Água de Inglaterra

In addition to the name, these preparations had in common the fact that the major therapeutic ingredient was the bark of the cinchona tree, from which quinine is obtained.

[5] It was initially introduced from England in 1681 by Dr. Fernando Mendes, who “received a handsome gift from (King Dom Pedro) on condition that he should reveal to him the secret of his composition and withhold it from the public”.

The medicine, which was produced through an infusion of the cinchona bark in alcohol, was subsequently popularised in the 1730s by Jacob de Castro Sarmento, a Portuguese doctor who lived in London from around 1720.

[5] Sarmento set up a profitable distribution network for Água de Inglaterra in Portugal and it became one of the most widely used drugs in the country.

[3][6] The rights of the nephew's son in this regard were disputed in the Portuguese Parliament as late as 1821, having earlier been endorsed by the Prince Regent.