PROPERTIES  OF  ERYTHROXYLON  COCA. 
417 
ON  THE  DIETETIC  AND  MEDICINAL  PROPERTIES  OF 
ERYTHROXYLON  COCA. 
By  Dr.  Mantegazza. 
(Prize  Essay.   Pamphlet.   Milan,  1859.) 
The  Erythroxylon  Coca,  a  plant  which  grows  in  moist  and 
woody  regions  on  the  eastern  slopes  of  the  Andes,  is  highly 
valued  by  the  inhabitants  of  Peru,  Chili,  and  Bolivia,  not  only 
as  a  medicine,  but  also  as  an  article  of  food  ;  and  serves  with 
them  as  a  substitute  for  the  tea,  coffee,  betel,  tobacco,  haschisch, 
and  opium  used  by  other  nations.  Its  culture,  upon  which, 
since  the  time  of  Pizarro's  conquest,  much  care  has  been  be- 
stowed, has  recently  increased  to  such  a  degree,  that  in  the  year 
1856  the  revenue  of  the  Republic  of  Bolivia,  from  the  sale  of 
this  herb,  amounted  to  thirteen  millions  of  francs — a  very  large 
sum,  if  compared  with  the  small  number  of  consumers  (800,000.) 
According  to  the  account  of  M.  Poppig  and  of  other  well-known 
travellers,  the  natives  use  the  dried  leaves  of  the  coca-plant 
either  by  themselves  or  in  combination  with  a  highly-alkaline 
substance  called  llipta,  which  is  prepared  from  roasted  potatoes 
and  the  ashes  of  different  other  plants  ;  they  masticate  them 
like  the  Malays  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  Indian  Archipelago 
do  the  calcined  leaves  of  the  clavica  betle.  The  use  of  this 
masticatory,  which  is  considered  a  great  delicacy,  is  not,  how- 
ever, confined  to  the  rich  ;  on  the  contrary,  it  is  particularly 
among  the  hard-working  Indians  that  the  coca  enjoys  a  high 
reputation  as  a  nutriment  and  restorative,  and  its  use  is  con- 
sidered absolutely  essential  for  the  endurance  of  fatigue  and 
exertion,  so  that  a  laborer  in  making  his  contract  has  a  view 
not  only  to  wages,  but  to  the  amount  of  coca  to  be  furnished. 
The  Inca  who  lives  at  a  height  of  seven  to  fifteen  thousand  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  sea,  and  whose  meagre  fare  consists  prin- 
cipally of  maize,  some  dried  meat,  and  potatoes  of  bad  quality, 
believes  that  he  can  sustain  his  strength  solely  by  the  use  of 
coca;  the  porter  who  carries  the  mail,  and  accompanies  the 
traveller  over  the  roughest  roads  at  the  quick  pace  of  the  mule, 
invigorates  and  strengthens  himself  by  chewing  coca  ;  the  Indian 
who  works  half  naked  in  the  silver  and  quicksilver  mines,  looks 
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