Vol. X. No. 2.52. 



THE AQKICDLTURAL NEWS. 



407 



THE PRODrCTION OF COCAINE 

 IN PERU. 



This subject receives attention in a recent number of 

 The Engineer, in an article which is repri|duced in Peru 

 To- Day for September 1911. In introducing the article, the 

 latter publication points out the imi;ortance of the cocaine 

 industry in Peru; this is shown by the circumstance that the 

 value of the annual production of the drug. is £2,.5OO,000. 

 A great part of this is exported, while most of the re.'?t is con- 

 sumed by the native Indians. 



The account in Tin Engineer states tljgt the processes 

 employed in Peru for the extraction of cocaine from the leav&s 

 of the coca plant [ErytlLVoji/lum Cora) are crude, owing to the 

 fact that the treatment takes place in the interior, on account 

 of the expense of transport of the leaves; the extent of this 

 expense is illustrated by the fact that 200 lb. of coca leaves are 

 required for the manufacture of 1 lb. of cocaine. Doubtless, 

 improved means of communication will bringthe manufacture 

 nearer the coast, and then better methods will be employed. 



For the extraction of the drug from the leaves, three 

 operations are employed: (1) maceration, (2) intermediate 

 precipitation, and (3) final precipitation. For maceration, the 

 leaves are placed in four tanks, in the first of which they are 

 treated with a Oo per cent, solution of sulphuric acid. After 

 twenty-four hours, the liquid is allowed to flow into the second 

 tank, and the first is again filled with new leaves and the acid 

 solution. After another interval of twenty four hours, the 

 contents of the second tank are run oft' into the third, while 

 the former is filled from the first as before, the first again 

 receiving a new charge. The fourth tank, after another 

 period of twenty-four hours, is filled from the third, and the 

 preceding processes with the other tanks are repeated. In 

 this way, leaves in a state for further treatment, namely, 

 those originally put into the first tank, are obtained at the 

 end of four days. The tincture thus obtained is next placed 

 in a strainer, for the purpose of filtration, after which the 

 process of maceration is complete. 



For the intermediate precipitation, the tincture is sub- 

 jected to the action of sodium carbonate in cylindrical vessels. 

 At this stage, in order to test if precipita{.ion is complete, 

 a small quantity of the tincture is removed, filtered from the 

 cocaine, and the filtrate tested with ammqnia, when there 

 should be no precipitate formed. The obtaining of a precipitate 

 indicates the necessity for the addition of sodium carbonate to 

 the tincture in the cylindrical vessels. 



The first operation for the final precipitation is the addi- 

 tion of petroleum, the mixture being stirred carefully for 

 three to four hours at a very slow rate. At the end of this 

 period the oil, which now contains the cocaine, is washed with 

 acid-free water, and then treated with acidulated water, the 

 proper amount being determined by the testing for precipita- 

 tion of an aliquot part. During this process, the mixture is 

 stirred vigorously for half an hour to forty minutes, with the 

 result that the cocaine is transferred from the oil to the acidu- 

 lated water, which can be separated from the former after the 

 mixture has been allowed to stand for about a quarter of an 

 hour. 



At this stage, the extract is ready for final precipitation, 

 which as before is effected with sodium carbonate, the amount 

 required being determined by a test with an aliquot part of 

 \h.e solution. The mixture i.s then allowed to settle for 

 twelve hours, and filtered while being washed with distilled 

 water, to remove any excess of sodium carbonate. The wet 

 residue of cocaine is finally subjected to pressure, when the 

 drug is obtained as a white paste containing 87 to 93 per 



cent. The usual yield is about 2| lb. of cocaine per day of 

 twenty-four hours. 



When inferior leaves are used, the product is brownish in 

 colour, and has to be subjected to further treatment, similar 

 to the above; this results, however, in the loss of some of the 

 cocaine. A last matter of interest is that the approximate 

 cost of producing 1 lb. of cocaine is about £5 — an amount 

 which naturally varies with the price that has to be given 

 for the leaves. 



AGRICULTURE IN THE ARGENTINE, 



1910. 



■.•■.^- 



Diplomatic and Consular Reports, No 478-5^ 

 Annual Series, gives the following particulars of agri- 

 cultural production in the Argentine Republic, through 

 Buenos Ayres, for 1910 :— 



The leading feature in 1910 was the large decrease in 

 the production and export of some of the staple grains, such 

 as wheat, linseed, oats, barley, bird seed and flour. There 

 was an increase in the export of maize, bran, pollards 

 and oil cake. The price of maize fell so much that 

 grain shows a decrease of £370,000. On the other hand, 

 linseed rose in value so that with a decreased output of 

 280,000 tons, the value showed an increase of £180,000. 

 There was an export of 6,000 tons of potatoe.s, 2,800 tons 

 more than in 1909, and at the same time an import for seed 

 purposes of 32,000 tons, being an increase of 18,000 tons 

 over that of 1909 — figures that are somewhat diflicult to 

 understand. 



A new article of export was Guinea grass, of which 380 

 tons were shipped. 



The export of oil cake was i,.500 tons greater than in 

 1909. 



This falling off in quantity and price has brought the 

 value of the agricultural products to only £7,000,000 more 

 than the animal products. This is the smallest ditference 

 during the past four years. Eight years ago animal products 

 exceeded agricultural products, but since that time the latter 

 have been in excess of the fornaer by sums varying from 

 £5,000,000 to £25,000,000. 



Forest products are valued at some £2,000,000, more 

 than half of which is accounted tor by quebracho logs 

 [Aspidosperma Quebracho — for tanning], which showed an 

 increase of 47,000 tons (£240,000). On the other hand, 

 extract of quebracho diminished in quantity by 2,200 ton.s 

 and increased in value by £40,000. 



Other forest products are of minor iinportance. 



Messrs. Schimmel & Co., in their Semi-Annual Report 

 dated October 1911, state in regard to bay oil that within 

 the past six months it has not been possible to remove th« 

 difficulties in the way of procuring suitable raw material; so 

 that the firm has therefore again lieen restricted to the use of 

 imported oil. It is further stated that the few parcels of 

 West Indian origin that were offered showed mostly very 

 dubious quality, so that there had been a scarcity and 

 a distinct advance in prices. There were also higher quota- 

 tions from the producing country, and it was alleged that 

 new taxation had increased the cost of distillation. A very 

 lively demand has existed for terpeneless bay oil, but the 

 lack of raw material has prevented this from always being 

 met. 



