or poisonous nature.