Chapter 74

During the present war one of the most serious problems with which the fighting services have had to contend on the battle fronts is the frequency of malaria, one of the most widespread diseases in the world. There are two standard remedies for malaria: one is quinine, a natural product obtained from the cinchona trees of Java; the other is atabrine, a synthetic coal-tar product. Because the production and distribution of quinine were controlled by one of the most closely-knit cartels in existence, a shortage devel…