May, 1912.] 



399; 



Drugs and Medicinal Plants. 



of Coca has also been undertaken, pro- 

 duce only very small quantities.* 



Coca leaves enter into the preparation 

 ot several galenic medicinal substances 

 (wine, dye, powder, etc), but are mainly 

 used for the extraction ot cocain. Ac- 

 cording. to the origin, variety, age of 

 leaf, etc., the proportion of alkaloid 

 contained varies between 30 and 0*75 

 per cent. Nevertheless, though some 

 leaves, like those of the variety cultiv- 

 ated in Ceylon, contain almost exclu- 

 sively cocain, others, like those of Java, 

 chiefly contain homologues of cocain, 

 which are afterwards converted into 

 the latter. 



The exports of Peruvian leaves amount- 

 ed approximately as follows : — 

 In 1905 ... 1,315,825 kil. 

 ., 1906 ... 2,842,916 „ 



In Peru, the cocain produced is im- 

 pure, and is chiefly forwarded to Ger- 

 many, where it is purified. 



The export statistics (Bulletin of the 

 Imperial Institute, 1910, VIII., 388-392) 

 for this cocain are as follows :— 



Java. 



In 1903 

 „ 1904 

 „ 1905 

 „ 1906 

 „ 1907 



7,800 kil. 

 7,527 „ 

 6,778 „ 

 5,914 „ 

 6,057 „ 



According to the Consul General for 

 Bolivia in London, the annual produc- 

 tion of Coca leaves in Bolivia is about 

 95,000 cwt. (48,269 quintals) ; of this quan- 

 tity, however, very little is exported. 



Prom Java, up to now, only leaves 

 have been exported, particularly to 

 Holland and Germany, for extraction 

 of the alkaloids. There is nevertheless 

 a scheme on foot for the erection of a 

 factory for the treatment of the leaves 

 on the spot. 



The exports of Coca leaves from Java 

 and Ceylon were as follows :— 



* Truxillo, Cuzco, Huanta y Java, and Ceylon 

 Coca leaves are known. The "wide leaf" 

 variety is that of Peru and Bolivia ; the " slen- 

 der leaf " that of Java. The content of alkaloid 

 is between 0*78 and 2-50 per cent. Wehiner, 

 Pfianzenstoffe, Jena, 1911, p. 380. 



In 



lbs. 



57.032 

 151,057 

 274,259 

 553.765 

 1908 1,026,022 

 1999 



1904 

 1005 

 1906 

 1907 



Kg. 



25,836 

 68,429 

 124,239 

 241.806 

 464,788 



lbs. 



41,724 



46.986 

 80,088 

 68,306 



Ceylon. 



~~Kg7 



18.901 

 21,285 

 36,280 

 30,943 



These latter figures, supplied by the 

 British Consul in Batavia, are perhaps 

 rather high. According to the General 

 Consul for the Netherlands in London, 

 the exports for Java and Madura in 

 1908 were only 416.612 kilogrammes, of 

 a value of 166,645 florins (a florin equals 

 about 2s.), 



Alongside these figures, which give an 

 idea of the world's production of Coca, 

 it may be of interest to add that de 

 Jong (Tesysmannia 1910, p. 201) estimates 

 the present annual consumption of 

 Cocain at 12,000 kilogrammes. 



THE KOLA NUT. 



Revue Scientifique, N. 9, P. 257, 262. 

 Paiis, 26 Aout. 1911. 

 (Bulletin of the Bureau of Agricultural 

 Intelligence and of Plant- Diseases. 



2nd Year — Numbers 8, 9, 10, 

 A ugust- September- October, 1911.) 



The information on which this article 

 is based was taken from the exceedingly 

 interesting work full of important data 

 just published by M. Aug. Cheavlier and 

 Em. Perrot : Les Kolatiers et noix de 

 Kola, A. Challamel, Paris, Mai, 1911. 



The writers have grouped the Kolas 

 into various sections, of which we shall 

 here only retain the two created by 

 M. A. Chevalier, Macrocola and Eueola. 

 The former section contains the largest 

 tree of the genus (82 to 130 feet) ; in the 

 latter, the only section of the genus Cola 

 producing utilisable kernels, the trees 

 are of small growth (mostly 20 to 50 feet 

 high, rarely exceeding 65 feet). 



Five principal species may easily be 

 distinguished in the section Eucola ; 

 Cola nitida (Vent.) A. Chev., C. accu- 

 minata (Pal. Beauv.) Schott. and Endl., C. 



