OUGD503 Studio Brief 1 - Fever Tree

Legend has it that the bark of the fever tree was first used by the Spanish in the early 1630s when it was given to the Countess of Chinchon, who had contracted malaria (known colloquially as the 'fever') whilst living in Peru. The Countess recovered and the healing properties of the tree were discovered. 

However, the healing power of this remarkable tree only became world renowned in the 1820's when officers of the British Army in India, in an attempt to ward off malaria, mixed quinine (the extract from the bark of the fever-tree) with sugar and water, creating the first Indian Tonic Water

The medicinal properties of the cinchona tree were originally discovered by the Quechua peoples of Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador, and long cultivated by them as a muscle relaxant to abate shivering due to low body temperatures and symptoms of Malaria the quinine-containing bark of the cinchona tree would  have healing properties for malaria.