632 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE, 



3. A narcotic quality, chemical influence, volatile oil, aromatic 

 resin, and bitter principle. 



The hop is probably the most largely used narcotic in Great 

 Britain and the United States, but is not like tobacco used alone, 

 except for medical purposes. It is added to malt on account of 

 its narcotic qualities to impart taste and flavor, 



THE COCA. 



Our chemical knowledge of this shrub is very limited, there is 

 a singular analogy between the leaf of this plant, the tea leaf, 

 and hop flower. They all contain a volatile ingredient and bit- 

 ter principle, and are capable of yielding tannic acid. By chewing 

 two ounces of the coca leaf each day, and rejecting the saliva, the 

 leody becomes exceedingly strong, because it diminishes the waste 

 of the tissues. The coca leaf like hemp possesses the quality of 

 dilating the pupil of the eye, which opium does not possess. But 

 it much resembles opium in imparting strength to the weary and 

 worn body. 



All opium eaters take the greatest pleasure in retirement, and 

 generally seek silence and solitude, to enjoy profound reveries. 



Many wants make the use of narcotic indulgences almost uni- 

 versal. 



India, China and Turkey use opium. Morocco, Persia, Africa, 

 the Indians of Brazil, and the inhabitants of the Cape of Good 

 Hope, hemp. The Eastern Archipelago, betel nut. Bolivia and 

 Peru, coca. New Granada, thorn apples. The Indians of Florida, 

 holly. The Frenchman, lettuce. The English and American, hop, 

 and all the world tobacco. There has never been a nation in ex- 

 istence who had not a narcotic soother, some using several. 



Ten millions of men use coca ; 200 millions of men use hemp ; 

 150 millions of men use betel nut ; 850 millions of men use to- 

 bacco ; 350 millions of men use opium. 



The probability is that there are as many of the human family 

 engaged in the cultivation of these unnecessary indulgences as 

 there are in the absolute necessaries of life. It is almost certain 

 that, with the exception of cotton and the cereals, these useless 

 crops employ more commercial capital, shipping, traffic, &c., 

 than all the other crops put together, as the following estimates 

 of annual value and production will show : 



