Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-10-22
0U|N|NE PRICE HIGHER
THAN SINCE CIVIL WAR
Is Reported Selling by New York
Brokers at $2.10 to $2.25 an
Ounce in Bulk.
Has Advanced Several Hundred Per
Cent in Two Weeks-Other Drugs
at Increased Figures.

The price for quinine today is high
er than 1t has been since the time Of
the civil war. when 1t brought $3.50
an ounce. The prices for many other
drugs are correspondingly advanced
and those convefsant with the drug In
dustry say that higher levels yet are
to be reached.
Under normal conditions quinine sells
in bulk form a. from 20 to thirty cents
per ounce. wholesale. Today it was
quoted by brokers in New York at
$40 to 1925 per ounce. 1t is believed
$3.50 will be reached in a few days.
Up to the present time the advance
in the retail price for quinine has not
been great. however. Capsules of the
size which formerly sold at cents a
dozen are now bringing 10 cents at
many pharmacies. There is a wide
margin Of profit between the quinine
in bulk and filed capsule. and this
is the reason that the advance in the
retail price has not been proportion
ate to that in the wholesale price.
Druggists are selling quinine today on
closer margin than ever before.
During the past two weeks the price
for this drug has advanced several
hundred per cent. The biggest jump &C.
when advance information that a sharp
increase was expected enabled many
drug brokers to reap a harvest.
Laid to Embargo by England.
The advance in the price of auinine,
which is one of the most widely used
drugs and one that is to be found in
almost every household, is due to
large degree to an embargo placed on
its shipment by England. For many
Years London has controlled the qui-
nine market, but control now rests in
Amsterdam. Holland. Shortage of
ships to bring from Dutch Indies the
cfnchona bark, from which the drug is
derived. also has been responsible for
the increased price. There was a
sharp advance in the price of the drug
Ave tons of quinine was received from
Italy.
The two principal manufacturers of
quinine in this country have not booked
of their inability to obtain the raw
product necessary for its manufacture.
Demands from jobbers for quinine
are about three times the normal vol
ume for this time of the year. Retail
caught short of a sufficient quantity to
keep their customers supplied during
the winter. when colds and fever in
crease the demand for quinine, have
all attempted to get a winters supply
at once, with the result that the mar
ket is glutted with orders that cannot
be filled.
Rise In Glycerin Price.
There has also been a marked in
crease in the price of glycerin, both
Great Britain and France having placed
an embargo on it's shipment. A large
portion Of the glycerin used in this
country is imported from England in
a crude state and refined here. Glycerin
now is in great demand, since it is used
in almost all high explosives. Under
normal conditions 1t sold at about 20
cents a pound wholesale, now it sells
at about SO cents. The shortage is
more serious at this time of the year
than at any other time, druggists ex-
plain, since it is used extensively in the
manufacture of cough medicines and
lozenges.
Bromide of potash and other bromides
have increased several hundred per
cent Anttpyrine, which is used ex-
tensively in the manufacture of head
ache remedies. has advanced from 81 a
pound to about s22. Scores of other
drugs have made similar advances in
price.
Many drugs manufactured in this
country have made these unusual ad-
vances because materials needed in
their manufacture come from Germany
shipments OF them have ceased.