40 ERYTHROXYLON COCA 



nerves, but folds or creases produced by the mode in which the 

 leaves are packed in the bud. A fully grown leaf is shown in the 

 woodcut below, drawn from a specimen from Bolivia in the 

 British Museum. 



The precise date of the introduction of 

 Coca into England we have not ascer- 

 tained, but it was probably not many 

 years previously to 1870; specimens are 

 now to be seen in the houses of several 

 of our botanic gardens. 



Clusius, Exotic. (1605), p. 176; DC., Prod., 

 i,p. 575; Poeppig, Reise in Chili, ii, p. 209, 

 translated in Hook., Companion to Bot. 

 Mag., i, p. 161; Lindl., Fl. Med., p. 199; 

 Weddell, Voyage dans le Nord de la Bolivie, 

 p. 514, translated in Pharm. Journ., 1855, 

 pp. 162, 213 ; Dowdeswell, in Lancet, April 

 24th, 1876. 



Part Used and Name. COCA ; the dried 

 leaves. It is not official in the British 



Pharmacopoeia, the Pharmacopoeia of India, or the Pharmacopoeia 

 of the United States. But Coca was in general use by the 

 natives of Peru at the time of the conquest of that country, and 

 has continued to be more or less extensively employed up to the 

 present time. 



Collection, Preparation, and Commerce. Much care is taken in 

 the gathering, drying, and preservation of coca, as its activity and 

 value depend in a great measure on its mode of preparation. 

 Some differences in detail occur in the collection and preparation 

 of coca in different districts, but as a general rule the processes 

 are as follows : The leaves are gathered as soon as they have 

 arrived at maturity, at which period they are bright green on 

 their upper surface, and yellowish-green on their under surface ; 

 and have an agreeable and somewhat aromatic odour. The leaves 

 are gathered separately and carefully by the hand, with the two- 

 fold object of preventing them being crushed or bruised in the 



