Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1918-01-08
HEALING AND HIGH PRICES.
How the World War Has Affected the
Cost Of Drugs.


In none Of the avenues Of commerce
has the effect OF the world war been
felt more keenly than in the drug
marts OF civilization. In communi-
cation to the National Geographic So
ciety. d part Of which has been issued
as a war geography bulletin. DR.. John
E'oote recites some Of the conspicuous
examples Of the high cost Of being Ill.
He says:
1t Is interesting to compare some OF
the prices per pound quoted in whole
sale drug trade bulletins in July. 1914.
and then Il year later. Bleaching
powder or chloride Of lime"-used in
the arts and as Il dis:nfectant advanc-
ed from IL cents 10 8 cents per pound;
sal soda or washing soda. from 60
cents 10 sj cents: nitrate OF soda.
valuable both as a medicine and for its
nitrogen, from $3.50 to 1925; chlorate
Of potash. from IL cents to As cents;
cxalIc acid. from l3 cents to 30 cents
per pound; quinine, from IL cents 10
cents an ounce: caffeine. from $4.25
to sll.50 an ounce; epson salts, from
II cents to 81 cents u pound: oil OF
wintergrecn (artiticiaD. from So cents
to $3.50 n pound; pcrmanganate of
Potash. disinfectant. from II cents
u $3.50 a pound: sodium salicylate.
used for rheumatism. from 65 cents to
81 pound; thymOl. II specific for
hoOkw"rm. from sl.2O to $3.50 an
ounce; antipyrin, from cents to SO
an ounce; phcnolthalein, used both as
a chemical regent and as q laxative
medicine, from 50 cents to s4s pound.
These are chemicals many Of which
came from Germany. and their ad-
vance was usually direct result of
thc law of supply and demand and of
speculative boarding.
ASPIRIN is Il compound of salicylic
acid almost universally used for all
kinds OF aches and pains. and until re-
Gently the patent on the drug was held
by German firm. Shortly after the
systematically until, under its unpat-
"ntcd title. il caromed from 32 cents
a pound to sl.25 a pound. For be II
known, aspirin. of lineage slightly
different from the German article.
sometimes travelled as acetyl- salicylic
acid. and was identical In everything
save name and price.
"CarbOlic acid is really the parent
substance Of these aspirin and salicy-
late preparations. and, as everybody
knows il is also an excellent and
muCh-used surgical antiseptc-two
good reasons why the price should
gyratc when war broke out; and gyrate
il did. From % cents a pound to 50
the pendulum oscillated. Now it Is
cheap once more at about IS cents a
pound. not more than 20 per cent high
or than in 1914.
The war broke heavily on bald
headed and nervous people. Practi-
cully all hair toniCs nowadays contain
resorcin-a coal-tar product we have
always allowed Germany to make for
us. and another cousin to carbolic acid.
From 81 to $32 rose the price Of a
pound of resorcin. putting sudden
damper on the enthusiastic Of inten-
sive scalp culture. And the bald found
it costly to be nervous over this ad-
vance. since bromide Of potassium,
long used to calm excited nerves. ad-
vanced from so cents to several dol
lars. and at one time 1t touched s12 a
pound. These excessively high prices
were speculative phenomena, and did
not hold at the maximum level though
bromides are still s1.20 a pound and
resorcin s24 pound.
practically all remedies for the
roundworm Of children contain san
tonin. Santonin. ballooned to dizzy
heights in few months-from $l3 to
SIS Il pound. 1t Is now relatively
cheap at about S. Il pound. But as a
pound would supply about 1000 doses.
we do not need this drug In carload
lots.
Some OF the most remarkable ad-
vances in price are seen in vegetable
drugs. Russian henbane is source
Of hyoscine. or scopolamine. IN ingre-
dent in the much exploited twilight
sleep preparation. and this drug jump
cd from cents pound In 1914 to 50
a pound in 1916.
"Belladonna. from which atropine Is
madc-atropine the handmaiden Of the
eye specialist-was cultivated Tor
commercial purposes in Germany and
England. The cutting away of the
German supply caused the price to rise
from so cents to S1.75 pound within
the first year Of the war. Now Eng
land is making efforts in intensive
cultivation Of belladonna and other
botanical drugs. and the Arlington
drug gardens. located near Washing
ton. d. c., conducted by the United
States Department OF Agriculture for
the experimental cultivation Of medi-
cal plants. have been more than a sue
cessful experiment and it did not re-
quire the war to make their utility
apparent.
1T will be noted in scanning the
quotations that products to which Eng
land has direct sea access have had a
definite but not spectacular increase
in price. Opium increased in price
very gradually from s9.05 in July, 1914.
for crude gum. to S35 per pound today.
In the case of opium adequate produc-
ton and we'll organized distribution
came into play to stabilize the market.
But storehouse stocks for medicinal
purposes were gradually exhausted
and the war shifted to opium-produc-
ing countries. depleted their man
power. and finally threatened the trade
routes.
yonnrfnnf nnt