The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1912-05-08
0RTS
OF Quinine into the United
States Valued at Millions
Of Dollars.


WASHINGTON, May S.-Nearly
fifteen million dollars worth of quiz
nine and the material from which it
is extracted has been imported into
the United States during the last
dozen years. Figures compiled by
the Bureau of Statistics, Department
of Commerce and Labor, show that
in the period 1%9OO-1911, inclusive,
fully forty million ounces Of quinine
and nearly fifty million pounds of
cinchona and other ~quine-bearing
-barks have been imported, their ag-
.gregate value being about fourteen
million dollars. In the current fiscal
year the imports of cinchona bark
will probably be about three and one
half million pounds, valued at about
one quarter million dollars; and Of
Q~ulnina and its various salts, three
million ounces, valued at approx
mately a half million dollars.
While quinine has long been a
product of importation into the coun-
try, no marked growth in its imports
has occurred in the last. quarter Of a
century. In 1882, for example, over
five million pounds of cinchora bark
we're imported; in 1892, three and
one-half million; in 1902, three and
three-quarter million; and in 1912
will probably be about three and one
half million pounds. In 1882 the i'm
ports Of quinine and the various
salts Of quinine amounted to 795,OO0
ounces; in 1884, one and one-half
million ounces; in 1892, two and FIVE
sixths million; in 1902, two and Ave
sixths million; in 1906 four and
three-quarter million; and in 1911.
three and one-fourth million; while
the rate of importation in the nine
months of the current year for which
figures Ire at hand point to a total
Of about three million ounces in the
twelve months ending with June.
Meantime the price OF quinine has
steadily fallen. In 1882 the average
import value per ounce was a little
less than 50; in 1902 it had dropped
to twenty-eight cents, and in the
first nine months Of the current fiscaI
year was but fifteen cents. Likewise
cinchona bark, the botanical source
of quin!ne, has dropped in average
import value per pound from thirty.
six cents in 1882 to less than e:ght
cents in 1912.
The decrease in imports Of quinine
despite the growth in population
meantime, is ascribed to a variety @.
causes. Among them may be men
toned improved conditions Of santa.
ton and drainage throughout tn,
country, thus decreasing the preva.
lence of material and other fever:
for which quinine has long been
known to be a specific and in this
treatment of which it was formerly
the chief reliance. The drainage Of
swampy districts. the better screen.
ing Of homes, and the discovery Of
the relation between mosquitoes and
fevers generally have had a large
part in reducing the prevalence OF
diseaeas for which qulnine was and
is stiI largely used, while the de-
velopment OF the chemical industry
has brought into use a large body OF
coal tar and other preparations which
share with quinine its popularity as
a remedy for fevers and as a general
tonic in professional and domestic
practice.
Cinchona, or Peruvian bark, is the
generic name OF a number Of trees
indigenous to Peru, Ecuador, and
Bolivia, formerly the chief producers
of that article. In the 18th century