502 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [January 2, 1888. 
conditions we have made analyses of the infusion thus 
prepared, and have ascertained as a general result 
that the 20 per cent, of extract taken out by the in- 
fusion will contain about one half af the theine pre- 
sent fti the tea used. An ordinary breakfast cup of 
equally strong tea infosion, measuring about eight 
ounces, would therefore contain two grains of theine, 
or thereabouts. The rest of the tbeine is left in the 
spent leaves, and it requires repeated treatment with 
boiling water to extract the whole quantity. This is 
no doubt one of the reasons why the amount of theine 
in tea has been underestimated in so many instances, 
since experimenters have operated upon a water extract 
for its determination. In one instance we found that 
the residual leaves of tea which had been used in the 
customary manner contained as much as 1*7 per cent, 
of theine, and in another case leaves exhausted as far 
as practicable by percolating with boiling water still 
contained as much as 0 13 p±r cent, calculated on the 
original tea. — Pharmaceutical Joiirnal. 
THE POSITION AND PROSPECTS OF 
QUININE. 
It is not unnatural, in view of the enormous depreci- 
ation in the market value of quinine during the pist 
few years, that it should come to be considered by some 
that the cost of manufacturing that alkaloid is a factor 
which bears but an insignificant relation to the cost to 
the consumer. It has been stated, on apparently good 
authority, that twenty-five cent quinine was only a 
question of time, and the inference has been thrown 
out that the market price of the commodity might even 
go below that limit and still leave a comfortable margin 
for the manufacturers. Some attempts have been made 
to show how very small is the actual cost of manufactur- 
ing and marketing quinine, but until last week the 
lowest estimates we had seen did not go below twenty- 
five cents. A few days since a circular was issued by a 
firm in the trade, who, from their connections, might 
well be supposed to know whereof they speak. The 
circular reads as follows : — 
" From reports of the sale of Java bark at Amster. 
dam, October 20th, 1887, (see London Chemist and Drug- 
gist of October 22nd), it would appear that our estimate 
of the probable future price of sulphate of quinine [25c] 
was too high. It is noted in the above journal that the 
1,717 packages of Java cultivation bark sold at lower 
prices than at previous auctions, the price obtained 
averaging one and one-twelfth pence per unit. As this 
is equivalent to about thirteen and a half cents per 
ounce for sulphate of quininein the bark, it would seem 
that further comment on the future is unnecessary other 
than to note that the sale shows a marked decline in 
prices since our recent advices to you." 
The inferences to be drawn from the above state- 
ments are plain, and it is quite probable that the 
increased weakness, noted in the market a week 
ago, was attributable in part to their acceptance 
by outside holders of quinine. At any rate, they 
drew forth a vigorous denial from a leading firm of 
jobbers, and a clear exposition of what they consi- 
der the actual circumstances from the agents in this 
city of one of the German manufacturers. The sub- 
itanoe of these circulars was given in our market 
report last week, but we were unable to give in de- 
tail the facts from which the conclusions given were 
drawn. The first mentioned reply to the above quoted 
circular, referring to the belief that there is no stop 
to the decline in the price of quinine, that it may 
be made for a mere nothing, cites some of the ex- 
pressions which are made as the basis of this belief, 
among which is the following — "Java bark, contain- 
ing 11 per cent, of quinine, was sold in London at 
37Jc, and that planters realize a good profit at pre- 
sent market value." Commenting upon this the writer 
of the circular says : — 
"Upon careful inquiry at headquarters in London, 
we find that a small lot (11 bales) of Java bark was 
sold at la 6d to Is 7d, which contained a fraction 
ovor 9 pur cent, of quinine, not 11 per cent, as 
stated. If planters could rely on producing such high 
test bark, it would probably pay them very well to 
cultivate the cinchona trees ; but such bark is very 
rare, the great bulk testing on an average 
only about 2 per cent., and realizing about 4d per 
lb., which can be verified by looking at the result of 
the London bark sales." 
In regard to the recent sale in Amsterdam upon 
which the estimate of the market value of quinine 
is based in the circular quoted at the beginning of 
this article, the jobber who answers it says the aver- 
age u at value realized was one and a half pence, 
not one and one twelfth pence, and consequently the 
cost of quinine in the bark would be eighteen and 
three-quarter cents. The cost of manufacturing qiinine 
in Germany was formerly about fourteen cents per 
ounce but this has been reduced somewhat of late 
years. If calculated at ten cents this would make 
the cost of manufacturing and marketing the alkaloid 
about twenty-eight and three-quarter cents per ounce. 
These calculations, the jobber says, are base! on the 
recent lowest price of bark, but the manufacturers 
have been buying bark for the past few months at 
two pence per unit, equal to twenty-five cents, and, 
adding ten oents to this as the cost of manufactur- 
ing, the actual cost of quinine to the manufacturer 
would be thirty-five cents. The cost of their present 
stock must average that, argues the jobber, and it 
can readily be seen that they must lose money when 
the market is declining, and pr >fit very little when 
it is steady. Regarding the probability of a further 
decline in bark, the writer goes on to say that it 
costs equal to five and a half cents per pound to 
market Java bark, and it would therefore require 
about two per cent bark to pay these expenses, 
leaving nothing to the planter for cultivating the 
plantation for six or seven years before the bark 
is ready for the market. A lower grade of 
bark would not pay the expenses, and consequent- 
ly a large portion would not be shipped at all at 
present prices. The circular concludes with the state- 
ment shipments for October have fallen off consider- 
ably, and must continue to decrease if prices remain 
so low as at present. The average unit value at the 
London sale in 1885 was five and a half pence par 
unit, in 188G four pence, and this year about two 
pence. The writer concludes that it is safe, therefore, 
to assume that th<» bottom has been reached. In 
this statement of the case there is certainly much 
food for thought, but it appears to us that the im- 
mediate future of quinine does not so much depend 
upon the cost of production. While the decline in 
bark has necessarily affected the market value of 
quinine, the most potent factor in the situation is the 
overproduction of the alkaloid itself. There is a 
surplus stock of about seven hundred thousand 
ounces of quinine in this market, and on good 
authority we learn that there is a surplus of one 
million ounces abroad. The present stock of bark 
in Europe and America represents, according to the 
same authority, three million seven hundred and forty 
thousand ounces of quinine, giving a total visible 
supply for the world of five million four hundred 
and forty thousand ounces, or enough to last ten or 
eleven mouths. These figures present even more food 
for thought than the careful calculations of how much 
it costs to produce an ounce of quinine. The foreign 
manufacturers of the alkaloid have striven hard to 
get a foothold in this market at considerable pecu- 
niary loss to themselves at times, and having not only 
gained a foothold, but a considerable slice of trade, 
which as a whole represents an annual consumption of 
over three million ounces, it. does not seem reasonable 
or likely that they would relinquish any of it. There- 
fore it would seem hardly probable that so 
long as present conditions prevail — that is to 
say, so long as the foreign manufacturers 
can secure bark at prices that will enable 
them to place quinine on this market at about 
present figures — any permanent improvement in the 
quinine market will occur. 
There is, however, one contingency that may arise 
to change the current of events. We refer to the 
possibility of a combination of the interests of the 
European and domestic manufacturers. Until re- 
cently there appeared to be no ground for believing 
