Nov. 2, 1885.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



333 



generally sufficient. They should not be laid out 

 till the stones are quite hot. They are then packed 

 for transportation across the mountains, and must 

 be kept cool and dry. They are rarely hantUed or 

 transported in damp weather or during the rainy 

 season, which lasts from January to April. The 

 only safe way of transporting them is in soldered tin 

 or zinc-lined cases. fc>alaverry, the port of entry of 

 Truxillo, is the principal place of export of the Peru- 

 vian drug, Arica of the Bolivian, MoUendo being now 

 closed by the civil war in Peru. 



The Peruvian Government records a production of 

 over I5,00i1.000 lb. per annum, the Bolivian Govern- 

 ment 7,500,000 lb. Of the latter quantity, Jlr. 

 Gibbs, the United States Minister at La Paz, says 

 about 5.5 per cent is consumed in Bolivia, 15 per 

 cent each in the Argentine Kepublic and Chili, and 

 10 per cent in Peru; while the remaining 5 per 

 cent, or 375,000 lb. is exported to the United States 

 and Europe. If Peru exports the same proportion, 

 the quantity received by the United States and Europe 

 would be about 1,125,000 lb. The market report in 

 New York ijk that one manufacturer of cocaine in 

 New York and another in Europe have secured the 

 entire crop for the year, while a third has secured 

 ** the remaioder.'* A million pounds would j-ield at 

 least 2,500 lb. of cocaine, while a fourth of that 

 quantity would probably overstock the world * 



Hon. S. L. Phelps, United States Minister to Peru, 

 located at Lima, states that on a plantation producing 

 good coca it it sold in packages of about 14 oz.. at 

 a price which — including tins, packing, and transport 

 to the seaport — is equal to s31'75 per Spanish quintal, 

 or about 32c. (l.v. 4(Z.) per lb. ou shipboard. Minister 

 Gibbs states that the price in Bolivia varies from 26c. 

 to 6-lc. per lb. The whites of these countries seldom 

 use coca except as infusion, aud then the first water 

 is thrown away as being too strong. The habitual 

 use. of coca is said to prevent toothache and preserve 

 the teeth. There is no evidence that the enormous 

 demand in Europe and America has caused the slight- 

 est increase in Peruvian and Bolivian prices ! Dr. 

 Squibb points out that a drachm vial of a 4-per- 

 cent solution will last the ordinary practitioner a 

 long while, and he asserts that it is highly prob- 

 able that every manufacturer in the United States is 

 overstocked with alkaloid. "With coca yielding 4 per 

 cent of alkaloid, or 2S grains per lb., at a moderate 

 price, cocaine could be sold at 15c. per grain, aud 

 any one of the four manufacturers in the United 

 States could supply the whole demand. The Jledical 

 Department of tlie Army offered to contract for 

 2,000 graiu.s. The competing bids were 18c., 19c., lOic, 

 20c., and 22c. per grain or thereabouts. In con- 

 sequence. Dr. Squibb reduced his price to 20c., less 10 

 per cent. — Cliemut and J/n/f/^/iat. 



HYDROCULOR\TE OF COCAINE. 



Dr. Freud, of Vienna, published in August a re- 

 •earch on the alkaloi.l, which stated that it caused 

 local anesthesia of the tongue. Dr. KoUer argued that 

 if it deadened tlie sensibility of the nerves of the 

 tongue it would have a similar effect on the nerves 

 of the eye. After many experiments on animals, on 

 himself anil freinds. and afterwards on patients, he 

 published his discovery at the Heidelberg Ophthalmo- 

 logical Congress in September. 



We will give a short account of the results that 

 seem to have obtained in various departments ; — 



The Eye. — One or two drops ot a 4 per cent 

 solution instilled into the eye cause at first a stinging 

 sensation, la.stiug a few seconds. On repeating the 

 application there is a sensation of cold, then comes 

 a feeling of weight or tension anil drvness. The 

 eye protrudes somewhat. If the instillation is repeat- 

 ed the pupil dilates. Five minutes after the first 

 instillation the cornea can be handled (piite roughly, 

 cut, cauterised with silver nitrate, pitted by pressure. 



» N .B.— Ed. 



without causing the slightest pain or even sensation- 

 There is simply no feeling. AVhen deep incisions are 

 made, as for iridectomy, pain has; been oljserved by 

 some though not by others. It is as yet doubtful 

 how deeply the anaesthetic effect can be made to ex- 

 tend ; it passes oflF at the surface in about twenty 

 minutes, and, as it app;uentiy takes time to reach 

 the lower structures shown by the dilatation of the 

 pupil, it would seem that the application must be 

 repeated to obtain the best effect. The eye remains 

 dilated for some time, but vision is not interfered 

 with, and the eye gradually returns to its normal 

 state. AVe find reports of threo cases where inflam- 

 mation has occurred after the use of the drug 

 among a very large number in which it was not 

 observed. One patient who had undergone two iridec- 

 tomies under ether had the globe of the eye excised 

 by Mr. Carmalt Jones, under the influence of a 2 

 per cent solution of cocaine. His remark was that 

 it was a great deal better th.au that beastly either. 

 EvRLiD. — Mr. Bader has crushed a tumour ou the 

 eyelid without causing pain to the patient. 



The ToXGrE. — Mr. T. Smith applied a 20 per cen 

 solution to the tongue of a patitnit three times witht 

 in ten minutes. He then applied fuming nitric acid 

 freely two or three times, so as to produce a definite 

 burn. No pain was felt during the operation. 



The Nose.— Mr. H. .J. Butlin records his own 

 experience. He has twice had the turl/inated bones 

 of his nose burned by Dr. Senion at intervals of 

 three weeks. The first operation caused intense pain 

 and prostration. At the second the surface of the 

 bones was painted thoroughly, twice over, with an 

 interval of five minutes, with a 20 per cent solution 

 of the hydrochlorate. *' The effect was marvellous, 

 far more so than I — ^or even he, I think — expected. 

 The burning was not felt by me more than the 

 introduction of the brush in painting ; I cannot say 

 I did not feel the operation, but the sensation must 

 be described as feeling, not pain." 



The Laeynx. — Dr. Semon has also removed growths 

 from the larynx of a lady in whom, at the seven 

 pre\nous operations, the mere introduction of the ia- 

 strument had caused alarming shocks. After painting 

 the interior of larynx with the 20 per cent solution 

 once, and waiting five minutes, he was able to 

 introduce the instrument four times, aud remove 

 considerable portions of the growths, without the 

 patient experiencing any pain at the moment or 

 subsequent shock hypodermicaliy. 



Messrs. J. H. E. Brock and 0. J. Arkle, of Univers- 

 ity College Hospital, have tried the effect of hypoilerraic 

 itijections. The effects which were common to all 

 the injections were, .smarting, followeil by numbness; 

 redness round the point of injection; in from two to 

 three minutes, sensation to touch was diminished, to 

 pain and temperature completely abolish'-d. In every 

 experiment except the last, when half a graiu was 

 injected into the forearm, the anaesthetic area was 

 more extensive immediately above the point of in- 

 jection than below. The extent of surface on which 

 the above effects were produced was about half an 

 inch above and a quarter of an inch below the poiat 

 of injection; while for about half ai> inch around 

 this area there was a slight diminution to tactile, 

 painful, and thermal irapi-t isions. They have performed 

 two minor surgical opertions painlessly after an in- 

 jection of one-seventh of a graiu. 



We have given only some of the more striking 

 pieces of evidence that have been brought forward. 



Dr. A. Hughes Bennett mtk-.-s a sugijestive remark. 

 He says that in an inve-tigation uulertaken in 1»72 

 he demonstrated that the phy^iologi :al properties of 

 tht'ine, caffeine, theobromine, guaranine, and cocaine, 

 when administered hypodermicaliy. w-Te to all appear- 

 ances the same. ".Should it be proved that they 

 have also similar effects when ay)plied externally to 

 the mucous membrane.s, it would be of importance 

 from an economic point of view, as cocaine is 

 eitremely expensive, while, the ot:iersare comparatively 

 cheap." — Ohemisl and Drui/ijist, 



