The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-07-28
THE WORLDS QUININE.
Java Has Supplanted south America
as n Source of supply.
New York Mail and Express.

New York Mail and Express.
The one staple drug that is now used the
world over Is quinine. Wherever there is
fever or malaria there natures antidote
stands ready to relieve the sufferer. From
Patagonia to Alaska and from Ceylon 10
Siberia the prescription used oftenest is the
white powder that is the product of the
cinchona tree. The discovery of quinine by
the Spaniards in South America is an old
story, but it is not generally known that
the worlds present supply OF quinine comes
from the island of Java, where the cinchona
tree is not indigenous. but was INTRODUCED
only after many failures and with INFINITE
toll and patience on the part or the Dutch
government.
Fifty years ago a Dutchman named Hass-
karl was sent to South America to obtain
slips and seeds of the quinine tree. After
many adventures and two years OF WANDER
ing near the ~eadwate OF the Amazon,
Hasskarl returned to Java Will sixteen
saplings. They were planted and nourished
remarkably well, but when the bark was
disappointment TO find that Hasskarl had
been duped and that the saplings were not
cinchonas at all.
later. when an English merchant. a Mr..
Ledger. sold to the Dutch planters some
cinchona seed he had obtained In Bolivia.
Twenty thousand trees grew from Ledgers
seed, and many of them are still standing.
The quinine forests are planted In clear
ings In the jungle and are kept as free from
weeds as a flower garden In this country.
When d tree is six years old II Is cut down
and a new slip planted alongside OF It's
roots, go that the Qulnlne supply 10 never
diminished. The bark is stripped from the
trunk by Javanese women. They cut II
into short lengths and dry it, hrst In the
sun and later I'm ovens. The dried bark is
then put through a crude mill, which cuts
l. into small bits. These are shipped in
bags to Amsterdam or Bandoeng, the CEN
ter of the quinine industry of Java.
At the factory the bark is mixed with an
alkaloid and ground again. 1t is then
pumped into immense tanks filled with hot
crude petroleum. which dissolves the aka
loid from the bark. The oil in turn Is
washed out with sulphuric acid 10 remove
the alkaloid, and the crude quinine crystal
Lies when il IL cooled. The crystals are
then placed in trays TO dry. In lV-pound
cans the finished quinine is now ready for
the market.
The cutting down of the cinchona tree Is
the distinctive feature OF Dutch quinine
culture. The old South American method
was to peel the bark and then wait four or
five years until II grew on again. But this
process proved too slow for cinchOna gath
erers. and during the last decade thousands
of trees have been cut down without any
new ones being planted IN their places. AS
a result. the accessible quinine forests OF
South America are greatly depleted and
comparatively little of the general supply
comes from the part of the world where
il was discovered.
Quinine of an inferior quality comes from
Coylon, and the British government sup
plies its army and navy hospitals from
plantations OF its own in the Himalaya
mountains.