254 LINAGES 



ACTION AND USES. The whole seed is used in decoction as a demulcent; 

 ground flaxseed is a favorite farina for poultices; the expressed oil is 

 laxative, and, in combination with lime-water (Linimentum Calcis), 

 is much employed as a protective in burns, etc. 



OFFICIAL PREPARATION. 



From Oleum Lini. 



Linimentum Calcis (equal parts of linseed-oil and lime-water). 



265. COCA. COCA (U.S.P. VIII) 

 ERYTHROXYLON 



The dried leaves of Erythrox'ylon Co'ca Lamarack (Fam. Erythroxyllaceae,) 

 known commonly as Huanuco (Bolivian) Coca, or of E. Truxillense Rusby, known 

 commercially as Truxillo (Peruvian) Coca, yielding, when assayed by U.S.P. 

 process, not less than 0.5 per cent, of ether-soluble alkaloids of coca. 

 BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS. Shrub about 6 feet high, with bright green leaves, 

 size and shape similar to those of tea, and white blossoms, which are succeeded 

 by small scarlet berries. When the leaves mature, the branches are stripped 

 and the leafless plant is soon again covered with verdant foliage. The plant 

 is propagated in nurseries from the seed. 



SOURCE. The shrub bearing coca leaves is extensively cultivated on the slopes of 

 the Andes about 2,000 to 5,000 feet above the sea level, in Peru and Bolivia. 

 The province of La Paz in Bolivia produces about the largest crops. That of 

 Bolivia is considered superior to the Peruvian, although the latter country 

 produces double the quantity. In this latter country, especially owing to the 

 European demand, the cultivation has considerably increased. The annual 

 production reaches the enormous figures of about one hundred million pounds. 

 Two varieties, "Truxillo" and "Huanuco," having different characteristics, 

 come to this market, the former named after the port Trujillo in the northern 

 part of Peru, and the latter from the city of Huanuco, in the central part of 

 Peru. The culture of coca leaves has been tried in other countries, but with 

 questionable results, except, perhaps, on the Island of Java. The plant yields 

 its first crop when eighteen months old, and continues to bear about forty 

 years. There are two pickings yearly April and September; the latter is 

 considered the best and most abundant. The leaves are laid out in a paved 

 drying yard and afterward pressed in drums (tambors) of plantain leaves, the 

 tambor weighing forty pounds net. 



DESCRIPTION OF DRUG. Huanuco Coca. Greenish-brown to clear brown, smooth 

 and slightly glossy, thickish and slightly coriaceous, stoutly and very short 

 petioled; blade 2.5 to 7.5 cm. long and nearly elliptical, with a very short 

 and abruptly narrowed basal portion and a short point, the margin entire; 

 midrib traversed above by a slight ridge, very prominent underneath, the 

 remaining venation obscure, especially above; underneath, two conspicuous 

 lines of collenchyma tissue run longitudinally on either side of the midrib 

 and about one-third of the distance between it and the margin, the enclosed 

 areola being of a slightly different color from the adjacent surface; odor 

 characteristic; taste bitterish, faintly aromatic, followed by a numbness of 

 the tongue, lips, and fauces. 



