THE JOURNAL OF PHARMACOLOGY. 239 



The Botanical Origin of 6oca Leaves.''' 



By Prof. H. H. Rusby, M.D, 



This study is believed to establish the following facts : 



1. That the Bolivian, Huanuco, Brazilian, most Venezuelan, Argen- 

 tinian, and other leaves of that type, used commercially for the extraction 

 of crystallizable cocaine, are specifically identical. 



2. That the above leaves pertain to the species Erythroxylon coca 

 Ivamarck. 



3. That the leaves known in the New York Market as "Truxillo 

 leaves," and also known as "Java leaves," called E. coca spruceanum, 

 by Burck, pertain to a diflferent species from the above, and that, if this is 

 not E. hoyidense H. B. K., it must be known as E. Truxillense, the name 

 E. sprxiceanimi being preoccupied. 



4. That the leaf frequently spoken of in British journals as the " Trux- 

 illo leaf," and largely cultivated in British provinces, from plants derived 

 from one mother-plant cultivated at Kew, and called by Morris, E. coca 

 nova-gra7iate?ise, is specifically distinct from both and is the E. Car- 

 thage7iense Jacq. 



It is very doubtful if any one ever wrote or approved a definition of 

 "coca" without misgiving. The editors of the present British Pharma- 

 copoeia and their advisers found themselves obliged to face serious doubts 

 and objections to their definition ("the leaves of E. coca Lamarck and 

 its varieties "), both before and after its adoption. When the definition of 

 the present edition of the United States Pharmacopoeia was under discus- 

 sion, there was hesitation about its adoption, and the present writer, who 

 was largely concerned in its selection, sanctioned it only because it ap- 

 peared to be the best thing that could be done in the then state of our 

 knowledge. It has always been regarded as tentative and its correctness 

 considered dubious. Every one who has followed the literature of this 

 subject in our pharmaceutical journals must appreciate that there is great 

 difference of opinion as to the relations of the cultivated varieties of this 

 plant to one another, as well as to the wild species. The following im- 

 portant questions are at issue : 



Are the cultivated varieties of the coca plant forms of one species, or do 

 they represent several distinct species ? 



Is there one or more wild species to which they can be referred ? 



* Since the original publication of this paper, it has been learned that the author's 

 too careful artist substituted the fruits of E. Truxillense for those of the original 

 drawing. Finding these fruits growing in the conservatory, labeled E. Coca, and 

 noting their differences from the figure, she concluded that the latter must be wrong 

 and so " improved " it by the substitution. Such liberties are annoying and too com- 

 mon. 



