404 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTUKIST. [Dhc. i, i8S6. 



Mlt. HEWETT'S ALLEGED DISCOVERY. 



HISTORY OF THE NEGOTIATIONS : LEGAL 

 PROCEEDINGS THREATENED. 



Wo published last week, as a supplement to this 

 joiuiihI, the inforiuatioii, verified only while the issue 

 for the IGtli instant was actually being printed off, 

 that Mr. (Jresswell Huwett was out of London, but 

 that his secretary, signmg as for "Cresswell Hewett 

 & Co." announced that orders for " artificial quin- 

 ine," in quantities of 100 ounces and upwards, 

 would be received and booked, although such orders 

 could n"t be executed for a few weeks yet. 

 thj: ATI, as cjuinine company. 

 V\'c were further given to understand that a com- 

 pany had been formed under the title of " The Atlas 

 Quinuic Company,'' for the due carrying out of Mr. 

 Hewett's discovery upon a commercial scale ; that 

 offices had been taken for the said Companv at 

 Mary's Chambers, St. Mary Axe, E. C, and "that 

 the factory for the manufacture of artificial quinine 

 would " probably be in Germany." As to price, 

 little or no information was vouchsafed beyond the 

 bare statement that the quinine would be sold at 

 something under the market price ruling for the 

 alkaloid derived from cinchona bark. 



A great number of orders for the quinine, it is 

 alleged, have been received from all ^^arts of the 

 world, as also applications for agencies, and offers 

 of capital, one firm in particular being referred to 

 as having tendered a considerable sum of money 

 for the entire secret and the sole right of manu- 

 facture, but nothing could be gleaned from " Cress- 

 well Hewett & Co." respecting the constitution of 

 the embryo company in question, or the sources 

 from whence its future output of quinine is to be 

 drawn. We ascertained, as a nratter of fact, that, 

 up to a very few days ago, no patent for the prepar- 

 ation of quinine had been applied for at the En"-- 

 lish Patent Office, and no company, whose avowed 

 objects resemble those of such an undertaking as 

 has been sketched out in the foregoing paragraphs, 

 has, as yet, been registered under the Companies' Acts. 

 Mr. Cresswell Hewett's chambers remain at the 

 adihess given in our previous account, published Au^f. 

 f'Mlh hist,* viz., 50a, Lincoln's Inn Fields ; but offices 

 have been taken for the Atlas Quiuine Company at 3a, 

 fit. Blaiy's Chambers, «t. Mary Axe, E. C, althougli 

 the name of the company had not been painted upoi 

 the doors at the date of our last visit and no clerk or 

 other «M^/o//e.' has been found in occupation of the of- 

 fices when our representatives have called there. This 

 narrative, meagre as it is, taken in coijunction with 

 our previous accounts, gives practically the whule his- 

 tory of the matter so far as this can be obtained from 

 what might be called the Lincoln's Inn brief. 



A somewhat different comple.xiou is, however, put 

 upon tlie afl'aii- by the facts and statements we are 

 about to record, '-Ciesswell Htwett ^ Co." and '-The 

 Atlas (juinine Company " having apparently, in the ab- 

 sei.ee of their principal, written up " No thoroughfare." 



INTERVlKW Wllil UIl. WILLIAM UUKTOX. 



At this point we directed our enijuiries into a differ- 

 ent euaimel, and as a first result a member of our edit- 

 orial staff called upon Dr. "iViiliiim Hurton, of 20 Buck- 

 ler.-liury, E. C , ami was fortunate enough to find that 

 geutli'uiaii disengHged, and wil'ing to afford us all the 

 iulormitiijii in bis power. 



Dr. liurton received our repiesentative with the ut- 

 most courtesy, and frankly e.^c.-vaiiied his connection 

 with this strange and eventful history from first to last, 

 or r itlitr from th> date of our ori^n'nal announcement 

 to 111- present, the ''last" staj^e of the enquiry being 

 by no uiems attuned a.s yet. Omitting some points of 

 minor detail, wluch, in view of certdii proceedings to 

 be elab.)rated a little later on, it may not be advisable to 

 publish today, the sum and substance of what has taken 

 plaee in religion to '-rtr.ifici.il ijuiaine " during the 

 pH-t few weeks, i-, iiK'.luiled in the following paragraphs: 



£'20,000 FOll THE SECRET. 



On the first eonlIIleMceInon^ of M-. 0. Heweft'* al- 



* '■ Ar ai. ia! Quinine; iMr. Cn s-weii Hewett lu 

 viewed." 7j'. cj- (.'. /;,, Vol. x , pagsi 212, 



leged discovery, Dr. Burton, through tlie intermediary 

 of a third party, put himself iato communication with 

 Mr. Hewett, with the view of making some business 

 arrangements, or of buying the entire concern outright. 

 After certain negotiations had been exchanged, the 

 amended terms offered by Mr. Cresswell Hewett were 

 accepted, and the name, &c., of the purchaser — Dr. Bur- 

 ton— revealed to Mr. Hewett. These terms, in brief, 

 consisted of an agreement to pay the sum of £20,000 to 

 the discoverer of " artificial quinine," and to retain his 

 personal services ami those of an ass stant, in con- 

 nection with the raanulacture, for a ]):'riod of not less 

 than 12 months, at the salaries of iisOO and £200 per 

 annum respectively, in return for a fuU disclosure of 

 the secret of the di.scovery to Dr. Burton, and those 

 associated with him, the investiture of these parties 

 with the sole and complete rights to manufacture and 

 sell the article, and the actual productiou, in presence 

 of the ])urchasers, of a sufficient quantity of the alk- 

 aloid for te.sting and trial, of a quality not inferior to 

 " Howard's." 



nUUEOUGILS, WELCOME & CO. AS PURCHAM'-RS. 



Mr. Hewett, however. Dr. Burton informed our re- 

 presentative, after himself propn.siufj and aj/reeing to 

 these terms was so constantly seeking to amend or 

 enlarge them,tha^ some of those wluo acted as Dr. Bur- 

 ton's colleagues in the matter, particularly Messrs. Bur- 

 roughs, Welcome, &, Co. and Mr. F.land, began to show 

 some impatience at tlie new demands. The.i-e, how- 

 ever, were eventually agreed to all round at the instance 

 of Dr. Burton, who considered that in a matter of .'■ueh 

 superlative importance, neither one or two thousand 

 pounds, nor any individual peculiarities, should be 

 deemed of great moment. 



Mr. Hewett so frequently insisted upon the necessity 

 of his visiting the Continent, in order to arrange for the 

 starting and due carrying on of the new industry, and 

 also of the inconvenience his withdrawal from his jiriv- 

 ate connectiou for a year or more would entail, tliat, 

 with the view of avoiding these objections and of facilit- 

 ating the negotiations, Dr. Burton wrote a letter some- 

 what modifying the conditions previously laid down ; 

 the following is a verbatim copy or the communication 

 in question. 



I.El'TER FHOM DR. W. BURTON K) MR. CRESSWl'LL 

 HEWETT'. 



20, Bucklersbury, Sept. 9th, 1880. 



Dear Sir, — In order to expedite this business, and, 

 if pos«ible,save you the trouble of a journey to the Con- 

 tinent, and the loss of your present connection, w hich 

 would naturally follow the devotion of your entire time 

 for the next 12 months to the manufacture of quinine 

 synthetically, ]\Iessrs. Burroughs and Welcome join me 

 in making the following proposal : — " That we under- 

 take to make all necessary and satisfactoy arrange- 

 ments to pay you £21,000 promptly, on^your demon- 

 strating to us your ability to produce ([uinine at the 

 price named by you, and your transferring to us tlie 

 scfiretofits manufacture, and of the sole and exclu- 

 sive rights to manufacture, under your procesH, and 

 your undertaking to patent such process, at our ex- 

 pense, if we do desire. For this purpose the production 

 of only a small quantity will be necessary to satisfy us, 

 say 2 pounds. A laboratory shall be placed at your dis- 

 posal, and we will leave the details of arringements 

 greatly in your hands. After you have manufactured 

 the 2 pounds of quinine a sample of it is to be submitted 

 to two analysts, one to be nominated by yourself and 

 one by Messrs. Burroughs and Welcome. On receipt 

 of reports from the selected analysts, certifying that the 

 quinine manufactured by your process is veritable 

 marketable quinine, possessing the medicinal properties 

 of ihe present sulphate of quinine, the payment is to 

 be made to you cash down. The advantage of your 

 .accepting the present offer is very clear : the £1,000 

 offered for your services for one year is added to 

 the purchase price of £20,000 already agreed upon, 

 and the actual cash will be iibiced in your hands 

 within a very few days if you c: rry out your part 

 of the bargain. — Yours faithfully, 



tSu'neti) W. Bl'RTON. 



Ml'. Creaswell flewett. 



