146 
ON  THE  LEAVES  OF  THE  COCA. 
From  the  constancy  with  which  the  Indians  employ  an  alkali 
with  the  coca,  one  might  presume  that  it  favors  the  solution  of 
the  active  matter  of  the  leaf ;  hut  on  this  head  we  know  nothing 
positive.  Others  have  said  that  the  lliftla  was  intended  to  neu- 
tralize the  acid*  of  the  leaf ;  but  it  is  easy  to  convince  oneself 
that  the  coca  contains  no  principle  of  this  nature  in  appreciable 
quantity. 
The  leaves  of  the  Erythroxylon  approach  in  shape  and  size 
those  of  tea,  but  they  have  never  the  dentated  margin  ;  on  the 
under  side,  a  prominent  and  curved  line  on  each  side  of  the  mid- 
rib serves  to  distinguish  them  from  most  other  leaves  known. 
When  dried  well,  they  are  of  a  very  pale  green,  deeper  on  the 
upper  than  on  the  under  side  ;  their  odor  is  then  agreeable  and 
even  analogous  to  that  of  tea.  When,  on  the  contrary,  the  coca 
has  been  dried  less  perfectly,  this  agreeable  aroma  is  hardly  per- 
ceptible, or  rather  is  overpowered  by  a  pungent  odor,  Bui  generis, 
recalling  the  abominal  smell  exhaled  by  the  breath  of  the  masti- 
cators of  coca,  which  is,  in  fact,  the  odor  in  a  concentrated  state. 
The  bouquet,  if  I  may  so  term  it,  is  very  perceptible  on  tasting 
the  coca,  and  serves,  according  to  its  abundance,  in  indicating 
its  quality.  On  the  other  hand,  in  a  concentrated  infusion,  and 
still  more  so  in  a  decoction,  it  is  a  bitterness  mixed  with  some- 
thing styptic  that  more  particularly  strikes  the  palate. 
As  to  the  immediate  physiological  effects  of  this  infusion,  fre- 
quently repeated  trials  enable  me  to  assert  that  they  are  in 
general  limited  to  a  slight  excitement,  succeeded  in  most  cases 
by  some  degree  of  sleeplessness. 
The  questions  relative  to  the  effects  resulting  from  the  use  of 
coca  are  less  easily  determined  ;  we  may  begin,  nevertheless,  by 
stating  that  an  immense  majority  of  authors,  both  ancient  and 
modern,  who  have  written  on  the  subject,  have  agreed  in  attrib- 
uting to  the  coca-leaf  thus  employed,  virtues  whose  well  ascer- 
tained existence  would  warrant  it  being  placed  among  the  more 
*  Thus,  Dr.  Unanue  speaking  of  the  beneficial  properties  of  the  coca, 
says:  "Dela  combinacion  del  alkali  de  la  llipta  con  el  acido  de  la  Coca  no 
resultara  una  sal  neutra,  una  sal  vegetal  aperiiiva  y  laxante  que  coopere  en 
gran  parte  quando  la  Coca  obra  de  este  modo."  Vide  Dissertation  sobre  las 
virt 'tides  de  la  famosa  planla  del  Peru  iwmbrada  Coca.    Lima,  1794. 
