Quinine the Quechua, who are indigenous to Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador, to halt shivering due to low temperatures. The Quechuas would mix the ground bark of cinchona trees with sweetened water to offset the bark's bitter taste, thus producing tonic water. The Jesuits were the first to bring cinchona to Europe. The Spanish were aware of the medicinal properties of cinchona bark by the 1570s or earlier: Nicolás Monardes (1571) and Juan Fragoso (1572) both described a tree that was subsequently identified as the cinchona tree and whose bark was used to produce a drink to treat diarrhea. Quinine has been
USS Cinchona (AN-12) USS Cinchona (AN-12) USS "Cinchona" (AN-12/YN-7) was an "Aloe"-class net laying ship which was assigned to serve the U.S. Navy during World War II with her protective anti-submarine nets. "Cinchona" (YN-7) was launched 2 July 1941 by Commercial Iron Works, Portland, Oregon; sponsored by Mrs. W. Casey; outfitted by Puget Sound Navy Yard; and placed in service 15 August 1941, Lieutenant H. H. Breed, USNR, in charge. Assigned to the 14th Naval District, she arrived at Pearl Harbor 17 October where she took up duty in net repair and replacement, salvage of gear lost or adrift, and maintenance of net