How did the Dutch monopolize quinine?
By Chelsie Vandaveer
June 3, 2003
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Suggested Reading: Click here.
In 1837, Justus Hasskarl, a Dutch botanist, arrived in Java to work with Johannes Teijsmann on the establishment of several botanic gardens. In 1852, Teijsmann received a single living specimen of Cinchona calisaya; he propagated the tree from cuttings and began planting. The process was painfully slow.
Funded by entrepreneurs, Hasskarl traveled to South America where he posed as a tourist. South Americans were suspicious of foreigners enquiring about seeds of their quina tree. Hasskarl managed to get Cinchona seed and returned to Java in 1855. He was given charge of the quinine plantation. Unfortunately, the trees did not produce sufficient levels of quinine to make the venture worthwhile. ("History of Cibodas Botanic Garden 1830-1952", Indonesian Botanic Gardens)
Around 1836, Charles Ledger left England to make his fortune in South America. Ledger exported alpaca wool and rojo cascarrillo (Cinchona bark). Ledger depended on Manuel Tucra Mamani to insure both the wool and bark were high quality and delivered on time. Mamani told Ledger of a superstition held by the natives: should the trees ever be successfully established elsewhere, the local trees would die. Native guides sabotaged seeds collected by Europeans.
Ledger was not a man who let either local laws or superstitions stand in his way. In the 1860s, he fooled Mamani into obtaining especially good seeds and shipped them to his brother, George, in England. The English, having already failed to establish profitable quinine plantations in India, declined George's offer. He took the seeds across the English Channel and offered them to the Dutch.
The Dutch bought part of Ledger's seeds and immediately shipped them to Java. By 1881, over seven hundred thousand quinine-producing trees grew in Java. Mamani had selected seeds of the finest of Bolivia's Cinchona trees. ("The Story of Cinchona Ledgeriana", letter written by Charles Ledger, American Journal of Pharmacy, March 1881, posted to the internet by the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine)
South America lost its monopoly to the Dutch. Mamani lost his life for getting seeds for Ledger. Ledger made very little money, but he did go down in botanical history. The trees became known as Cinchona ledgeriana Mones ex Trimen.
Series: | 1 | | 2 | | 3 | | 4 | | 5 | | 6 |
Suggested Reading:
What was Jesuit Powder? Plants that Changed History - April 30, 2002
Who was José Celestino Mutis? Plants that Changed History - May 20, 2003
What is gin and tonic? What's in a Name? - May 23, 2003
Who smuggled quinine seeds for the British? Plants that Changed History - May 27, 2003
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