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The tree that shaped empires

For my masters thesis in the History of Science I looked at the profound impact of the Cinchona tree on world history. I produced a video about what I discovered.

Script


This is Cinchona, a tree whose legacy is as bitter as it’s taste. 

For over three centuries, it’s bark was humanity’s only defence against malaria, a disease so deadly it’s killed five percent of all humans who’ve ever lived. 

The tree was a medical marvel, but it opened the door to a dark chapter in history.

--
   
The story begins in the icy foot hills of the Peruvian Andes, it’s the 17th century and Spanish Jesuits are here on a mission to spread the word of God. 

Whilst passing a silver mine, the priests came across local workers chewing on the bark of the cinchona tree. On questioning, The locals explained that they were chewing on the bark so as to stop them shivering from the cold. 

For the priests, shivering had long been a harbinger of doom. It was a tell-tale sign of Malaria, a disease plaguing Europe at the time. It was a period in history when many cities were surrounded by marshland, a landscape loved by malaria spreading mosquitoes.

Fevers and shivers still haunted the priests, and they were on the lookout for anything that might ease their symptoms.

Shivering from the cold and shivering from fever are not the same thing but luckily for the priests, eating the ground-up bark put a stop to their malarial shakes. 

Soon after the priests along with the help of indigenous collectors were shipping crate loads of the bark back to Europe.

The fever banishing bark stunned doctors in Europe, which, looking back, isn’t too surpising given they had been relying on a questionable mixture of blood-letting and amputations to treat malaria.

 


Despite working, it wasn’t a perfect solution. The barks effectiveness varied wildly depending on the species of Cinchona tree that was harvested, and shipping it to Europe from Peru made it pricey, plus ties to Catholicism during a period of religious upheaval in Europe tainted Cinchonas reputation. English Civil war victor, Oliver Cromwell, a famously puritanical protestant, refused the bark whilst dying from Malaria, dismissing it as popish quackery. 

The Jesuits bark was for Catholics and the wealthy and especially wealthy Catholics.

 

 


At the same time the Cinchona tree was discovered in the New World in the 1630s, European exploitation of Africa was just beginning. But fast forward 250 years, to the 1870s, and Europe’s colonial project hadn’t gone very far. In Europe, Africa was known as the “Dark Continent”, Dark because, well, Europeans really were in the dark when it came to Africa, they’d only really explored the coast, anyone with an ego big enough to head inland would usually wind up dead.

But within just 40 years, almost the entire continent was colonised by European powers in what became known as the scramble for Africa. 

So, what changed? 

Rapid industrialisation of European economies meant these nations were hungry for raw materials.  And Africa had them all, timber, gold, palm oil and coal. You name it and Europe wanted it. And they were prepared to do anything to get it. There were just a couple of hurdles to overcome.  Malaria was a big one. 

At this point in the 19th century, Malaria remained a problem in some parts of Europe, but  the strain of Malaria found in Africa, falciparum was far deadlier than the type seen in Europe, especially for those who hadn’t built up an immunity from childhood.  By the time symptoms appeared – it was already too late. 

Death rates among early European explorers were spectacular. 

On one expedition in 1777 to Mozambique, 132 out of 152 Europeans died from the disease before they returned. Malaria was a bloodsucking spanner in the works for Europe’s imperial projects. How could they even work out what was there to take if all their prospectors kept dying in the field?

Something more potent than cinchona was needed.

The quinine connection

Back to Europe, it’s 1820 and French Chemists Caentou and Pellier had identifited the barks active ingredient. A complex, bitter tasting chemical they named Quinine after the Quechua word for the tree, Quina quina.

Soon, purer and improved forms of anti-malarial  treatments were developed.

In 1848 An aspiring British medic, Doctor HR Thompson (?), wanted to test out a theory he’d been mulling over. Instead of taking quinine when the Malarial shivering began, Thompson predicted that by taking it daily, a patient could saturate their blood with Quinine, killing off any chances of the Malaria parasite from taking hold on the body. On an expedition up the gambia that same year, Thompson got the opportunity to test his theory of quinine prophylaxis on his crew. On their return, Thompson was elated to declare not a single member of the crew succumbed to Malaria. 

Whitehall were elated. 


This is quinine consumption in 1823 this is it in 1824

 

 

 Europes imperial powers were listening and by 1848  the British 

Soon after the British Army were all ears, and by 1848 the British were using it en masse to to keep its soldiers and Bureaucrats alive long enough to penetrate and carve up Africa, India and other tropical regions where Malaria was rife.


This is Cinchona, a tree whose legacy is as bitter as it’s taste. 

For over three centuries, it’s bark was humanity’s only defence against malaria, a disease so deadly it’s killed five percent of all humans who’ve ever lived. 

The tree was a medical marvel, but it opened the door to a dark chapter in history.

--
   
The story begins in the icy foot hills of the Peruvian Andes, it’s the 17th century and Spanish Jesuits are here on a mission to spread the word of God. 

Whilst passing a silver mine, the priests came across local workers chewing on the bark of the cinchona tree. On questioning, The locals explained that they were chewing on the bark so as to stop them shivering from the cold. 

For the priests, shivering had long been a harbinger of doom. It was a tell-tale sign of Malaria, a disease plaguing Europe at the time. It was a period in history when many cities were surrounded by marshland, a landscape loved by malaria spreading mosquitoes.

Fevers and shivers still haunted the priests, and they were on the lookout for anything that might ease their symptoms.

Shivering from the cold and shivering from fever are not the same thing but luckily for the priests, eating the ground-up bark put a stop to their malarial shakes. 

Soon after the priests along with the help of indigenous collectors were shipping crate loads of the bark back to Europe.

The fever banishing bark stunned doctors in Europe, which, looking back, isn’t too surpising given they had been relying on a questionable mixture of blood-letting and amputations to treat malaria.

 


Despite working, it wasn’t a perfect solution. The barks effectiveness varied wildly depending on the species of Cinchona tree that was harvested, and shipping it to Europe from Peru made it pricey, plus ties to Catholicism during a period of religious upheaval in Europe tainted Cinchonas reputation. English Civil war victor, Oliver Cromwell, a famously puritanical protestant, refused the bark whilst dying from Malaria, dismissing it as popish quackery. 

The Jesuits bark was for Catholics and the wealthy and especially wealthy Catholics.

 

 


At the same time the Cinchona tree was discovered in the New World in the 1630s, European exploitation of Africa was just beginning. But fast forward 250 years, to the 1870s, and Europe’s colonial project hadn’t gone very far. In Europe, Africa was known as the “Dark Continent”, Dark because, well, Europeans really were in the dark when it came to Africa, they’d only really explored the coast, anyone with an ego big enough to head inland would usually wind up dead.

But within just 40 years, almost the entire continent was colonised by European powers in what became known as the scramble for Africa. 

So, what changed? 

Rapid industrialisation of European economies meant these nations were hungry for raw materials.  And Africa had them all, timber, gold, palm oil and coal. You name it and Europe wanted it. And they were prepared to do anything to get it. There were just a couple of hurdles to overcome.  Malaria was a big one. 

At this point in the 19th century, Malaria remained a problem in some parts of Europe, but  the strain of Malaria found in Africa, falciparum was far deadlier than the type seen in Europe, especially for those who hadn’t built up an immunity from childhood.  By the time symptoms appeared – it was already too late. 

Death rates among early European explorers were spectacular. 

On one expedition in 1777 to Mozambique, 132 out of 152 Europeans died from the disease before they returned. Malaria was a bloodsucking spanner in the works for Europe’s imperial projects. How could they even work out what was there to take if all their prospectors kept dying in the field?

Something more potent than cinchona was needed.

The quinine connection

Back to Europe, it’s 1820 and French Chemists Caentou and Pellier had identifited the barks active ingredient. A complex, bitter tasting chemical they named Quinine after the Quechua word for the tree, Quina quina.

Soon, purer and improved forms of anti-malarial  treatments were developed.

In 1848 An aspiring British medic, Doctor HR Thompson (?), wanted to test out a theory he’d been mulling over. Instead of taking quinine when the Malarial shivering began, Thompson predicted that by taking it daily, a patient could saturate their blood with Quinine, killing off any chances of the Malaria parasite from taking hold on the body. On an expedition up the gambia that same year, Thompson got the opportunity to test his theory of quinine prophylaxis on his crew. On their return, Thompson was elated to declare not a single member of the crew succumbed to Malaria. 

Whitehall were elated. 


This is quinine consumption in 1823 this is it in 1824

 

 

 Europes imperial powers were listening and by 1848  the British 

Soon after the British Army were all ears, and by 1848 the British were using it en masse to to keep its soldiers and Bureaucrats alive long enough to penetrate and carve up Africa, India and other tropical regions where Malaria was rife.

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