6i6 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



The use of the coca-tree as a narcotic in Peru- and Bolivia is of very 

 great antiquity. When the Spaniards landed under Pizarro, they found 

 the natives chewing the dried leaves, in exactly the same way in which 

 they have continued to chew them down to the present day. EtForts 

 were indeed made, soon after the subjugation of the country, to put a 

 stop to the practice, for the plant had acted an important part in the 

 Peruvian religious ceremonies, and its use was looked upon by the 

 conquerors as an obstacle to the spread of Christianity. Neverthe- 

 less, the Indians persevered in spite of every prohibition and severity. 

 Before long, too, the owners of mines and plantations discovered that 

 it was to their interest to connive at the habit, as, with its aid, their 

 laborers were able to perform more work on a given quantity of food 

 than they could do without it. It has thus gradually become the uni- 

 versal custom to allow from fifteen to thirty minutes, three or four 

 times a day, for the purpose of chewing. At these times the first ob- 

 ject of the Indian is to make himself as comfortable as possible, for 

 the coca fails to produce its effect unless the chewer be perfectly quies- 

 cent. He stretches himself at full length in the shade, on a couch of 

 dry leaves or soft turf, and, rolling a few of the coca-leaves into a ball, 

 conveys them into his mouth ; adding immediately, to bring out the 

 full flavor, a small quantity of unslacked lime, or of the alkaline ashes 

 of certain plants. When thus engaged, the apathy he displays to 

 every thing around him is something marvelous. No entreaty on the 

 part of his employer wdll induce him to move, and, if he be a confirmed 

 coquero, he is indifferent even to drenching rain or the roar of wild 

 animals in the neighboring thicket. In wdiat way the pleasures of the 

 coca-leaf manifest themselves is not known, but they must evidently 

 be of a very seducing kind, thus to render men insensible to personal 

 danger. 



Notwithstanding the wide prevalence of the use of narcotics, little 

 or nothing is known of the way in which their different effects are pro- 

 duced on the system ; and the problem is complicated by the number 

 of active substances that enter into their composition. Opium, besides 

 other more ordinary ingredients, contains no fewer than eleven jjecul- 

 iar organic compounds, all of which are believed to share in produc- 

 ing its usual effects. It has, however, been noticed that many symp- 

 toms of narcotism bear a close resemblance to those of insanity. The 

 wild laughter of a man under the influence of the deadly nightshade 

 cannot be distinguished from that of a manaic, and the false impres- 

 sions as to the size of objects, caused by the Indian hemp and the 

 Siberian fungus, are a permanent feature in the malady of many luna- 

 tics. It has been suggested by Dr. Carpenter that much light might 

 be thrown on the connection between the mind and the body by study- 

 ing the phenomena of drunkenness, and it seems probable that those 

 of narcotism in different parts of the world might be made to yield 

 equally rich results. Of one thing we may be quite certain. The use 



