New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-12-18
QrINlNE tND ITS RON iNCE.
THE JESUIT ATTEMPT To CORNER THE MARKET
by MEANS OF PAPAL BULL.


BY MEANS OF PArAL BULL.
From Leisure Hour.
OF the Peruvian bark orly A ffticth comes
from Peru. our chief source being Madras. Cey-
Ion holding second place. the two together send
ing more than all the rest If the world put
together. Forty years ago our quinine bark all
came from the slopes of the Andes. most of 1t. as
a little does now. packed in hides carried by
hand ard mules and on boats and RATS for
thousands of miles down the Amazbn. known
for ages to the natives only in one locality. and
so distrusted by them that it was never carried
in the wallets Of their tinerant doctors SO that
It is said with some show of truth that Peru is
the only country where Peruvian bark is not
used-it first came into notice in lr'S. when the
Countess Chnchon, wife Of the Niccroy of Peru
lay III at Lima Of a tcrtian fever The corrcgi-
dor Of Loxa. hearing Of her Illness and knowing
the reputed virtues of TIE quina bark. sent her
parcel Of one of it's varieties. which. adminiStcre
y her physician. brought about a rapid ana
complete cure
The variety Of bark. however was one that
abounds ir cinchonidinc. ana 1t was probably
this akaloid. ana not quinine, that cured the
Countess. Two years aitcrward the woman re
turned to Spain, bringing with her supply OF
the precious quina for the use Of the sick on her
husbands estates. and its reputation gradually
spread under the name Of countesSs powder
In 1910 the Jesuits sent some parcels of the pow
dercd bark to Rome to be distributed by Cardi-
nal De Lugo whence it became known as car
dinars powder and Jesuit's bark, with the ridcu-
thing to do with il.
One Of the oft-1uoted ahSurditics Of this early
trade that 10 insure a monopoly always Il
monopoly-the Jesuits persuaded the Pope To
draw line across South America beyond which
no tree should he recognized as yielding quinine
1t might be unmistakable cnchona. all The
same but 4 cinchOna il could not possibly be. as
it had had the audacty TO grow beyond Inc
Pope's line and any one who refused 10 accept
the evidence Of his senses was promptly treated
As a hereto.
The Jesuus were jubiiant. and sold the bark
at high prices in Catholic countries. Wanting 1t
infalliblc remedy. under the name OF ful-
vs ratrum 1t was John Tabor, English
apOthecary who broke down the prejudice
against it. BY the number Of cures he effected
ly its means without revealing its name. he
became prominent enough TO he knishtcd by
Charles II in 1861: and next year. as physician
in-ordinary h., cured the King Of Il tertan fever
Passing over to France the same year, he cured
the Dauphin and few other pcrSonages in hlgh
places. and sold the secret of its preparation to
Louis XIV for > 900 louis dor, pension and a
title.
The preparation does not seem to have ex-
tended very far. for il was not until lS1o that
the bark was Systematically Analysed. and after
that five wears elapsed before the alkalOld qui-
nine yas found In IT, Notwithstanding Tabor s
success the doctors fought bitterly over the
new drug those of Paris more trucuenty than
all the older men refusing TO admit that it pos
sessed any good qualities whatever. and one OF
them going so far as to assert that quinluina. as
il had come 10 he called was responsible for
ninety sudden deaths in Madrid alone. But IL
made it's way all the same. helped along ny
Sydcnham and Norton. though the preJudlcc
;ipainSt il had not quite died out in the early
mari Of the present century. wher in the Wal
chorcn expedition many a poor fellows Ire was
saved by the timely arrival Of Yankee trader
with some chests Of bark. after the supply had
entirely failed in the camp.