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PROPERTIES  OP  ERYTHROXYLON  COCA. 
for  intoxication  by  coca.)  "  Io  preferiseta  una  vitta  di  10  anni 
con  coca  ehe  un  di  1,000,000  secoli  senza  coca"  After  three 
hours  of  sleep,  Dr.  Mantegazza  recovered  completely  from  this 
intoxication,  and  could  immediately  follow  his  daily  occupation 
without  the  least  indisposition — on  the  contrary,  even  with 
unusual  facility.  He  had  abstained  for  forty  hours  without 
food  of  any  kind,  and  the  meals  then  taken  were  very  well  di- 
gested. From  this  fact,  the  author  finds  it  explainable  that  the 
Indians  employed  as  carriers  of  the  mail  are  able  to  do  without 
food  for  three  or  four  days,  provided  they  are  sufficiently  sup- 
plied with  coca. 
From  these  experiments,  made  repeatedly  on  himself,  and  on 
other  individuals,  Dr.  Mantegazza  draws  the  following  conclu- 
sions :— 
1.  The  leaves  of  the  coca,  chewed  or  taken  in  a  weak  infusion, 
have  a  stimulating  effect  upon  the  nerves  of  the  stomach,  and 
thereby  facilitate  digestion  very  much.  2.  In  a  large  dose 
coca  increases  the  animal  heat  and  augments  the  frequency  of 
the  pulse,  and  consequently  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- — then  it  produces  a  calming  effect.  4.  Used 
in  a  large  dose  it  causes  delirium,  halluciations,  and  finally 
congestion  of  the  brain. 
The  most  prominent  property  of  coca,  which  is  hardly  to  be 
found  in  any  other  remedy,  consists  in  the  exalting  effect  it 
produces,  calling  out  the  power  of  the  organism  without  leaving 
afterwards  any  sign  of  debility.  The  coca  is  in  this  respect 
one  of  the  most  powerful  nervines  and  analeptics.  These  ex- 
periments, as  well  as  the  circumstance  that  the  natives  have 
used  the  coca,  from  the  earliest  period  as  a  remedy  in  dyspepsia, 
flatulency  and  colic,  have  induced  Dr.  Mantegazza,  and  several 
of  his  colleagues  in  South  America  and  Europe,  to  employ  the 
leaves  of  the  coca  in  a  variety  of  cases,  partly  as  masticatory, 
partly  in  powder,  as  infusion,  as  alcoholico-aqueous  extract  in 
the  dose  of  ten  to  fifteen  grains  in  pills,  and  as  a  clyster.  Dr. 
Mantegazza  has  used  coca  with  most  excellent  results  in  dys- 
pepsia, gastralgia,  and  entralgia  ;  he  employed  it  not  less  fre- 
quently in  cases  great  of  debility  following  typhus  fever,  scurvy, 
