REVIEWS. 
39 
he says, its pleasing- taste. But after quitting such labour as no European could have 
performed, he requires (provided the coca has not engendered any disease) as much 
food as others, and such a quantity of it as might surprise any one, when its 
miserable nature is considered. The same holds good with the Indian, who, as a 
porter, messenger, or vender of his own productions, traverses the Andes on foot. 
Merely chewing coca from time to time, he travels with a load, weighing one 
cwt., on his back, over indescribable rough roads, and accomplishes frequently ten 
leagues in eight hours. During the revolutionary war, the undisciplined patriot 
troops, chiefly consisting of Indians from the Sierra, by dint of ample supplies of 
coca and brandy, traversed long distances in a very short time, and thus became 
very dangerous to the Spaniards. Where Europeans would have halted and 
bivouacked, the ill-clad barefooted Indians merely paused, for a short interval, to 
chew their coca. But, with all this, coca only possesses a stimulating property 
which is highly dangerous, and so fascinating, that, for one who becomes passion- 
ately attached to it, there is no escape. Short, too, is the alleviation of misery 
which it yields to the thousands whose destruction it procures, so that we may well 
adopt the opinion of the old Spanish chronicler, who affirms that ' the use of the 
coca is solely a depraved taste, and worthy only of such beings as the unhappy 
Indians now are.' " 
2. FLORIGRAPHIA BRITANNICA. 
Coloured \s. Plain 6d. " Bt/ Richard Deakin, and Robert Marnock, curator of the 
Sheffield Botanical and Horticidtural Gardens^ 
The first number of this publication appeared in August last. Each number 
contains twelve plates, illustrative of the flowering plants and ferns of Britain. 
The engravings, though small, are well executed, and the colouring good, giving a 
tolerably correct idea of the plants they are intended to represent ; and to obviate 
any difficulty that may arise from the smallness of the plates, the authors have 
given dissections of, and considerably magnified the reproductive organs, &c., so 
that the class and order to which they belong may readily be fixed upon. The 
arrangement followed is that of the Linnsean system, at the same time, the 
natural order of each genus is specified. We recommend this work to the notice 
of all who desire to become acquainted with the native plants of this country, and 
from its reasonable price it cannot fail to get into the hands of all classes. To the 
young gardener, who may feel disposed to possess it, we would advise to make 
choice of the plain copies, as the expense is not only smaller, but, if he be diligent, 
he may lay on the colours himself from the natural plants, and this would certainly 
make a more lasting impression on the mind, than merely looking over and reading 
the descriptions. 
Perhaps no one has contributed more, or laboured with more diligence, to im*- 
