Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-05-03
COCOA FOR TOBACCO.
The Working Men Might Make the
Trade With Great Advantage.
1T IS A CONSERVER OF ENERGY.
Wonderful Endurance Of South Americans
Who Chew the Leaves.
EXPERIMENTS As TO The ElFEofs

The effects OF alcohol and OF certain plants
having theme and and caffeine, or some
allied aIkaloid principle at their base, In
e1hilarating the mind to some extent, in
causing physical excitement, suspension
Of the sense Of hunger, thirst and fatigue,
and in increasing the power Of endurancs
and the ability to do work, have long been
known.
versal in some form or other. The claim Of
priority in using them, as with everything
else, rests with the Chinese, who put the
date Of the introduction Of tea only at 2T5f
B. @. The Abyssiniaus are said 10 have
used coffee over 1000 years ago, and the
Mexicans cocoa before America was dis.
covered. Some OF these wonderful plants
that are chewed raw, or mixed with some
other substance, or sm oked, or used in the
form of an infusion or decoction, are de.
cidedly offensive to the uncultivated taste,
and yet their value in physiological econ.
omy is highly appreciated. even by barbar.
Gus peoples.
Kola Nuts of the Africans.
Kola nuts are chewed by Africans Just a.
Brasil1ans chew cocoa leaves, or lome other
South Americans guarans or the mate,
otherwise called Paraguay tea. The
Chinese smoke opium, and som other far
Eastern people e1tol the value of hemp, and
all consume these plants for the same pur.
pose, consciously or unconsciously. It has
long been known that, with tn exception Of
alcohol, none of them contain more than -
minute portion of rutritive matter, yet they
can not only replace food for many days, but
In its absence make the individual do moro
work than under ordinary circumstances,
and suffer the loss of sleep for several con.
secutiye days without injury or discomfort.
They are all known by the name of conserY-
ers of energy (spsrmittel).
Psychologists believe they preserve the
tissue from active destruction, which gener.
ally takes place during unusual activity.
Few of these plants can furnish energy
through their own decomposition, and all
seem to possess either the power of mental
eIhilaration or of exciting the energy-yield-
ing processes. The last thought seems to be
nearest the truth.
Acts Like Forced Draft.
Prof E. J. Reichert, of the University OF
Pennsylvania, in recent address, compares
alcohol to fuel thrown on a =, for to tbs
extent of the energy which iG can yield it
saves the other fuel or adds that much
energy; but cocaine and caffeine act as q
forced draft, supplying no energy them
selves, though causing the fire to rage furi-
ously.
The testimony adduced ss to the value Of
cocaine. with its power to excite the energy
yielding powers, is interesting, and there 10
abundant proof that some of the wonderful
stories about IL are true. South American
Indians who chew cocoa leaves display re-
narkable Ieats of strength and endurance
while subsisting practically on it alone.
The miners there, who also chew it every
three hours, together with a handful Of
maize, are said to be able to do more work in
II hours than the average well-fed European.
Stevens reports that such miners, taking
no other food than the leaves for four or
five days, though constantly working. felt
neither hunger, thurst nor fatigue, and
that, too, without Inconvenience or injury,
furthermore, that by its use they could
remain for ten days consecutiYely without
sleep.
Used on a Broken-Down Pedestrian.
Markham tried it on himself and reported
increased powers of endurance, under eI-
actly similar circumstances. 1t produced
In him, he said, an agreeable, soothing
effect. As a medicine, DR.. Palmer recently
tried wine of cocoa on a broken-down female
contestant in a si1-days' walking match,
when she was well ont of the race, suffering
great pain and weakness. After the use of
the drug only, she was like another woman,
and though she suffered serious accident
later. she came out OF the race pretty near
the top. In n day or SO thereafter she was
well enough to be out in the streets.
Christison reported from experiments on
himself and students that by chewing the
cocoa, eventually appetite and digestion were
unaffected, with the symptoms of endurance
as given above. No injury was sustained at
that time or subsequently in occasional
trials, but he would not warrant the effect
of its constant use. 1t has no effect on the
mental faculties, except in liberating dull
ness and drowsiness which follow great
bodily fatigue. 1t reduces, he says the
effect OF severe, protracted exercise in ac-
celebrating the pulse.
In Place of Tea and Coffee
While the statements as to the other
plants are essentially OF the same character,
and are abundantly corroborated, the claims
made for them are not so remarkable. II
cocoa has so much value it should come into
greater use, especially among the poor and
working people, than it has been up to this
time. If it is more valuable, physiologically
speaking, than tea or coffee, 1t should re-
place them on the table of the day laborer or
in his dinner pail, instead of being regarded
as 4 luxury, as 1t now is.
1t is true that some Of the patented
are expensive, but the good
can prepare the decoction even
from the cocoa shells, which are sold in the
shops for next to nothing. And If the
chewing of the leaves will increase, or even
husband his strength and overcome fatigue,
why should not the workingman prefer them
to the tobacco?