SAFFLOWER AND IPECACUANHA 



British colonies produced about £43,415 worth of quinine, 

 and the price is now only 7 Jd. or 8d. a pound ! 



Such drugs as Safflower are of very ancient date. It was 

 commonly employed in Egypt with other dyes and spices for 

 embalming mummies. It is now used with carbonate of 

 soda and citric acid to give a pink dye to silks and satins, 

 and occasionally, in the form of rouge, to ladies' cheeks! 

 How did the ancient Egyptians discover that this particular 

 thistle-like plant {CarthamiLS tinctorius) had flowers from 

 which a red dye could be extracted by a tedious process of 

 soaking in water ? The natural colour of the flowers is not 

 red but yellow. 



The history of other drugs reads like a romance. Ipeca- 

 cuanha, for instance, was discovered by some unknown 

 Indian who lived in the damp tropical forests of Brazil and 

 New Granada. A worthy merchant in Paris obtained a little 

 of the drug in the way of trade. Shortly afterwards he 

 became very ill and was attended by a certain Dr. Helvetius, 

 who was exceedingly attentive to him. The grateful mer- 

 chant gave the kind-hearted physician some ipecacuanha. In 

 the course of time the great King Louis XIV's son fell ill of 

 dysentery, and Helvetius received 1000 louis d'or for his 

 ipecacuanha. 



A very interesting and romantic history might be written 

 about the efiect of drugs, dyes, and spices in developing 

 trade. During the time when Britain was struggling to 

 obtain a share of the foreign trade of Holland and France, 

 such spices as Clove, Cinnamon, and Pepper were of the 

 greatest importance. The Dutch, especially, adopted every 

 possible method to keep the spice trade in their own hands. 

 They cut down the clove, cinnamon, and other trees, in all 

 the islands not directly under their control. They imposed 



34 



