The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1886-01-29
WHAT COCAINE is MADE OF.
The strange Effects of Chewing Coo

49, va VI XIV slt't
have been from immemorial time. ex-
;ensive plantations of the coca shrub.
1t is Indigenous in these regions, but
the natives of Peru and Bolivia cult
vate the plant in terraces which are Ii
kencd to the vineyards of Tuscany and
the Holy Land. Erythroxylon coca is
allied to the ommon flax and forms,
says DR.. 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 ;.nd 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 usu-
the workmen being paid in coca leaf.
The consumption of this leaf. almost
universal in the countries named. has
extended across the continent into Bra
iii; but here it is powdered and chewed
with the ashes of plants. Among the
Peruvims and Bolivjans the coca leaves
arc rolled with Il little unslakcd lime
into a ball (acullico), and chewed in the
mouth. We shall presently find Il Won
d~erfully similar process among the be-
tel-chewers, far away to the cast. The
practice, it has been said, is almost uni
versal in these South American coun-
tries. Although the Spanish conquer
ors denounced the native Indian and all
his works. including the chewing of the
coca leaf. these prohibitions proved as
powerless rs the bull launched by Ur-
ban the VIII. against tobacco. The
Peruvian was faithful to the tradition of
his fathers; and then 81 curious, but not
~unexampled. conversion came about.
The Spaniards, seeing how admirably
the natives worked in mine and planta-
ton when the coca was permitted them,
decreed certain hours of suspension of
labor for chewing the leaf, and pres
entity came to encourage the growth by
every means in their power. and even
to recommend its Introduction into Eu-
rope.
Coca-chewing resembles in some re-
spects the smoking of opium. Both
must be taken apart and with delihera-
tion. The coca-chewer three or four
times in the day %retircs to a secluded
c,,nt 1n,.r ,J,rr,, IL, 1,,,Jo, .xl ..l-
himself perhaps beneath Il tree. Slowly
from the chuspa, or little pouch. which
is ever at his girdlc, the leaves and the
lime are brought forth. The ball is
formed and chewed for perhaps fifteen
or thirty minutes, and then the toiler
rises refreshed as quietly as he lay
down. and returns to that monotonous
round of labor, in which the coca is his
only and much-prized distraction. Some
take it to excess. and to these the name
of coquero is given. This is particular
ly common among white Peruvians of
good family, and hence the name
white Coqucro' in that country is a
term Of reproach equivalent to our ''ir-
reclamable drunkard.' The Indians
regard the coca with extreme reverence.
Won Tschudi, quoted by DR.. Johnston
in his Chemistry OF Common Life"
says: During divine worship the
priests chewcd coca leaves, and unless
they We're supplied with them it was be-
lieved that favor of the gods could not
be propitiatcd. 1t was also deemed nee
essary that the supplicator for divine
grace should approach the priests with
an a~cullico in his mouth. 1t was belicv-
ed that any business undertaken without
the bencdiction of coca leaves could not
prosper, and to the shrub itself worship
was rendered. During an interval OF
moro than three hundred years Christi
anity has not been able to subdue this
deep-rooted-idolatry, for everywhere 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 behalf that it softcns the ore and
renders it more easy to work. The IN
dams, ever at the present time. put coca
leaves into the mouths of dead persons.
in order to secure them q favorable re-
ccption on their entrance into anotl.c:
world, and when a Peruvian Indian on
a journey falls in with II mummy, he.
with timid reverence, presents to il
some coca leaves us his pious Offering
The coco plant resembles tea and hops
in the nature OF its active principles, nj.
though differing entirely from them il
its effects. In the coqueros the latter
are not inviting. They are says tbs
traveller just quoted, 80 bad breath, pale
lips and gums, greenish and stumps
teeth, and an ugly black mark at Tho
angles of the mouth. The inveternt,
colucro is known at the first glance
his unsteady gait, his yellow skin. hi:
dim and sunken eyes encirclcdby a pur
pie ring, his quivering lips. his genera
apathy all bear evidence of the banefu
effect of the coca juice when taken il
excess" The general influence o
moderate dosesis gently soothing AM
stimulating; but coca has in addition
special and remarkable power in cna
bling those who consume it TO endur,
sustained labor in the absence of othe
food. This appears to be Il well-attestet
fact, and accords strikingly with simila
effects observed in the consumers o
opium. Both coca and opium. and to
less extent alcohol and tobacco, chccl
waste in the body, slightly lowering TIL