employed for coca; in Colombia, there is a verb mambear, and 
in Peru, the equivalent term is cacchar. 
I have used coca myself in my Amazon work with the Indians 
over a period of eight years and have never found it to be 
noticeably harmful. It is most certainly not addictive. Opinions 
amongst the field workers, however, may differ. The English 
plant explorer of the Amazon Richard Spruce — one hundred 
and twenty-five years ago — wrote: “I could never make out 
that the habitual use of ipadu had any ill results on the Rio 
Negro; but in Peru its excessive use is said to seriously injure the 
coats of the stomach, an effect probably owing to the lime taken 
along with it.” The German ethnologist Theodor Koch-Griin- 
berg, the only other scientifically oriented researcher to have 
spent long periods of time in the northwesternmost Amazon 
until the last few years, wrote simply that: “When used exces- 
sively, coca may be harmful to the nervous system.” 
Several other methods of coca use in the Amazon are to be 
noted. In both instances, however, much more field observation 
is necessary for clarification and understanding of these vari- 
ants. 
Koch-Grinberg reports that the Tukanoan Indians of the Rio 
Papuri take an aromatic decoction of coca. Whether or not this 
usage is medicinal or merely a novel manner of utilizing the 
leaves for narcotic purposes he did not specify. The Panobos of 
Amazonian Peru drink coca on special occasions “to lighten the 
body.” 
There are vague reports from reliable scientific sources that, 
in certain annual ceremonies, the Yukuna and Tanimuka Indians 
of the Rio Miritiparana utilize the coca-ash powder as a snuff. 
There is no pharmacological reason to presume that a snuff of 
coca powder might not be biologically active. This report, 
though very significant, must be the subject of further investiga- 
tion. 
The preparation and use of coca in the Amazonian parts of 
Colombia vary little from tribe to tribe. My many years with the 
Indians of this region have uncovered only one significant 
variant. This discovery was made amongst an isolated group of 
Tanimukas who now live on a small affluent of the Rio 
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