samsamsam

The miraculous Fever-Tree by Fiammetta Rocco.

her first book, Ms. Rocco tells of the story of the chinchona tree and its valuable bark extract, quinine. how it was first discovered by south americans to be a cure for shivers and then later on exported to europe as a cure for miasma. because it was first used by jesuit priests, the protestant order firmly denounced it as a fake which thus limited its use in certain areas. there are stories of how religious views were more important than scientific ones, how some took opportunity to make a quick buck out of it by mixing it as 'magic pills', how different countries strove to control the bark trade, how wars were won or lost because of the lack of quinine as a drug against malaria, how nations tried to grow their own forest of chincona, how many died trying, and how synthetic drugs once were more favoured as a cure but the malarial parasite had developed immunity against such man-made substances, and we now have to revert back to the bark which still works.
its just amazing to realize how a simple thing such as an infusion of tree bark could change the world. little is known of who the first person was to have used it as a treatment for malaria but one wonders why he chose the chinchona tree, out of the whole forest of possibilities. and when one hears stories of how the disease changed history by killing kings and popes, disabling whole armies of troops in both world wars - deciding the winner (he who had more bark won), enriching quack doctors and highlighting the importance of research; one is humbled to know that even though regarded as the smartest of all beings on this planet, we are still at the mercy of tiny microscopic beings.
this is a fairly easy book to read as it is mostly narrative. the writer adds her own history as her self, her parents and grandparents also suffered from malaria in the past, giving us a first hand view of how families can be greatly affected by a disease.