72 PHARMACOPEIAL DRUGS 



Attorney-General of the order of Jesuits (Rome), be- 

 gan "the distribution of cinchona to the indigent sick." 

 Thus, to use the words of Markham, p. 14, "It was a 

 ludicrous result of its patronage by the Jesuits, that 

 its use should have been for a long time opposed by 

 Protestants, and favored by Roman Catholics." 



Came now another opportunity for conflict. Though 

 long previously adopted by the physicians of Paris, 

 Spain and Italy, cinchona did not appear in England 

 until about 1655-58, and then as a popularly advertised 

 "nostrum," 1 under the title, "The excellent powder 

 known by the name of the Jesuits' Powder." During the 

 entire interval commercialism was rampant, sophisti- 

 cations were plentiful, and fortunes were made, as 

 perhaps never before with a new drug. These facts 

 became an opportunity for professional controversy, 

 marked by much acridity. Thus the greatest gift of 

 the botanical new world was, for half a century, praised 

 by some, vilified by others; being made the basis of 

 secret fever cures, it was ostracised and traduced, and 

 narrowly escaped a total extinction by the profession. 



Forty years after its introduction into England, 

 Charles II, who reigned from 1660 to 1685, was cured of 

 a fever by his physician, Talbor, who was knighted there- 

 for. Talbor's secret remedy was, in 1679, purchased 

 by Louis XIV "for 2000 Louis-d'or, a large pension 

 and a title." (Markham). After the death of Talbor 

 the formula was made public, its chief constituent 

 proving to be the Jesuits' Powder, or cinchona. From 

 that time cinchona, under its various names, became 

 an article of commerce throughout Europe. 



CINCHONA CULTIVATION. Early in the cinchona 



See Professional History, Harvey. 



