July 16, 1870.] 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL. 
43 
the source of lieat, in a room from which fire was 
strictly excluded. Whence came the flame which 
was first seen in the middle of the laboratory, travel¬ 
ing towards the liquid, which it ignited ? No doubt 
the vapour formed a train along the floor, and it is 
possible that this extended to another apartment, 
where it took fire. 
ON COCA. 
BY E. H. FOURNIER. 
One of the most remarkable phenomena which claim 
the attention of the physiologist is the action of stimu¬ 
lants on the human organism. It is a well-ascertained 
fact that they are capable of supporting the organism in 
the absence of food; and, whatever the inclinations of 
individuals may have been, or still are, with regard to 
their use, it is certain that nations of the past and pre¬ 
sent cannot, or, at any rate, do not exist without them. 
Von Bibra, in his preface to ‘ Die Narkotischen Genuss- 
Mittel und der Mensch,’ assumes the following:—“ Coffee 
leaves, in the form of infusions, are taken by 2,000,000 of 
human beings; Paraguay tea is consumed by 10,000,000; 
coca by as many; betel is chewed by 100,000,000; chi¬ 
cory, either pure or mixed with coffee, by 40,000,000; 
•cacao, either as chocolate or in some other form, 
by 50,000,000; 300,000,000 eat or smoke haschish; 
400,000,000 use opium; Chinese tea is drunk by 
•500,000,000; coffee by 100,000,000. All known peoples 
of the earth are addicted to the use of tobacco, chiefly in 
the form of smoking, otherwise by snuffing or chewing.” 
He adds that, with the exception of cacao, perhaps none 
of these substances has any direct nutritive power. In 
corroboration of the above figures, stand the reports con¬ 
cerning production, consumption, and taxation of these 
articles, from which a fair inference can be easily drawn 
by anybody doubting Yon Bibra’s accuracy. 
In the present article the action of coca will be con¬ 
sidered, as described by various travellers in South 
America. The substance itself is little known in Europe, 
but it has received considerable attention lately, and a 
proposal has been made, or at least hinted at, by Dr. 
Abl, of Zara, to introduce it here. He says,—“ Coca, in 
the hands of cautious captains, will very probably put a 
stop to the much more disgusting habit of chewing to¬ 
bacco, and would certainly diminish the number of those 
who, after shipwreck, perish from want of food.” The 
descriptions given by Poppig and Weddell* are not 
likely to stimulate the desire for the importation of the 
Peruvian herb. They describe the coquero as a sickly, 
tottering being, with hollow eyes, pale lips and gums, 
black marks at the comers of the mouth, and greenish 
and stumpy teeth,—a somewhat hideous counterpart to 
the inveterate drunkard of our own regions. Yon 
Tschudif mentions a case of a somewhat different cha¬ 
racter. He says, “A cholo of Huari, named Hatun 
Huamang, was employed by me in very laborious dig¬ 
ging. During the whole time he was in my service, viz. 
five days and nights, he never tasted any food, and took 
only two hours’ sleep nightly; but, at intervals of two 
and a half or three hours, he regularly masticated about 
half an ounce of coca leaves, and he kept an acullico 
continually in his mouth. I was constantly beside him, 
and therefore had the opportunity of closely observing 
him. The work for which I engaged him being finished, 
he accompanied me on a twelve days’ journey of twenty- 
three leagues across the level heights. Though on foot, 
he kept up with the pace of my mule, and halted only 
for the chacchar. On leaving me, he declared that he 
would willingly engage himself again for the same 
amount of work, and that he would go through it 
* ‘Voyage dans Ie Nord de la Boline.’ 
f * Peru. Reiseskizzen.’ Translated by Ross. 
without food, if I would but allow him a sufficient supply 
of coca. The village priest assured me that this man 
was sixty-two years of age, and that he had never known 
him to be ill in all his life.” 
The Erythroxylon Coca is a shrub about six feet high, 
with bright green leaves and white blossoms. The latter 
are succeeded by small scarlet berries; the former are 
described as shaped similarly to the leaf of the cherry- 
tree. In the tables accompanying Yon Bibra’s work, 
some specimens are shown in nature-print (Naturselbst- 
druck). They appear to be considerably smaller than 
cherry leaves, although in shape not unlike them. The 
coca is raised for the seed, in garden beds, called alma- 
zigas. It requires humidity; therefore maize is sown 
between the mat as, or young shoots, to screen them from 
the too great influence of the sun. When the leaves are 
ripe—that is to say, when, on being bent, they crack 
or break off—the gathering commences, and they are 
stripped from the branches, a task usually performed by 
women. The plant, thus rendered leafless, is soon again 
overgrown with verdant foliage. The colour of the 
leaves when dried is a pale green. The drying demands 
great care and attention, for, if they imbibe damp, they 
become dark, and then a lower price is obtained than 
when they are green. Coca is not believed to improve 
by keeping; the inhabitants find it unpalatable at a 
year old. Yon Bibra estimates the yield of one acre 
(German) at 800 lb. of dried leaves; and he calculates 
that 30,000,000 lb. are annually produced. 
The Indians masticate the coca generally in combina¬ 
tion with some alkaline substance, which they carry in 
a small flask gourd, called the ishcupuru ; a pouch, called 
the huallqui , or the chuspa, contains a supply of coca 
leaves. Unslacked lime pulverized is usually taken with 
the herb. In Cerro de Pasco, and in places still further 
south, the Indians use, instead of this, a preparation of 
the pungent ashes of the quinine. This preparation is 
called “llucta” or “llipta.” 
The flavour of coca is said to be rather pleasant. It is 
slightly bitter, aromatic, and similar to the worst kind 
of green tea. When mixed with the ashes of the musa 
root, as in some of the Montana regions, it is somewhat 
piquant, and more pleasant to European palates than it 
is without that addition. 
In Dr. Mantegazza’s prize essay* the whole subject is 
carefully reviewed and ably treated. Abstracts thereof 
are contained in the leading pharmaceutical journals. 
From experiments made repeatedly on himself and on 
other individuals, Dr. Mantegazza draws the following 
conclusions;—1. The leaves of the coca, chewed or taken 
in a weak infusion, have a stimulating effect upon the 
nerves and stomach, and thereby facilitate digestion very 
much. 2. In a small dose, coca increases the animal 
heat, and augments the frequency of the pulse, and con¬ 
sequently of respiration. 3. In a medium dose (three to 
four drachms) it excites the nervous system in such a 
manner that the movements of the muscles are made 
with greater ease, after which it produces a. calming 
effect. 4. Used in a large dose, it causes delirium, hal¬ 
lucinations, and, finally, congestion of the brain. 
An inveterate coquero, or coca-chewer, says Yon 
Tschudi, is known at the first glance. His unsteady 
gait, his yellow-coloured skin, his dim and sunken eyes 
encircled by a purple ring, his quivering lips, and his 
general apathy, all bear evidence of the baneful effects 
of the coca juice when taken in excess. Such an indi¬ 
vidual is treated as the opium-eater is treated jn Java 
and the East in general. Intemperance is an evil which 
springs from the love of self-indulgence; and the means 
for its gratification are, in some form or other, every¬ 
where to be found. 
Yon Bibra looks upon the chewing Indian as upon an 
adder, quick to the touch, and resenting with demonia¬ 
cal hatred an interruption of his feast and his dreams. 
* Pamphlet, Milan, 1859. See ‘ Oesterreichische Zeitsckrift 
fur praktische Heilkunde,’ Nov. 4, 1859. 
