164 
md oad lie, thus enveloped, for hours, 
] 
CUIU, 
The exciting principle of the Coca ap- 
ars to be of a very volatile nature, and 
whether the elaborated chemistry of our 
country will ever be able to ascertain its 
mode of operation, seems very dubious, as 
even in its native place, the leaves, where 
this quality principally resides, after being 
kept twelve months, become perfectly inert 
and good for nothing. Apart from the ef- 
fect undeniably produced on the nervous 
system by masticating the foliage, its ex- 
citing properties must be derived from 
rdinate causes.- Large heaps of the 
freshly dried a. ee while the 
warm rays of the sun are upon them, dif- 
fuse a very ‘strong smell, resembling that 
of Hay, in which there is a quantity of 
Melilot. The natives never permit stran- 
gers to sleep near them, as they would 
suffer violent head-aches in consequence. 
When kept in small portions, and after a 
few months, the Coca loses its scent, and 
becomes weak in proportion. The novice 
thinks that the grassy smell and fresh hue 
are as perceptible in the old state as when 
new, and this is to be expected with the 
Peruvian, who never uses it without the 
addition of burnt lime. Without this, which 
always excoriates the mouth of a stranger, 
the natives declare that Coca has not its 
true taste, a flavour, by the bye, which can 
only be detected after a long use of it. It 
then tinges green the carefully swallowed 
spittle, and yields an infusion of the same 
colour. Of the latter alone, I made trial, 
and found that it had a flat grass-like taste, 
but I experienced the full power of its sti- 
mulating principle. When taken in the 
 - evening, it was followed by great restless- 
ness, loss of sleep, and generally uncom- 
fortable sensations; while, from its exhibi- 
zo 
ay poai m the moring, a similar effect, though 
, arose, 
loss of appetite. The English Physician, 
. Dr. Archibald Smith, ‘elas has 
plantation near Huanuco, once, aaa un- 
_ provided with Chinese Tea, made trial of 
the on ae substitute for it; but, expe- 
rienced such. ng sensations of ner- 
SOME ACCOUNT OF THE USES 
W 
—— 8 
vous excitement, that he never ventured 
to use it again. The Peruvian increases 
its effects by large doses, utter retire- 
ment, and the addition of other stimulat- 
ing substances, 
the Coca speedily occasions bodily dis- 
ease, and detriment to the moral powers, 
but still the custom may be persevered in 
for many years, especially if frequently in- 
termitted ; and a coguero sometimes attains 
the age of fifty, with comparatively few — 
complaints. But the oftener these orgies 
are celebrated, especial in a warm and 
moist climate, the sooner are their destruc- 
tive effects made evident. For this reason, 
the natives of the cold and dry districts of 
the Andes are more addicted to the con- 
sumption of Coca, than those of the close. 
forests, where, undoubtedly, other stimu- 
lants do but take its place. eakness in 
the digestive organs, which, like most in- 
curable complaints, increases continually 
in a greater or less degree, first attacks 
the unfortunate coguero, This complaint, 
which is called Opilacion, may be trifling 
at the beginning, but soon attains an 
alarming height. Then come bilious ob- 
structions, attended with all those thousand 
painful symptoms, which are so much ag- 
gravated by a tropical climate. 
etimes assuming q 
a wolfish voracity, especially for animal 
F 
succeeded, at length, by a painful death. j 
In a moral point of view, the custom 
chewing Coca is no less gc 
propensity for solitude and inacti 
it : engenders, i is | productive: of “many 
