August i, 1881.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
235 
'he \vas, by doing so, without exposing its quality, 
practically assisting in tlie distribution and consump- 
tion of a spurious compound of quite a different nature 
from tho teas which have been proved by analysis, 
however inferior their quality, at any rate not pre- 
judicial to thepublic health. Apologising for occupying 
so much of your valuable space, and trusting that 
both the trade and the public generally will now be 
able clearly to recognize our true position in this 
matter. — Youre, &c, Dalgkty, Blackwood & Co. 
Melbourne, ISth June. 
QUININE MANUFACTURE IN ITALY AND 
GERMANY. 
(From tho Journal of the Society of Arts. ) 
The following account of the manufacture of sulph- 
ate of quinine in Italy, with suggestions as to the 
cultivation of the cinchona tree in the United Stutes 
by Consul Crain, of Milan, is taken from the Journal 
of Applied Science. The manufacture of salts of quin- 
ine is an important Italian industry. It has been 
carried on at Milan and Genoa since 1S70. Twenty- 
two thousand five hundred pounds are consumed yearly 
in Italy, of which one half is made at Milan, 6,7501b. 
at Genoa, and the balance imported from Germany. 
Forty-live thousand pounds of quinine aud salts of 
<iuiuine are produced in Italy, The production of 
tlie world is estimated at from 230,0001b. to 200,000 lb. 
per year, as follows :— Germany, 56,250 lb.; Italy, 
45,0001b.; France, -40,000 1b.; England, 27,000 1b.; 
America, 63,0001b.; India, 12,25() lb. The two Italian 
factories produce 45,0001b. of the sulphate of quinine 
xiz. 40,5001b. at Milan, and 4,500 lb. at Genoa. The 
iirst of these employs 45 hands, the second 15. The 
Milan factory ships largely to all parts, furnishing 
large supplies to Russia, France, and Austria. Eng- 
land receives two-thirds of her supply, and Holland 
one-half of hers from the same source. Efforts will 
he made to acclimatise the cinchona in Italy, to in- 
crease tho supply and lessen the cost of the product. 
Its successful culture in India and Ceylon encourages 
the belief that it will grow wherever the soil is dry, 
the rainfall large, and climate temperate. Many parts 
of the United States fulfil these conditions, and 
notably where its product is needed. The culture of 
the cinchona in America would cheapen an indispens- 
able medicine, aud open a new industry to capital 
and labour. In this connection some facts reported 
by Mr. E. Van Eetvelde, the Consul-General of 
Belgium in India, ate instructive. He reports that 
the best varieties of cinchona have been successfully 
acclimatised in British India. The Government there 
cultivate chielly the "Cinchona suceirubra," which con- 
tains a largo quantity of febrifuge alkaloids, and the 
** Cinchona oalisaya," which is better suited to the 
manufacture of quinine. The culture of the first 
has been successful. Uncertainty still exists as 
to <ho "Cinchona calisaya," aud tho Bengal Go- 
vernment arc examining the plantations of Java, 
"whero it has been cultivated with entire success. 
The cinchona plantations arc in two distinct regions of 
India — in the north of tho Neilgherry Hills, in tho 
Madras Presidency, aud on tho slopes of the Hima- 
layas. Thoso of the (ioverunieut are as yet the most 
important, covering 1,300 acres on the Neilgherry 
Hills, and nearly 3,000 acres in Sikkim. There are 
several private plantations of later date already pro- 
ducing marketable bark. The red bark (Cinchona 
tttdrubra) has many febrifugal alkaloids, but little 
quinine. It was important, therefore, to determine 
tho therapeutic value of tho alkaloids aud the cheapest 
weauo ot extraction, in order to furnish a good 
Wbrifugo at a moderate price. The Medical Commis- 
xiou recommended the extraction of cinchouine, cin- 
;i.,'uidinc, aud of quinine by simple means, and the 
Government now sel 
kaloids under the na 
the price does not e: 
is used in nearly al 
in large quantities tc 
of the north-east D] 
cture of these three al- 
Jinchona febrifuge." As 
7d per oz., this febrifuge 
pitals of India, and sold 
treatment of ordinary intermittent fevers, and that it 
is an excellent prophylactic for those who live or 
travel in marshy countries. Most doctors are, how- 
ever, of the opinion that it is inferior to quinine as 
a therapeutic agent, that its effect is slower, and 
that it is insufficient to cure severe intermittent fevers. 
That it is a medicine of value is shown by the 
increase in its use in the Indian hospitals, which, 
as the following figures show, is remarkable :— 1874-75, 
431b. ; 1875-76, 1,040 lb. ; 1S76-77, 3,7501b. ; 1S77-78,' 
5,1621b. ; 1878-79, 7,0071b. The hospitals took more 
than 5,5001b.; in 1878-70, and, as the use of quinine 
diminished in the same time about as much, it is a proof, 
considering the cost of the last-named alkaloid, that 
the Indian Government saved about £25,000. At the 
present time the Government chemist of India is try- 
ing to produce a better febrifuge, by mixing three 
sulphates, viz., cinchonine, cinchonidine, and quinine, 
of which the cost would be a little higher. Financi- 
ally, the plantations of Sikkim gave last year a net 
profit of nearly £4,000, although not fully developed, or 
4J percent, on the sum invested. 
From an official report recently published, it ap- 
pears that within the German Empire there are five 
quinine manufactories, of which Prussia, Wurtemburg, 
Baden, Brunswick, and Hesse have one each. The 
most important German establishments are those of 
Zimmer, in Frankfort-on-the-Maine ; of Bohringen, in 
Mannheim ; and of Jobst, in Stuttgart. The Zimmer 
establishment was founded by Br. Conrad Zimmer, in 
the year 1S37, and soon acquired considerable renown. 
It is now a very complete and extensive manufactory ; 
it consumes about 50 bales of cinchona bark, and pro- 
duces about 50 kilos of quinine daily. The principal 
preparations of the German establishments are the sulph- 
ate and muriate of quinine. Gf unbleached, or so- 
called hospital quinine, made from various alkaloids, 
they produce very little ; while the cinchonidia sulphate 
is manufactured in large quantities, especially for ex- 
port to the States. The efficacy of this drug is said to 
be similar to that of quinine, while its price is only one- 
third or one-fourth that of the sulphate of quinine. 
Amongst the numerous other salts aud preparations 
of quinine made in Germany are chiefly to be mentioned 
the preparations of the amorphous quinines, especially 
the muriate. These preparations, being perfectly 
soluble, are much employed for injections in cases of 
fever resulting from wounds, and are therefore fii parti- 
cular importance to army hospitals. The German 
manufacturers get their cinchona bark mostly from 
London or Paris, which are the principal markets for 
that commodity. The bark is also brought extensively 
to Amsterdam from Java by the Dutch Government, 
and of late years occasional lots have been imported 
at Bremen. 
The Zimmer factory at Frankfort, two or throe years 
ago, bought large territories in Java, and now employs 
about two hundred natives in clearing grouud and plant- 
ing cinchona. 
The Assam Company. — At the meeting of the share- 
holders of tho Assam Company a dividend of 7 per 
cent, was declared. The chairman (Mr. W. Prideaux) 
referred to tho depressed prices which Indian teas 
have recently bcon realising. He stated that tho 
litest shipments have been of a better quality, and 
ho looked to an improvement La the po-itiou of the 
company iu future.— Ovtriand Mail. 
