Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1885-12-24
WHAT COCAINE Is MADE OF.


From the Nineteenth Century.
In the valleys east of the Andes in tropical
south America there are, and have been from
immemOrial time, extensive plantations of the
coca shrub. 1t Is indigenous in these regions,
| but the natives OF Peru and Bolivia cultivate
| the plant in terraces which are likened TO the
| whey ards of Tuscany and the Holy Land. Fry
throXylon Coca is allied to the common flax,
and forms, says DIR. Johnston, a shrub OF six or
| eight feet resembling our blackthorn, with
small white flowers and bright green leaves.
Many thousands OF acres are devoted in Peru
| and Bolivia to its growth. The leaves, OF which
! there may be three or four crops in the year,
are collected by the women and children and
dried in the sun, after which they are ready for
use, and form, indeed, according to travellers,
| the usual money exchange in some districts,
the workmen being paid in coca Leaf. The con-
! sumption of this leaf almost universal in the
countries named, has extended across the con-
tinent into Brazil; but here it is powdered and
chewed with the ashes of plants. Among the
Peruvians and Bolivians the coca leaves are
rolled with a little unslaked lime into a ball
(acullico), and chewed in the mouth. We shall
| presently find wonderfully similar process
among the betel-chewers, far away to the east
The practice, it has been said, is almost
tries. Although the Spanish conquerers
denounced the native Indian and all
these neTng
eress as the bull launched by Urban the Eighth
against tobacco. The Peruvian was faithful to
the tradition of his fathers; and then Il curious,
but not uneXampled conversion came about
The Spaniards, seeing how admirably the ma
tives worked in the mine and plantation when
the coca was permitted them, decreed certain
hours of supensiOn OF labor for chewing the leaf
| and presently came to encourage the growth by
every means in their power, and even to re-
commend its Introduction into Europe.
COca-chewing resembles in some respects the
and Win o' rhe .uco ae Ken r apart
or four times in the day retires to secluded
spot, lays down his burden and stretches HIM
| self perhaps beneath tree. Slowly from the
chuspa, or little pouch, which is ever at his
| girdle, the leaves and the lime are brought
| forth. The ball is formed and chewed for per-
hapS 10 or 80 minutes, and then the tOiler
rises refreshed as quietly as he lay down; and
| returns to that monotonous round of labor, in
| traction. Some take IL to excess, and to these
| the name of coquerO is given. This is particu-
larry common among white Peruvians of good
family, and hence the name white Coquero'
! In that country is a term OF reproach eQuiva-
| lent TO our ''irreclaimable drunkard." The
| Indians regard the coca with extreme rever-
ence. Won Tschudi, quoted by DIR. Johnston in
| his Chemistry OF Common Life" says: Dur
| ing divine, worship the priests chewed coca
| them it was believed that the favor OF the gods
| could not be propitated. 1t was also deemed
should approach the priests with an acullico in
| his mouth. 1t was believed that any business
| undertaken without the benediction Of
the shrub itself worship was rendered.
| During an interval OF more than three hum
subdue this deep.rooted idolatry, for every
where we find traces of belief In the mysterious
| powers of this plant. The excavatOrs in the
mines of CerrO de PascO throw chewed coca upon
hard veins of metal in the belief that il softens
! the orc and renders it more easy to work. The
leaves into the mouths of dead nelson's r Soi in
order to secure them "A favorable reception on
| their entrance into another world, and when u
Peruvian Indian Oh a journey falls in with d
mummy, he, with timid reverence, presents to
| 1t some coca leaves as his pious Offering"
The coca plant resembles tea and hops in the
rail- Tor.
| ing entirely from them In its effects. In the
coqueros the latter are not inviting. "They
/ breath. pale lips and gums greenish and
| stumpy teeth, and an ugly black mark at the
known ut the FIRST glance his unsteady gait,
| his yellow skin, his dim and sulken eyes en-
circled by u purple ring his quivering lips, and
| his general apathy all bear evidence OF the
| baneiul effect OF the coca juice when taken in
1 excess" The general influence OF moderate
| doses is gently soothing and stimulating; but
| coca has In addition q special and remarkable
power in enabling those who consume IL to en-
| dure sustained labor in the absence Of other
| food. This appears to be welattested fact,
| and accOrds strskingly with similar effects OBJ
! served in the consumers OF opium. Both
alcohol and tobacco. check waste in the
| body, slightly lowering the temperature,
and economizipg more or less the expenditure
OF force. In the case of coca, opium and to-
| bacco this is well seen under hard labor and in
the absence of food Alcohol plays, as we have
already limited, a precisely similar part where
waste and expenditure are excessive, as in
some cases OF fever. In regard to coca, Won
| Tschudi says: ga man was employed by me In
| very labOrious digging. During the i've days
and nights he was In my service he never tasted
any food, and took only two hours sleep each
night; but at intervals oil two and halt OF
three hours he repeatedly chewed about half ar
ounce OF coca leaves and he kept an acuilicl
continually in his mouth. l WIS constantly be
side him, and therefore had the opportunity O
closely observing him. The work for which
engaged him being finished, he accompanied
me on two days journey across the leve
heights. Though ON loot, he kept up with thu
| car tehewing). TN leaving me lie declared hs
would willingly engage himself again for tn,
same amount Of work, and that he would e
| through 1t without food, II / would but ALLOW
him SUFFICIENT supply OF coca. The village
| priest assured me that this man was sixty-tW.
; years OF age, and that he had never known
him to be III in his life.n
Another special eject of the coca Ii mod cef