49 



For the extraction of the drug" from the leaves, three operations 

 are employed : (l) 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 0.5 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 24 hours, 

 the contents of the second tank are run off 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 

 processes of maceration is complete- 



For the intermediate precipitation, the tincture is subjected to the 

 action of sodium carbonate in cylindrical vessels. At this stage, 

 in order to test if precipitation is complete, a small quantity of the 

 tincture is removed, filtered from the cocaine, and the filtrate tested 

 with ammonia, 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 addition 

 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 precipitation of an aliquot part. Daring 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 acidulate 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 : n aliquot part of the solution. The 

 mixture is 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%^). of cocaine per day of 

 twenty-four hours. 



When inferior leaves are u^ed, 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 I ft. of 

 cocaine is about ^5 — an amount which naturally varies with the 

 price that has to Ije given for the leaves. — AgricidtHral News, JVest 

 Indies. 



