The ashes are then collected, sifted and added to an equal 
amount of sifted coca powder; the product is then ready for use. 
The addition of the incense from Protium-resin alters appre- 
ciably the usual characteristic taste of the coca, giving it a 
balsamic savour. There is no evidence that the incense either 
heightens or lessens the normal narcotic effects of coca prepared 
in the usual manner as a powder. It seems obvious that the only 
reason underlying this process is to effect a change in taste. 
Thoroughly accustomed though I was at the time to the use of 
coca, I found that this resin-treated product usually caused 
irritation of the mouth and throat the first day of its use. This 
irritation, due undoubtedly to the balsamic smoke absorbed by 
the ash particles, disappeared upon continued use of the coca. 
Inquiry indicated that the resin of Protium heptaphyllum is 
the only one of the many balsamic exudations of plants of the 
Amazon forest cosidered to be suitable for flavouring coca. The 
Indians insist that resin for this purpose must be gathered 
exclusively from old trees, but why younger trees must be 
avoided could not be explained. Incisions are made in the bark, 
and the resin is allowed to dry on the trunk before being 
gathered and wrapped up in leaves in small packets which are 
hung under the rafters of the house to “age” for four or five 
months before using. 
The genus Protium, a member of the Myrrh Family or 
Burseraceae, is the source of several commercially and medici- 
nally valuable resins. Resins from related genera have likewise 
enjoyed economic importance. The resin of Protium hepta- 
phyllam, usually called brea or pergamim in Colombia, is 
commercially known as taca-mahaca gum. These vernacular 
names may occasionally be applied, however, to other bursera- 
ceous resins. Protium heptaphyllum, which in the Tanimuka 
language is referred to as hitamaka, yields a hard, translucent 
whitish resin that easily fractures; it is distinctly pungent, even 
when old and dried. Its properties are similar to those of other 
terebinthinates. It is chemically made up of 30% protamyrine, 
25% proteleminic acid, 37.5% proteleresin, as well as several 
minor constituents. 
55 
