496  CHEMICAL  CONSTITUENTS  OF  COCA  LEAVES. 
cups;  blister  drew  well;  applied  savine  ointment.  Expectorates  still 
bloody,  gummy  mucous  ;  pain  not  so  great ;  cannot  lie  down.  Increased 
the  Asclepias  to  two  teaspoonsful,  other  additions  the  same,  time  the  same. 
3d.  Condition  improving,  remedies  continued.  4th.  Condition  still  improv- 
ing ;  pulse  soft ;  skin  moist,  tongue  clean  ;  cough  soft ;  no  bloody  matter. 
5th.  Bowels  constipated;  ordered  castor  oil  ^ij.;  continued  Asclepias, omit- 
ting tartar  emetic;  addition  of  morphia  stillcontinued.  6th.  Still  improving, 
breathes  freely  expectorates  freely.  Discontinued  morphia  addition, 
diminishing  Asclepias  to  teaspoonful,  time  the  same.  So  he  continued  to 
improve  until  convalescence  was  finally  established. 
Remarks. — As  far  as  my  experience  permits  a  judgment  on  this  pre- 
paration of  Asclepias  tuberosa,  furnished  by  you  for  my  use,  in  these  ex- 
periments, and  some  others  in  which  I  have  used  it,  I  am  satisfied  it  has 
a  powerful  effect  in  reducing  the  circulation,  and  acting  promptly  on  the 
skin  ;  but  the  dose  required  should  be  large,  and  frequently  repeated  until 
the  skin  begins  to  act.  In  active  inflammatory  cases,  the  two  teaspoonsful 
of  your  preparation,  repeated  at  intervals  of  two  hours,  in  every  case  in 
which  I  have  used  it,  acted  promptly,  reducing  the  volume  as  well  as  the 
activity  of  the  pulse,  and  invariably  producing  profuse  copious  perspira- 
tion, which  can  be  regulated  afterwards  by  diminishing  the  dose,  and 
adding  to  the  time.^' 
ON  THE  CHEMICAL  CONSTITUENTS  OF  COCA  LEAVES. 
By  Jno.  M.  Maisch. 
These  interesting  leaves  are  beginning  to  attract  considerable 
attention  both  in  Europe  and  America;  the  accounts  of  learned 
travellers  and  of  physicians,  who  have  lived  for  a  number  of 
years  in  the  districts  where  Erythroxylon  coca  is  cultivated,  and 
where  the  leaves  are  employed  for  the  preservation  of  the  bodily 
strength  amid  continued  hardships,  all  these  accounts  agreeing 
in  the  main  points,  it  was  natural  to  expect  that  the  reflecting 
physician  would  desire  to  investigate  their  adaptation  for  the 
cure  of  disease.  The  greatest  drawback  to  such  investigations 
is  undoubtedly  the  limited  supply  of  the  leaves,  but  I  believe  a 
sufficient  quantity  might  be  found  in  the  United  States  for  ex- 
periments in  cur  hospitals. 
Several  papers  have  within  the  last  year  found  their  way  into 
the  scientific  journals  of  America  :  among  these  an  analysis  of 
the  leaves  performed  by  Dr.  A.  Niemann  on  page  122,  of  the 
present  volume  of  this  journal.    The  principal  object  of  his  in- 
