'264 



^m^ ^UOPiCAt AGRiCiJLtumST. 



[Ocf. f, 1886, 



being answeroil iu the r.egative, jovially responded, 

 " That settles it, my boy ; then you will uot get it out 

 of me." 



"We stated that we had not the remotest intention to 

 deprive him of the secret of his invention, but merely 

 desired to hear something coucorning the manner of 

 the discovery, and the use he intended to make of it. 



" Ah I" said the Doctor, " that's another matter. 

 Let me first tell you that the communication to the 

 3Ior>nv(f Post was entirely unauthorised by me. I don't 

 know who can have put the thing in, and I didn't 

 want it to appear. I wanted to keep the matter 

 quiet until I should have manufactured wt'nci// i!/to/<.va«(Z 

 tons of the article, when I would suddenly have swamp- 

 ed the market. Did you see those tins outside ?" 

 (Referring to some granulated gunpowder tins piled 

 against his door.) " Yes ? well, I have bought up 

 180,000 of them, sir. The cellar down below is choke- 

 full of them ; and the lot you saw in the passage 

 only cost me a shilling, I am interested iu this granu- 

 lated gunpowder ; it is made by an old friend of 

 of mine in the neighbourhood of Hamburg, and I 

 am going to put up my artificial quinine in 

 these empty tins. A \ I say, I want £20,000 for my 

 invention, and I think I shall get it too. I am now in 

 communication with the Government, and I think I 

 ought to get part of the annual subsidy they give towards 

 the cinchona plantations in India. Bless you, sir ! " 

 Dr. Hewettexcitedly exclaimed, applying vigorous slaps 

 to the seat of the sofa upon which he was reclining, 

 " I have had Mr. Howard in this room, sir ! sitting on 

 this identical sofa ! He wasn't a bit surprised when 

 I told him of my discovery, but said he expected it 

 all along, and knew it must come." 



Dr. Hewett did not appear willing to give any further 

 account of his alleged negotiations with Messrs. Howard 

 & Sons. He mentioned, indeed, that he had a letter 

 from that firm which he would like to show us but, upon 

 looking for it the document could not at that moment 

 be found. He thought, however, that he would be able 

 to produce it later on, if we would pay him another 

 visit, to which we agreed. 



Calling again later in the afternoon, we found the 

 Doctor enjoying a peaceful slumber on his sofa. He 

 had, he said on awaking, received no end of calls from 

 people anxious to know all about his invention and felt 

 very fatigued. Again adverting to the question of his 

 discovery he stated that he actually, at that moment, 

 was in possession of an offer from a German firm, a 

 member of which was a personal friend of his, the ac- 

 quaintance having sprung up during the Franco-German 

 War, in which Dr. Hewett was engaged as a member 

 of the Red Cross Society. 



As to the statement that the discovery was made 

 through the accidental breaking of a medicine-bottle, 

 that was quite incorrect. He, Dr. Hewett, was not 

 in medical practice, and had never used a medicine- 

 bottle in his life. The fact was he had during the 

 last eleven years devoted his energy to the discovery 

 of artificial quinine, and it was at last found by him 

 in connection with the action of salicylic acid on urea, 

 with which he was temporarily occupying himself. 



The Doctor declined to answer our question whether 

 he obtained his artificial quinine from a mineral or a 

 vef^e'able matter, but admitted the correctness of the 

 stiiteraent that the material from which it is manu- 

 factured is obtainable in abundance in every part of 

 the world, He distinctly stated that it was prepared 

 by a synthetical process, and was nothing iu tue way 

 of conversion of amorphous quinine as bad been sug- 

 gesed in some quarters. 



Iir. Hewett claims to be able to make either Ly« 

 dr. chlorate or sulphate of ((uinine, aild maintaina 

 that the article can be turned out by him eVen at a 

 cott cf twopence per ounce, if the manufacture takes 

 plr ce on a suiKciently large scale. 



He states that he has actually sold Botue of his 

 quifiiiie, not, however, in wholesale quantities, his 

 laboratory at the present moment not being sufficiently 

 extensive to enable him to do so. 



■\Ve requested the Doctor to provide us with an 

 ounce of his artificial quinine, observing that of course 

 vve expected it at the new rate of 3d per oz. This the 

 Pwetur t;uulU uot i^xuv. tP, tic fras i^uitij )ViUu}^ tv 



make some quinine for us — would we have sulphate or 

 hydrochlorate y — but he would have to charge us the 

 present market price for Howard's quinine. 



To this arrangement we raised no objection, and it 

 was agreed that on the morning following our inter- 

 view the Doctor should send us a sample of his pre- 

 paration for inspection. But, remembering that his 

 time was very limited that evening, and having, he 

 said, no artificial quinine whatever in stock, he asked 

 us to be satisfied with the delivery of h oz. next morn- 

 ing, that being as much as lie could turn out that 

 night. By way of explanation, he added that the dry- 

 ing process of the quinine in the water-bath was a 

 slow one. 



Adverting again to the commercial aspect of the 

 question, we wished to be informed in what manner 

 the Doctor purposed working his invention commer- 

 cially. "Would he take out a patent?" 



This inquiry, natural and harmless though it seems, 

 appeared to rouse Dr. Hewett's anger, and in stentorian 

 tones he desired us to say whether we thought he 

 looked like a fool or an old woman. He knew very 

 well what he was going to do,ithe principal and first step 

 being the putting of money into his own pocket ! Then, 

 as if regretting his momentary ebullition of temper, the 

 Doctor assured us that he had carefully made his plan. 

 His idea is to start a company; a sum of about 2,000^. 

 being, he thought, all that was required for building 

 purposes and to set the concern going. He will be 

 glad to hear of anyone willing to co-operate with him. 



Our representative then pointed out to the doctor 

 that the present annual consumption of quinine in the 

 entire world is stated to amount to some 150 tons only 

 and suggested that the quantities mentioned in the 

 earlier interview as intended to be placed on the 

 market by the doctor were out of proportion to all 

 possible requirements. But Dr. Hewett firmly adhered 

 to his determination to swamp the market in the manner 

 indicated. It might be that no eufiicient demand for 

 the artificial quinine would be found in Europe, but he 

 was quite sure that the inhabitants of other parts, 

 particularly North and South America, only required 

 to have the drug put before them at a " popular " 

 price, in order to swallow it in quantities undreamed 

 of hitherto. 



We regret that up to the time of going to press 

 the promised |-oz. sample of the artificial quinine has 

 not been received by us. 



ASBESTOS VERSUS INDIABUBBER. 



Our naval authorities appear to be showing a 

 praiseworthy activity in the study of the problems 

 which anticipation of the maritime warfare of the 

 future suggests to them. How quickly ships beaome 

 obsolete nowadays is demonstrated remarkably by 

 the fact that the target for the guns of the 

 " Blazer " and the " Pincher " yesterday was the 

 " Resistance," an ironclad designed by Sir Edward 

 Eeed, soon after he had done the same creative 

 work for the " Warrior," The object of the experi- 

 ments was to test the merits of indiarubber and 

 asbestos libre as a means of plugging short holes, 

 preventing the inflow of water into a vessel after 

 performation by shot, and minimising the damage 

 from shell lire below decks. The indiarubber in- 

 serted in the skin of the ship seems to have 

 failed altogether. It was lacerated and scattered, 

 and was manifestly not to be relied upon. Reports 

 differ as to the results of the trial on the asbestos, 

 but it would appear to have carried oil' the palm 

 from its rival, though it won its victory in an 

 unexpected fashion. It wati supposed that it would 

 keep out water by swelling, and through its elastic 

 power generally. This was not the case, however. 

 It achieved the desired end by changing its sub- 

 stance, after perforation by the shot, having 

 been converted into a sort of paste or putty by 

 means of absorption. When the ship was heeled 

 over so as to bring tliis paste below the level of 

 jtbe watyi-iii vi the " Soleat," il wasi louuti tbal it 



