Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1917-12-27

How the war Has Affected the Cost Of
Drugs.

u~- A. ~s, r,.. A ~...s A.
DrusS'
In none of the avenues Of commerce
has ths ssrsct NJ the world war ham
feit mora keen,v than in the drug marts
~ civiI,xation In a communicat,on IN
ths National csoorap hic societv a nat
Of which has been issued as a war
rsnhv huI,etIn. DR.. John Foote 70.
c,tss son,a NJ tha conspicuous examn,as
~ ths hivh cost NJ beinp IN H. ..vs.
"ft n intsrestine 20 comnare some =,
ths nricss mar Mound ouoted IN who,o-
sais drur trade bulletins IN Jurv ie,I
ana than a YEAR later. Bleacb,np nowdsr
or .chloride Of lime'-used in the arts ana
"A n disinfectant adva need from one a nd
three.eirhths cents to nine cents ncr
nound. .aj. soda. or washing soda sror,
AZ cents To AZ cents: nitrate OF soda. vaIu.
aha hoth as n medicine and for ira nitro.
zen. from n 40 to 1925: chlorate Of potash
from IL cents to AZ cents. oxalic acid
from IA cents to so cents per pound .
o,,,rire. from ia cents to RI c.nts IN ounce. .
cafYaine. from A.1 to s11.s0 An ounce.
enson salts. from one and three.fourtbs
cents to three and three fourths cents
A mound: oil Of wintergreen (artificiaD
from b5 cents to $500 a pound: perman.
ranate of potash. a disinfectant. from IL
cents TO 81. 30 a pound: sodium salicyIate.
used for rheumatism. from s5 cents m
400 a pound: thymol, a specific for hook
worm, from S1.20 to $3.50 an ounce: anti
pyrin, from 30 cents to $500 an ounce.
nhenolthalein. used both "a a chemical
ran rant and AZ a laxative medicine FROM,
90 cents to as a pound. These are chemi.
Gals. many OF which came from Germany.
and their advance was usually a direct
result of the law of supply and demand
and Of speculative boarding
"Aspirin Is q compound of sa,icv,,c
acid almost universally used for all kinds
Of aches and pains. and until recort,y
the patent on the drug was held nv a Ger.
man Arm. Shortly after the outbreak, NJ
the war II began to rise spasmod,ca,Iv
until, under its unpatented titIe. 4,
caromed from 80 cents a mound to &, OK
a pound. For be II known. aspirin. Of a
lineage slightly different from the Gar.
man article, sometimes Travelled incog.
nito as acetyl.salicylic acid ana NO
identical in evervthinv sovc 49,, go
price.
"Carbolic acid is really the parent sinh
stance Of these aspirin and salicvlate
preparations. and, as everybody knows.
IL 10 also an excellent and much.used sur.
anylSeDClC-SWO ROOA hv,
the price should ryrate when yor hro,,.
out: and ryrate II did. Fron, ., Govt. y
pound to 500 the pendulum osciIlated
Now It is cheap once more at about y
cents a pound. not more than om nor
cent. higher than in 1914.
1.-THE war bore heavily on ba,d-be,dod
and nervous people. practicable nj, h.,
tonics NOWADAYS contain resorc,,,.Na oaai.
tar product we have ALWAYS ,l,owod c.
many to make for us. and anotber corsir
to carbolic acid. From, 90 M to coo ras.
the price of a Mound NJ resorcin ,,,,.,,,,o .
a sudden damner nm tho erthws,asts e,
extensive scalp culture Ana tha I'D
found IL costly 70 no nervous o,,ar t,,is
advance. since bromide NJ notoss,,,r,
long used to calm excited rar,as 81
vanced from 30 cents To several do,,a re
and at one time II touched so no,,na
These excessively high nrices We 60,
latiye phenomena. and did mot hoid n.
the maximum level. though bromides ar,
still $40 mound and resorc,r sot
poui.d.
"Practicallv all remedies for TIN ro,,,a
worm of children contain sonton,,, Sa,,
tonin ballooned TO div be,ehts ~, Co..,
months-from s13 N 81, a nouna r. =,
now relatively chean at about s5o
pound. But as a pound would sunr,,
about 1900 doses. we do NOT need III,
drug In carload lots
"Some of the most roma rL,h,a ,a,,,,.
in price are seen in vepetah,e dr,,1s
Russian henbane IA n source ~ byosoino
or scopolamine, an ingredient In tho ,,,,ch
exploited twilight sleen" nrena ton
and this drug jumped from eight cent,
a pound in 1914 to $500 a mound in 1915
"Belladonna. from which ,tron,ro 1,
made-atropine the handmaiden Of N,
eye specialist-was cultivated for commer
cial purposes in Germany and England
The cutting away of the German sunni,
caused the price to rise from IN cent
to SITS pound within the first wear n
the war. Now England is making EFFORT
in intensive cultivation of beIladonn,
and other botanical drugs. and the airing
ton drug gardens, located near Washing
ton. D. c., conducted by the Unite,
States department of agriculture for N,
experimental cultivation of medc;n,
plants. have been more than a success
full experiment and IL did not reouir
the war to make their utility annarent
1T will be noted in scanning the Quota
lions that products to which England h.
direct sea access have had a defnite hr
not spectacular increase in nrice On,,n
increased in price very gradually from
sos in July, 1914. for crude onium IN 60
per pound to-day. In the case ~ on;nn
adequate production and we'll orpan ize,
distribution came into NAV 70 st.h;,iz
the market. But storehous. ,.ocls o.
medicinal purposes were 1raduoI,v nv
hausted and the war shifted 70 on,um