Am.  Jour.  Pharui.) 
Jan.,  1885.  j 
Cocaine  and  its  Salts. 
31 
COCAINE  AND  ITS  SALTS.^ 
By  E.  Merck. 
Cocaine,  C17H24NO4  (according  to  Lossen),  is  the  alkaloid  contained 
in  coca  leaves  {Erythroxylon  Coca,  Lam.),  which  was  first  isolated  by 
Niemann  in  1860.  In  1862,  Lossen  discovered  in  the  same  leaves  a 
second  principle,  hygrin,  which  is  of  a  volatile  nature,  and  has  been 
hitherto  but  little  investigated,  but  it  appears  to  have  a  weak  and  hardly 
characteristic  action.  The  further  component  parts  of  the  coca  leaves 
appear  to  be  ecgonin,  coca-tannin,  and  a  peculiar  wax. 
The  cocaine  crystals  belong  to  the  monocline  system,  melt  at  98 °C., 
are  easily  soluble  in  alcohol,  even  more  easily  soluble  in  ether,  but  only 
dissolve  in  704  parts  water.  The  salts  of  cocaine  are,  on  the  other 
hand,  readily  soluble  in  water.  The  salts  prepared  commercially  are 
the  hydrochl orate,  salicylate,  hydrobromate,  tartrate  and  citrate. 
The  first  reports  as  to  the  results  of  the  internal  use  of  coca  leaves 
have  been  handed  down  from  the  sixteenth  century  (Dr.  Mondedes, 
Seville,  1569).  In  1749  the  plant  appears  to  have  been  first  brought 
to  Europe.  It  was  described  by  Jussieu  and  was  named  Ei^ythroxylon 
Coca  by  Lamarck. 
Tschudi,  Markham,  Poppig,  and  others,  who  have  traveled  in  South 
America,  found  that  the  natives  were  in  the  habit  of  chewing  coca 
leaves  as  a  remedy  for,  or  preventive  against,  the  effects  of  extraordi- 
nary physical  exertions. 
The  Indians  chewed  the  leaves  in  conjunction  with  the  ashes  of 
Chenopodimi  Quinoa,  the  alkali  contained  in  which  seems  to  have 
eliminated  the  tannin  from  the  coca  leaves,  and  to  have  left  the  alka- 
loid free. 
Since  the  discovery  of  cocaine  the  belief  has  gained  ground,  and,  as 
it  appears,  quite  correctly,  that  this  alkaloid  is  the  really  active  prin- 
ciple of  coca  leaves.  At  first  it  was  believed,  apparently  with  good 
grounds,  that  it  possessed  a  property  analogous  to  that  possessed  by 
caffeine,  theine,  and  theobromine,  viz.,  the  power  of  retarding  or 
stopping  the  change  of  tissue,  but  hitherto  no  facts  absolutely  confirm- 
ing this  theory  have  been  discovered.  Administered  in  small  doses 
cocaine  has  an  exhilarating  effect,  but  in  larger  doses  it  paralyses  the 
nerve  centres  and  other  parts  of  the  nervous  system.    It  has  a  fatal 
^  Abstract  from  a  paper  commuuicated  by  the  author. 
