The Republican journal., 1912-05-23
0uinine Imports of the United
States.

WASHINGTON, D. c., May 10, 1912.
,..ry Is million dollars worth of quiz
10 and the material from which it is
Stracted has been imported into the
United States during the past dozen
,ors Figures compiled by the Bureau
= statistics, Department Of Commerce
sn5 Labor, show that in the period of
,ool1l inclusive, fully 40 million ounces
= ninine and nearly so million pounds
y cnchona and other mountaineering
sarks have been imported, their aggre-
,s,s value being about IA million dollars.
:. the current fiscal year the imports of
,r.sona bark will probably be about
million pounds, valued at about one
.,srter million dollars; and of quinia and
=, yarious salts, 3 million ounces, valued
-, soproximately half million dollars.
While quinine has long been staple
.,.g.t of importation into the country,
marked growth in its imports has oc-
.,.,-.8 in the last quarter of century.
+, $50, for example, over 5 million
.,,ris of cinchona bark were imported;
>g2. LIP million; in 1902, 34 mil
.,r and in 1912 will probably be about
,,.5 million pounds. In 1882 the imports
.f-ainine and the various salts of quinine
.cauted to 795, 900 ounces; in 1884, IL
million ounces: in 1892, So million; in
,l.a 5-6 million; in 1906, ga million;
.,s m 1911, 3 Ia million; while the rate
n ,mngrtation in the 9 months of the
,nrrent year for which figures are at
ban point to total of about 3 million
.,rr.- IN the II months ending with
June
V-a.time the price Of quinine has
.,aa.jlv fallen. In 1882 the average i'm
mort value per ounce was little less
--, g. in 1902 it had dropped to %
ants and in the first 9 months of the
,rreat fiscal year was but Is cents.
likewise cinchona bark, the botanical
source Of quinine, has dropped in aver
Are import value per pound from Sc
asr-. IN 1882 to less than cents in 1912.
mr decrease in imports of quinine,
.ssrjte the growth in population mean
fne. is ascribed to variety of causes.
Among them may be mentioned improv-
If ,anditions of sanitation and drainage
ftraghout the country, thus decreasing
.a4 prevalence of malarial and other
t.ge.s for which quinine has long been
saHn to be a specific and in the treat
.-nt # which it was formerly the chief
r40ce. The drainage of swampy dis
wrts. the better screening of homes,
and tbe discovery Of the relation between
mosquitoes and fevers generally have
ras Il iarge part IN reducing the preva-
.sace II diseases for which quinine was
AMI IS still largely used, while the devel-
spuant of the chemical industry has
brought into use large body of coal tar
ar. cher preparations which share with
suri1e its popularity as remedy of
terers and as a general tonic in profess
surii and domestic practice.
gnchona, or Peruvian bark, is the
gzn-rc name of a number Of trees in
Igenous to Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia,
trerly the chief producers of that ar
II
Vas trst imported into Europe, where
il- value was quickly recognized and its
ls. argely extended. Later the cinchona
e. WAS transplanted from South Amer
igs 10 lava, India. Ceylon, and certain
--l countries and its cultivation de-
T-gUo3 until Java and the British East
I75as have become the worlds chief
l-a5cers OF cinchona bark. With this
9alagument of it's culture in the orient
hes ne a marked change in the source
vi tf- einchona bark imported into the
1.5a. IL the last thirty years. Back
u when the animal imports exceed
million pounds, nearly 3 million
pg We're imported from Colombia,
- lion from England, about 600, 00C
oGa from South America exclusive of
t4lon'a, l06, 600 pounds from Mexico,
and small er quantities from the British
VS., Indies, the British East Indies,
.T-r1I American States, France, Ger
MAJ, and the Dutch West Indies. In
r9rr recent years, however, Neither,
lands nominally the source of practi-
ealy : the cinchona and other quinine.
tearug barks imported. In the fisca
year 1871 the total imports of the class
1am7d We're 3,826,00 pounds, of which
-15a 0Qo we're stated as from Neither.
ianas Yearly $4,000 from Germany, anc
tht remaining $4,000 pounds, from Eng
iana. Presumably large part of the
cnehona imported from Netherlands is
from Java, whose exports of that article
chiefly 10 Netherlands, amounted to Is
Million pounds in 1910.
Germany is the great source of the
3iiaia and the various salts extracted
ron clnchona bark imported into the
United States. Of the 3,219, 900 ounce!
imported IN the fiscal year 1911, 1858, 90,
'11ees came from Germany, as ageins,
$4,000 ounces from Netherlands, 2O7, OOt
ounces from the Dutch East Indies. SO.