Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1896-03-05
DISCOVERY OF oulNINE.

DISCOVERY OF QulNlNE.
Natures Great Boon In the Malarial Re.
gions Of the World.
In company of prominent physi-
clans each was asked to write the six
remedies that he would take aboard
ship Tor a voyage round the world, il
his life were to depend ON the number
VINO should return alive. The first en-
try was observation-disclosures in
dorsed. AT the second entry the vote
was tie between mercury and
"quinine," and now that bichloride of
mercury has been found to be the most
efficient of microbe-killers, probably
that would have second place unani-
mously, and the third would be I'M
hesitatingly 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 Spanish viceroy. She had been
cured of a fever by it in 1888. The
jesuits- missionaries 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 josuits' bark, and. coming from
q non-professional source, was co!dly
received by the generality of "regu-
lar physicians, though here end there
an empiric used it with great benefit
to his patients; and its name excited so
much prejudice in Protestant minds
that many of them refused to avail
themselves of it. But Sir Robert Tai
Dor gained fame and fortune in France
by using it for intermittents, and in
1879 Louis XIV. purchased the secret
of him and made it free gift to his
people. Soon after Morton and SyCen-
ham-the most eminent physicians Of
the day in England-used it with sue
cess. When it became an important
item OF Peruvian export, the country
tried to conceal the fact that the tree
was also growing in New Grenada.
The old-fashioned method of admin
1stratlon was by macerating the"quills"
of bark in wine, and the great tonic in
the early part of this century was bark
and wlne," and as in these latter DAYS
it has been demonstrated to be directly
fatal to the bacillus malariae, we can
easily understand what Il boon it was
to the settlers" in the undrained and
fever analogue" regions of this coun-
try when new. AT last, by the advance
OF chemical skill. the secret of extract
ing its alkaloids was found, and of
these no less than 13 are known and
used, and some of them produce valu-
able medicine, at less cost than
quinine itself.
! So great was the demand for it, and
so wasteful the method of gathering
it, that it was easy to see that the origi-
nal sources of supply would be ex-
hausted, and attempts were made to
transplant the trees to regions where
similar climatic and Typographical con-
ditions gaze 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 of
what may be called intelligently con-
Quoted plantations are to be found on
the slopes of the Himaiayas and in
British Burmah. In South Africa the
bark is obtained by first stripping the
trunk, then telling the tree; but under
English botanists in India a way is
found of practically stripping the
trunk and then surrounding it with
moss. Causing fresh bark to be pro-
duced. The botanists have even found
q way of making the bark fuller of the
desirable all1aloids. We rejoice that
such precious boon to malaria-af-
fiicted mankind has been brought un-
der the SWAY of iptellipeut men. bIIt
we do not forget that it 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 grew
some reading, and it is said that the
Spanish general in Cuba cries out for
hundreds of pounds OF quinine, rather
than more shot and shell. In one sense
Germany may be said to be the modern
medicine purveyor of the world. 1t
was her chemists and doctors in the
last century who demonstrated the
value of the minerals, mercury, arsenic,
nntimony and sulphur; and now they
have planned systematic attack on
the vegetable kingdom. The Berlin
Pharmaceutical socitey has established
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
archaeological discoveries in plants
of healing or poisonous nature."-N.
Y Independent.