374 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
October  23,  1902. 
and  in  1896,  639.  At  the  last  audit  the  numbers  were  904 
(end  of  1901),  but  now  there  are  974  benefit  members.  The 
executive  hope  that  the  number  at  the  close  of  this,  the 
Coronation  year,  will  amount  to  1,000.  The  funds  of  the 
society  have  increased  in  a  similar  ratio.  These  in  1901 
stood  at  £6,822 ;  at  the  close  of  the  last  financial  year,  the 
amount  invested  and  in  hand  for  current  expenses  were 
£19,086.  At  the  present  time  they  stand  at  £20,000  in  the 
aggregate. 
“  Some  of  the  large  benefit  societies  have  heaped  up  their 
funds  in  tens  of  thousands  by  the  misfortunes  of  their  lapsed 
members,  yet  have  not  so  large  an  average  sum  per  member. 
In  these  societies  members  who  allow  their  subscriptions  to 
lapse  lose  everything. 
“The  Beneft  Fund. 
“  It  is  entirely  opposed  to  all  reason  that  in  a  ‘  benefit  ’ 
society  any  section  of  the  members  should  profit  by  the 
misfortunes  of  others.  It  cannot  possibly  occur  in  our  society. 
The  ‘  United/  from  its  commencement,  has  credited  to  each 
member  his  proportion  of  the  year’s  working.  Thus,  some 
have  now  to  their  credit  in  the  books  of  the  society  over 
£100,  to  which  is  added  yearly  3  per  cent,  interest.  Each 
member  has  to  contribute  his  proportion  towards  the  Sick 
Fund  of  the  current  year,  after  which  the  balance  is  placed 
to  his  own  account.  A  yearly  balance-sheet  is  issued  to  each 
member,  so  that  he  knows  from  year  to  year  exactly  what 
funds  he  has  to  his  credit.  And  in  the  event  of  his  decease, 
his  nominee  can  know  at  a  glance  what  that  balance  is. 
When  a  member  reaches  the  age  of  seventy  years  he  can 
withdraw  his  balance  in  one  sum,  or  in  smaller  amounts. 
Lapsed  members,  i.e.,  members  whose  accounts  have  been 
closed  through  ceasing  to  pay  their  conti’ibutions,  can  obtain 
their  balances  upon  attaioing  the  age  of  sixty  years,  the  sum 
paid  to  such  being  the  amount  standing  to  their  credit  when 
they  became  lapse^l  members. 
“  The  Benevolent  Fund 
is  provided  for  by  the  contributions  of  life  and  honorary 
members,  and  by  a  small  annual  sum  from  each  benefit 
member.  This  fund  provides  for  all  members  after  they 
have  passed  the  age  of  seventy  years.  It  also  assists  mem¬ 
bers  in  cases  of  accident  or  other  peculiar  forms  of  distress, 
and  the  widows  of  such  members  who  die  in  needy  circum¬ 
stances.  The  committee  appeal  urgently  for  more  honorary 
and  life  members  so  that  this  fund  may  be  increased  in  pro¬ 
portion  to  the  number  of  members.  With  one  thousand 
benefit  members,  the  number  of  honorary  and  life  members 
should  be  at  least  one  hundred. 
“  The  Convalescent  Fund 
is  a  purely  voluntary  one  on  the  part  of  the  benefit  members. 
It  was  instituted  through  the  kindness,  liberality,  and  busi¬ 
ness  forethought  of  Mr.  N.  N.  Sherw'ood.  Its  funds  are 
devoted  to  assisting  members  by  a  grant,  so  that  they  can 
obtain  a  change  of  air  during  convalescence.  In  the  case  of 
young  gardeners  who  may  be  in  lodgings  during  sickness,  it 
is  an  important  aid  to  their  recovery. 
“  The  Management  Fund 
is  directed  to  the  working  expenses  of  the  society.  During 
1901,  with  904  benefit  members,  it  amounted  to  £163  14s.  10d., 
an  average  of  about  3s.  7d.  per  member,  towards  which  each 
member  contributes  annually  the  sum  of  2s.  6d.  ;  the  balance 
being  made  up  from  the  interest  of  monies  standing  to  the 
credit  of  the  lapsed,  members,  and  by  the  proceeds  from 
advertisements  in  the  annual  report. 
“  ine  committee  considers  that  this  society  in  a  measure 
fulfils  what  has  been  often  urged  upon  the  community  at 
large,  viz.,  the  provision  of  ‘  old-age  pensions.’  It  is  a  self- 
help  society,  its  rules  being  framed  so  that  the  utmost 
possible  return  may  be  made  to  every  member  belonging  to 
it,  and  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  j-ears  each  one  has 
contributed.  The  secretary  is  always  willing  to  supply  any 
information  as  to  scales  of  contribution,  &c.  The  funds  are 
invested  in  approved  trustees’  stocks,  which  yield  on  an 
average  about  3  per  cent.” 
Quinine  and  Its  Romantic  History. 
Many  of  the  greatest  benefactors  to  mankind  have  been 
discovered  through  the  merest  of  accidents,  of  which 
saccharin  may  be  cited  as  a  case  in  point,  but  we  doubt  if 
there  is  any  other  drug  which  has  a  more  romantic  history 
than  quinine,  which  may  really  be  said  to  be  now  a  house¬ 
hold  medicine,  as  well  as  a  household  word. 
Although  Peruvian  Bark  was  used  in  England  as  early 
as  1655,  and  was  advertised  in  1658  as  “the  excellent  powder 
called  by  the  name  of  Jesuits’  Powder,  brought  over  by 
James  Thomson,  merchant,  of  Antwerp,”  it  was  not  until 
1677  that  the  drug  was  included  in  the  British  Pharmacopoeia. 
What  is  now,  however,  known  as  quinine  was  not  discovered 
till  1811,  and  it  was  not  obtained  in  a  pure  state  by  com¬ 
plete  separation  from  the  other  constituents  of  the  bark 
till  some  ten  years  afterwards. 
Put  into  unscientific  language,  quinine  may  be  described 
as  the  base,  or  essential  principle,  of  the  bark  of  certain 
individuals  among  the  Cinchona  family  of  trees,  the  result 
being  one  of  the  most  important  of  the  alkaloids.  This 
bark  was  first  introduced  into  Europe  in  1632,  although  it 
is  generally  said  to  have  been  unknown  there  before  the 
return  to  the  City  of  Madrid  by  the  Countess  of  Cinchon, 
the  wife  of  the  Viceroy  of  Peru  in  1640.  This  lady,  from 
whom  the  bark-producing  trees  derive  their  botanical  name, 
had  been  cured  by  it  of  a  fever  contracted  in  Lima  in 
1638,  but  the  Jesuits  who  had  settled  in  Peru  were  fully 
alive  to  its  virtues  long  before,  and  as  those  missionaries 
were  the  general  agents  for  its  distribution  in  Europe,  it 
came  to  be  known  as  “Jesuits’  Powder,”  while  in  Madrid 
it  was  called  “  Countess’  Powder,”  and  in  Rome  as  “  Pulvis 
Patrurn.” 
In  the  cities  of  Brussels  and  Antwerp  it  was  sold  for  its 
weight  in  silver,  which  was  then  about  ten  times  the  price 
of  opium,  and  in  1658  twyenty  doses  were  sent  from  Rome  to 
Paris  at  an  expense  of  sixty  florins.  Louis  XIV.  used  it  for 
a  dangerous  illness,  and  our  own  Charles  II.  had  also  had  it 
administered  to  him.  The  bark  was  looked  upon  as  almost 
a  miraculous  cure  for  fevers  and  agues  right  down  to  the 
end  of  the  seventeenth  century.  Humboldt  raised  doubts 
as  to  whether  the  curative  nature  of  the  bark  was  origin¬ 
ally  known  to  the  Peruvians,  but  in  the  light  of  later 
information  there  can  be  little  doubt  the  natives  did  know. 
The  tradition  is  that  the  properties  of  the  bark  were 
first  practically  realised  by  a  fever-stricken  Indian,  who, 
being  left  behind  by  his  companions  as  is  their  wont  if 
sickness  overtakes  one  of  their  number,  drank  of  the  stream 
which  flowed  through  the  forest  wherein  he  was  stricken, 
and  which  had  become  impregnated  by  the  bark  of  the  over¬ 
hanging  Cinchona  trees.  His  cure  was  so  rapid  that  on  his 
return  to  his  tribe  his  restoration  to  health  was  looked  upon 
as  miraculous,  wTith  the  result  that  the  Indians  flocked  to 
the  stream  to  partake  of.  its  wonderful  water.  The 
Cinchona  trees  were  chiefly  to  be  found  upon  the  Eastern 
slopes  of  the  Andes,  and  until  the  discovery  of  quinine  the 
Peruvian  bark  of  commerce  was  drawn  in  the  main  from 
this  district,  the  finest  quality,  grown  in  the  town  of  Loxa, 
and  known  as  Crown  Bark,  being  long  reserved  for  the 
Royal  Family  of  Spain. 
Of  course,  the  demands  of  Europe  soon  denuded  the 
native  forests  of  their  trees,  and  led  to  the  cultivation  of 
the  Cinchona  in  other  districts.  The  Dutch  were  the  first 
to  make  the  experiment  of  cultivating  the  plant  in  Java, 
where  they  met  with  much  success,  their  example  being 
followed  by  the  Indian  Government  and  by  English  resi¬ 
dents  in  the  East,  with  the  result  that  for  many  years  past 
there  have  been  extensive  plantations  in  the  Neilgherry 
Hills,  British  Sikkim,  Bombay,  and  British  Burmah,  while 
the  growers  of  Ceylon  have  extensively  planted  it  in 
Colombo.  Some  fifteen  years  or  so  ago  there  were  only 
seventeen  known  factories  of  quinine  in  existence — being 
six  in  Germany,  four  in  America,  three  in  France,  two  in 
Italy,  and  two  in  England — the  total  consumption  then 
amounting  to  4,250,000  ounces,  which  must,  however,  have 
been  since  largely  increased  through  the  epidemics  of 
influenza  and  other  causes.  Thus  during  the  cutting  of  the 
unfortunate  Panama  Canal  some  200,000  ounces  of  quinine 
were  distributed  every  year  among  the  labourers  to 
counteract  the  malarial  fever  of  the  Isthmus.  Madame  de 
Genlis  founded  a  novel  on  quinine,  and  Lamartine  indited  a 
poem  in  its  praise,  and,  all  round,  the  drug  possesses  a 
decidedly  romantic  history. — Wi.  Norman  Brown. 
