T'animukas of the Popeyaca, as well as Yukunas, Maku- 
nas and other neighboring peoples, occasionally journey 
to the Peritomé Tanimukas, especially immediately prior 
to important dances or festivals, to purchase large sup- 
plies of the Peritomé coca. And this has continued appar- 
ently for many years, notwithstanding the fact that the 
necessary plant ingredients are to be found abundantly 
throughout the whole area. 
The refinement, if it may be so termed, to which I 
refer lies in the use of the resin of Protium heptaphyllum 
March. in the coca-ash mixture. 
Long and slender tubes or ‘‘cigarettes”” of rolled and 
partly dried leaves of Ischnosiphon are tamped half full 
with small lumps of the whitish resin. The tip of that 
part of the ‘‘cigarette’’ containing the resin is lighted 
and brought to a glow by a gentle blowing through the 
tube. 
In the meantime, several armfuls of dried leaves of 
Cecropia are set afire on the earth floor of the house and 
reduced to ashes. The ashes are then scraped together 
into a small, more or less conical pile. Before the ashes 
are completely cooled, several Indians with resin-tubes 
insert the glowing ends of the tubes into sundry places 
in the ash-pile and blow vigorously. The balsamic in- 
cense or smoke from the glowing resin permeates the 
ashes. This process, which fills the house with a pleasant 
myrrh-like aroma, continues for seven or eight minutes 
or until most of the resin in the tubes is spent. 
The ashes are then collected, sifted through a piece 
of fine, pounded bark-cloth and added to an equal amount 
of pulverized and sifted coca powder. The product is then 
ready for use. 
The presence of the incense from Protium-resin alters 
appreciably the usual characteristic taste of coca, giving 
it a balsamic savor. There is no evidence, however, that 
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