40 ERYTHROXYLON COCA 



process ; and also so as not to injure the young leaf-buds which 

 are left behind, for the purpose of obtaining a second crop of 

 leaves. They are then carried away in baskets, and spread out on 

 paved surfaces, or on the floors in the courts of the houses, or 

 sometimes on woollen cloths ; and dried slowly in the sun. This 

 operation requires great care, for if the leaves be dried too 

 rapidly, they lose their odour and green colour; and if stored 

 away before they are thoroughly dried their colour is also changed, 

 and they acquire a disagreeable odour and taste. In some dis- 

 tricts the leaves are occasionally trampled over while they are 

 damp, under the impression, it is said, that they thus acquire 

 a delicate flavour and smell ; but also,, probably, to preserve their 

 flatness in the drying process. After being dried, the leaves 

 are either stored in barns or huts ; or packed in bags or bales, 

 in which they are- pressed by treading, and are thus trans- 

 ported to a distance. These bags or bales (cestos) appear 

 to differ very much in size, their weight being variously given 

 by authors at from 24 to 150 Ibs. As the properties of coca 

 are injured by transportation, and often by keeping, it would 

 probably be best preserved in cases or packages lined with tin, 

 or at least in well-closed pots to protect it from air and moisture. 

 The produce of coca per acre in a good harvest is estimated 

 by Weddell at about 900 Ibs. ; and in some districts there are 

 three or even four harvests in the year. The total produce of 

 coca is probably not less than 40,000,000 Ibs., which, estimating 

 the value on an average at the low price of one shilling per 

 pound (for the best qualities yield at least five shillings) in 

 the countries in which it is produced, would represent a total 

 value of 2,000,000 ; so that coca is by no means an unimportant 

 article of commerce, and its production is moreover described as 

 being very remunerative. It is chiefly exported from Lima. 



General Characters and Composition. Commercial specimens 

 of coca either consist of the leaves more or less pressed together 

 in compact masses, or of the leaves in a loose state or separate 

 from one another. In either case the leaves are not curved 

 or rolled in any degree, but perfectly flat. When carefully 



