AGRICULTURIST. 
503 
2? — The result is that from bark valued at nearly Gd 
per lb., the febrifuge is estimated to cost R 16-3-1 § per lb. 
Contrasted with this the cost to the Government 
of the following pure preparations supplied from 
Europe is given (at page 21) as per lb. R. A. P. 
Cinchonidia; snlphas... ... 17 8 0 
Cinchoni;e sulphas 5 0 0 
3. — At page 56, 1 learned that the average quantity 
of drug given in each case is 
Sulph. of cinchonine ... 7S91 [grains] 
Sulph. of ciuchonidino ... GS-8G3 
Quinetum ... ... 107-135 
the " Quinetum" meaning "the Sikkim febrifuge," as 
is evident from the next sentence: — "This drug [the 
above febrifuge] required a huge quantity to be given 
before the patient was cured." 
4. — So that oue lb. of sulph. cinchonine would 
cure eighty-five cases at an expense of R5, whilst 
one lb. of the febrifuge might c uiv sixty-five cases at 
an expense of R16. Or with sulph. cinchonidine 
one hundred and one cases would be cured at an ex- 
pense of less than R17. 
5. — So much for the supposed cheapness of the 
febrifuge at the time referred to in these calculations. 
But it must be remembered that, owing to the in- 
creased supplies of cinchona bark from every quarter, 
the price of Quinine is diminishing, whilst the price 
of the ftbrifuge must remain much the same and 
contrast still more unfavourably with the diminishing 
price of other alkaloids, 
6. — I assume in three observations that the cost 
of the febrifuge cannot be much lessened. I rest this 
on the necessarily wasteful character of the process 
employod — although the beet, perhaps, that c<uld be 
employed on the spot. 
7. — I presume that it would be an advantage to 
the medical profession, if the objectionable portion of 
the produce of the red bark were thoroughly inves- 
tigated. The present papers confirm the opinion I ex- 
pressed in my last letter of its decidedly emetic 
properties. 
S. — Whilst retaining these properties I cannot con- 
sider that the Sikkim febrifuge fulfils the bene- 
volent intentions of Her Majesty's Government. It 
seems generally admitted in these papers to be a 
nauseous medicine detrimental in a greater or less 
degree alike to Europeans and to natives. It is well 
remarked at page 13 that " the miseries caused by 
Indian residence and illness are depressing enough in 
themselves, without being intensified by nauseating 
agencies quite foreign to the therapeutic effect required." 
1).— Apart from these effects the efficacy of the 
remedy seems to be universally admitted, being ap- 
parently that of the cinohonidine and cinchonine of 
which it is chielly composed. 
I 10. — I find in Mr. Moens's report on the Govern- 
1 ment Cinchona Enterprise in Java for 1879 the fol- 
lowing analyses of the different kinds of quinetum, 
j from which it will be seen how small a percentage 
of the whole requires to be sacrificed in order to 
remove the obnoxious amorphous alkaloids : — 
Pbepahation op Febiufpgk Alkaloid. 
In ttao nnn'ytical laboral ry of the medical depa-tmcnt 
Weltcvredon, by do Vrij's moth d so-called, out ofa.O 0 kilograms 
OT dry bark m kilograms nfquimtum were prepa'etl — less than 
80 per cent or the alkaloid tluit wns pronont iu the bark. 
Willi Ihll qnlnotum, trials will bo made in ihe diffuront military 
hospital*. Analyses wero made of different kinds i.fuuinotum, 
'ho r, milt of which is given below, or these nnnhsos tho j 
Composition. 12 3-1 
Intolublo In diluto hydrochlorio acid ... 003 1'09 1) 00 G-22 
Wiilcr 4-ilO 0 80 0 00 3 80 
Ash 3-00 0H0 930 310 
(uln'no U'80 1-00 01M 13 13 
'Inchniildliio 2513 GO-SO 2103 •MrflO 
SBbonlne and qoloomino 6335 :mi-ih 3595 37 S0 
AmorphoimalkaU.i l 712 0-12 'J".«2 I HI 
Coloring matter and residuum IDS 11M 5*30 100 
Quinetum No. 1 is that prepared in British India and sold by 
tho Government there at 20 rupees per English pound. It is 
of a fino white colour, and has a peculiar sweet smell, .t fl 
pacKed in tin boxes holding J rin English pound, which are 
provided with directions for use in English and H ndustani. 
No. 2 was prcpnrod at Weltovrodou. It has tho sa»io appearance 
nnd smell as the Bengal, but >s a little darker colorod. No. 3 
is a sample of the Cist quinetum prepared by Brnughton in 
Madras and called by him amorphous quinine. It is a yellow 
stuff, sticky like resin, and looking like rhubarb pow er, — on 
tho whole, a very impure preparation. Equally wiih tho 
samples 1 and 4, I owe this also to the kindness of Dr. King, 
superintendent of the licngal cinchona gardens. No, 4 is 
quinetum of tho m nul'ncturor Whifl'en in London, This h d 
a giay-brown tint, smell of methyl-alcohol, and left a sandy 
icsidum on solution in dilute hydrochloric acid. 
11. — I have confidence in the chemical skill of Mr. 
Moens, and therefore present these detailed analyses 
as fully reliable. 
12. —I do not know whether the Indian Government 
have any serious intention of improving the alkaloid ; 
but if this be the case, I should be happy, if desired, to 
supply further suggestions. 
13. — In the meantime, I append some remarks on 
another preparation analysed by the same chemist : — 
Beside these? samplos of quinetum, another preparation was 
analyzed, produced by the same maker, under tho name of 
quinotum sulphate. It has beon tried in British India, and 
consists of 
23- 26 per cent sulphate of quinine, 
61*40 „ „ cinchonidinc, 
24- 30 „ ,, cinchonine. 
This has a very g-od appearance and greatly resembles the 
quinino sulphate rf commerce, but with the raicrosco e t- e 
larger crystals of cinch' na su phate can be delected. This 
preparation is apparently combined mechanically by the mix- 
ture of h cinchonidino sulphate with J qnitii 0 sulphate, arid an 
equal quantity of cinchonine sulphate. The quinetum of dit- 
ferent preparations was also of v:ry different com- 
position. As t 0 loss is so excessively great in the pre- 
paration by extraction with dilute hydr chloric or sulphuric 
acid (de Vrij's method) that about half or the alkaloids a r e 
as L'ood as lost in the process, another method of preparation 
is to be adopted in Bengal, and at the same time a large pro- 
portion of the quinetum will bo made into sul| hate compoui.ds, 
with a view o remove the amorphous alkaloids, which some- 
times form J of the whole, and to which disagreeable results 
are ascribed. 
14. — In reference to the above, I must say that I 
cannot find that any advantage has been shewn to re- 
sult from Ihe administration of mixed alkaloids. The 
alternate, use of these is attended with better results, 
as I have found that, when the constitution has 
become intolerant of quinine from long use, the ohange 
to sulph. cinchonidine has been decidedly advant- 
ageous. 
15. — The cheapest preparation, and the one which is 
best adapted for prescription, is the muriate (not sul- 
phate) of cinchonine, and this in ordinary cases I 
have found in this country entirely successful, I do 
not, however, recommend this preparation, which is, 
by all accounts, inferior, as a medicine, to the sulphate 
of cinchonidine. — I am,!&c, 
John Eliot Howard, F.R.S. 
To the Under-Secretary of State for India. 
Mr. Howard's calculations and advice are deserving 
of serious consideration at the hands of the author- 
ities in India. At the same time we must point out 
that the argument in reference to the nauseous effect 
of the locally-manufactured febrifuge is not borne out 
by inedic il meu all around. A good many hospital 
surgeons speak in high terms of the Sikhim febrifuge 
and use it freely for native patients ; and the hopo 
of the planting and mercantile community was, that 
through using their own preparation, the ( M.vernmcu' 
would be able to extend tho consumption very largely 
among the millions of India who s'nnd in need every 
year of such treatment. But if tho Sikhim febrifuge 
is more expoutdve than tho preparations offered iu the 
open market, the sooner the Indian Government aban- 
doned cinchona cultivation to private enterprise, and 
bnj all their stores of quinine and the inferior al- 
kaloids, tho bettor we should say. 
