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SUPPLIES OF DRUGS

DUTCH INDUSTRY EFFECT OF NAZI INVASION Holland, Dutch colonial possessions, and Belgium are sources of supply of not a few items of materia medica in common use in all countries, says a writer in The Times. The most important of the medicinal products to be affected by the German invasion of Holland is quinine, for the world market in this alkaloid of. cinchona bark is controlled from Amsterdam, and more than 95 per cent of the raw material required for its manufacture is produced in the Dutch island of Java. Fortunately, there is reason to suppose that ample reserves of this almost indispensable febrifuge are held in the military stores of the Allies, and that stocks are warehoused in this country against the domestic needs of the civil population; the mere fact that the advance in the price of quinine since August last year is due almost wholly to adjustments of the Dutch exchange is evidence that no shortage has existed since the war began. In quite recent years even rumours of wars have suffered to cause a rise in the cost of this specific in malaria, and the absence of undue upward movements throughout the period from September last up to the present suggests an even distribution of supplies of the product and reflects favourable on Dutch methods of control. Other Alkaloids The market in two other commonly prescribed alkaloids, caffein and theobromide, is dominated by Dutch production; the former is extracted chiefly from tea and coffee waste, and the latter from cocoa husk. A by-product of the manufacture of cocoa which is also an important commodity of Dutch commerce is cacao butter; it is used extensively in pharmacy as a vehicle for more potent drugs in specific methods of treatment, and also as a base for ointments. Caraway seed is another product in the cultivation of which Holland excels; the oil distilled in Holland from the seed is used in medical practice. An essential oil is that distilled from nutmegs cultivated in the Dutch territory of Sumatra; this oil is also used medically. The most esteemed variety of aloes is that produced in the Dutch islands of Curacao, Aruba, and Bonaire; it is known in commerce as Curacao aloes. A product of the Netherlands East Indies which is used in medicine in vast quantities is the balsamic resin obtained from Styrax benzoin, a tree growing in Sumatra; this is the gum benzoin of commerce, the uses of which in medicine arc many. Derris root, used in horticulture and agriculture as an insecticide, is also cultivated in Sumatra, but there are other fruitful sources of supply. Citronella oil distilled in Java is more highly prized than any other variety; large quantities are used in the toilet soap and perfumary industries. Holland is an important source of supply of milk sugar. Belgian Supplies In Belgium the cultivation of many vegetable drugs is pursued on a large commercial scale, and exports to Great Britain are substantial. Since war conditions placed obstacles in the way of trade between large areas in mid-Europe devoted to such commodities, London dealers have been able to satisfy some of their requirements by transferring orders to Belgian growers. Among the more important drugs cultivated in Belgium are valerian root, marshmallow, chamomile flowers, henbane, dandelion root, angelica, and burdock root, and a substantial trade in these articles, and also in gelatine is done through the London market.

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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WT19400704.2.134

Bibliographic details

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21156, 4 July 1940, Page 13

Word Count
572

SUPPLIES OF DRUGS Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21156, 4 July 1940, Page 13

SUPPLIES OF DRUGS Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21156, 4 July 1940, Page 13