Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  1 
March,  1906.  / 
Progress  in  Pharmacy . 
137 
The  total  imports  of  borax,  borates  and  boric  acid,  for  the  same 
year  amounted  to  476  tons,  valued  at  $44,857.  (Jour.  Franklin 
Inst.,  Jan.,  1906,  page  69.) 
The  Production  of  Bromine  in  the  United  Slates. — American  bro- 
mine is  obtained  chiefly  from  the  salt  brines  of  Michigan,  West 
Virginia,  Ohio,  and  Pennsylvania.  The  manufacture  of  bromine  in 
the  United  States  was  begun  in  1846,  at  Freeport,  Pa.,  but  subse- 
quently has  been  carried  on  chiefly  in  certain  areas  of  brine  produc- 
tion which  are  mainly  at  or  near  Lake  St.  Louis,  Mich.;  Pomeroy, 
O. ;  and  Maiden,  W.  Va.  To  produce  bromine  the  residual  liquids 
or  bitterns  from  the  processes  of  salt  manufacture  are  treated  with 
sulphuric  acid,  thus  forming  hydrobromic  acid.  From  this  the 
bromine  is  separated  by  the  use  of  an  oxidizing  agent  which  removes 
the  hydrogen.  For  this  purpose  either  chlorate  of  potash  or  binoxide 
of  manganese  is  used.  The  total  output  of  American  bromine  in 
twenty-five  years  has  been  10,499,625  pounds,  valued  approximately 
at  $2,887,917.  During  1904  the  total  output  amounted  to  897,000 
pounds,  valued  at  $269,130.  (Jour.  Franklin  Inst.y  Jan.,  1906, 
pag-e  70.) 
Cinchona. — Mr.  David  Howard,  in  a  recent  address  before  the 
Society  of  Chemical  Industry,  gave  a  very  interesting  review  of  the 
history  of  cinchona  and  its  cultivation.  He  said,  among  others, 
that  owing  largely  to  the  elimination  of  all  other  species  except 
Ledgeriana  the  average  content  of  quinine  in  cinchona  has  been 
raised  to  upwards  of  5-5  per  cent.,  that  bark  containing  upwards  of 
10  per  cent,  of  alkaloid  is  now  common  enough,  and  that  15  per 
cent,  and  even  more  is  frequently  met  with.  The  average  prices  for 
cinchona  in  1905  were  the  lowest  since  1899. 
Java  Cinchona. — From  a  review  of  the  Java  cinchona  cultivation 
it  appears  that  there  are  seventy-five  limited  companies  and  six  pri- 
vate undertakings  at  work  in  the  Island.  The  majority  of  these 
companies  have  so  far  not  been  able  to  pay  any  dividends,  while 
some  pay  well,  and  one,  the  "  Gabes  "  Company,  has  paid  as  high  as 
200  per  cent. 
The  production  of  cinchona  in  Java  has  increased  from  4,000,000 
kilos  in  1897  to  7,225,000  kilos  in  1 904,  while  in  other  producing 
countries  the  production  has  decreased  from  2,000,000  kilos  in  1898 
to  705,000  kilos  in  1904.  (Chem.  and  Drug.,  January  13,  1906, 
page  68.) 
