Appendix. 399 



Its extraordinary restorative and prophylactic qualities 

 recommend it to be used by seamen who are exposed to the 

 hardships of all climates, and by soldiers who are obliged 

 to hazard themselves in all sorts of expeditions. 



The Coca is a shrub of middling size, growing on the An- 

 des. It belongs to the class Decandria, and order Digy- 

 NiA. Its botanical name is Erythroxylon Peruvianum, or 

 Peruvian red-wood. The leaves are eliptical with short 

 footstalks, alternate, entire, smooth and shining, three-nerv- 

 ed, with the two lateral nerves less observable than the 

 middle one. 



The Coca is cultivated in many tracts adjoining the moun- 

 tains, and blossoms in May and June. It grows best in the 

 strong, moist soils of hot climates. Therefore it is most 

 congenial to the valleys. The seeds are planted during the 

 moist and rainy season, to wit, in December and January. 

 When grown to the height of a foot and a half, they are 

 transplanted into the grounds prepared to receive them. 

 The shrub lives many years, and in favourable situations, 

 the leaves may be picked, three times in twelve months. 



This plant had acquired great celebrity in the time of the 

 Incas, before the invasion of the Spaniards. The smoke of 

 the leaves was the holy incense offered to the sun, on the 

 most solemn occasions. 



A more complete and detailed history of the Coca, was 

 published in that highly respectable work, the Peruvian 

 Mercury, embracing its botanical description, culture, com- 

 merce, use and virtues, with agricultural and economical 

 remarks. From that performance, the present is but a con- 

 cise abstract. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



Several communications came too late for this number, and will be no- 

 ticed in our next. Some memoranda of errata forwarded to lis havr, been 

 mislaid; the)'' are, howevei', either obrji->n5 or unimportant. — [Editor.] 



