238 MEDICINAL USES Chap. XI Y. 



chasqui, or messenger, in his long journeys over the moun- 

 tains and deserts, and the shepherd watching his flock on the 

 lofty plains, has no other nourishment than is afforded by his 

 chusiM of coca, and a little maize. The smell of the leaf is 

 agreeable and aromatic, and when chewed it gives out a grate- 

 ful fragrance, accompanied by a slight irritation, which excites 

 the saliva. Its properties are to enable a greater amount of 

 fatigue to be borne with less nourishment, and to prevent 

 the occurrence of difficulty of respiration in ascending steep 

 mountain-sides. Tea made from the leaves has much the 

 taste of green tea, and, if taken at night, is much more effec- 

 tual in keeping people awake. Applied externally coca 

 moderates the rheumatic pains caused by cold, and cures 

 headaches. When used to excess it is, like everything else, 

 prejudicial to the health, yet, of all the narcotics used by 

 man, coca is the least injurious, and the most soothing and 

 invigorating. , 



The active principle of the coca-leaf has, a few years ago, 

 been separated by Dr. Niemann, and called cocaine. Pm-e 

 cocaine crystallizes with difficulty, is but slightly soluble in 

 water, but is easily dissolved in alcohol, and still more easily 

 in ether.^ 



I chewed coca, not constantly, but very frequently, fi-om 

 the day of my departm'e from Sandia, and, besides the agree- 

 able soothing feeling it produced, I found that I could endure 

 long abstinence from food with less inconvenience than I 

 should otherwise have felt, and it enabled me to ascend preci- 

 pitous mountain-sides with a feeling of lightness and elasti- 

 city, and without losing breath. This latter quality ought to 

 recommend its use to members of the Alpine Club, and to 

 walking tourists in general, though the sea voyage would pro- 

 bably cause the leaves to lose much of their virtue. To the 



Bonplandia, viii. p. 85.5-78. 



