CHAP. Xli 



COCA 



235 



ashes of banana roots. The custom of masticating coca 

 leaves is of great antiquity in Peru, and the Spaniards on 

 arriving in that country found that the leaves were so highly 

 valued as to be used in lieu of money. 



Within recent years the drug has come to be extensively 

 used as a tonic to the nervous and digestive systems, and its 



COCA. Erythroxylon Coca. 

 I. Flower. 2. Ovary and Stigmas. 3. Fruit. 



virtues are highly extolled by many medical men. An alka- The alka- 

 loid, called cocaine^ has been separated from the leaves, and it '°'^" 

 has been found to have the remarkable property of rendering 

 various tissues of the body totally insensible, thus enabling 

 certain surgical operations to be performed without pain. 



