, 1912-01-10
THE PRODUCTION OF COCAINE IN
PERU.

the latter publication points OUT the Import
auce of the cocaine Industry in Peru; this Is
shown by the circumstance THAT the value OF
the annual production of the drug IS
G2. 100000. A great part OF this IS exported,
while most of the rest is consumed by the.
native Indians.
The account in THE Engineer states that
the processes employed in Peru for the eX-
traction of cocaine from the leaves of the
coca plant CErythroeylum C0cH) IRE crude,
owing to the fact that the treatment takes
place in the interior, on account OF the ex-
peuse of transport of the leaves; the extent
Of this expense is illustrated by the fact
that 200 fb. of coca leaves are required for
the manufacture of l 10. of cocaine. Doubt
less, improved means Of communication will
bring the manufacture nearer the co 'st, and
then better methods will be employed.
For the extraction of the drug from the
leaves, three operations are employed: ~ ma
c@eration (2) Intermediate precipitation, and
(3) final precipitation. For maceration, the
leaves are placed in four tanks, in the first
of which they are treated with u O.5 per
cent. solution of suIphuric acid. After TWEEN
ty four hours, the liquid is allowed to flow
into the second tank, and the first is again
filed with new leaves and the acid solution.
After another interval of twenty four hours,
the contents of the second tank are run off
into the third, while the former is filled from
the first as before, the first agein receiving
u new charge. The fourth tank, after an
other period of tweDty-four hours, IS filed
from the third, and the preceding process
es with the other tanks are repeated. La
this way, leaves in a state for further treat
ment, namely, those originally put into the
first tank, are obtained at he end of four
days. The ~tincture thus obtained is next
placed in a strainer, for the purpose. Of FL
%tration, after which the process Of macera.
ton is complete.
For the intermediate precipitation, the
~tincture is subjected to the action of sodium
carbonate in cylindrical vessels. At this
stage, in order to- test if precipitation is CON-
plete, a small quantity Of the tincture is re-
moved, filtered from the cocaine, and the
fltrate tested with ammonia, when there
should be no precipitate formed. The OBJ
tanning of o precipitate indicates the neces.
sity for the addition of sodium carbonate to
the ~tincture in the cylindrical vessels.
The first operation for the final precipita-
ton is the addition Of petroleum, the mix
ture being stirred carefully for three to four
hours. at a very slow rate, At the end of
this period the oil, which now contains the
cocaine, is wa-hed with acid-free water,
and then treated with acidulatel water, the
proper amount being determined by the test
ing for precipitation Of an aliquot part. Du-
ring this process, the mixture is stirred Wig
orously for half an hour to forty minutes.
with the result that the cocaine is transfer
red from the oil to the acidulated water,
which can be separated from the former g
af er the mixture has been allowed to stand
for about q quarter Of an hour.
At this Stage, the extract is ready for fin
al precipitation, which as, before is effected
with sodium carbonate, the amonnt required
being determined by IL test with an uliquot
part of the solution. The mixture is then
allowed to settle for twelve hours, and filter
ed while being washed with distilled water,
to remove any excess Of sodium carbonate.
The wet residue of cocaine is finally subject
ed to pressure, when the drug is obtained
as q white paste containing 81 to SO per
cent. The usual yield is about p fb. Of CO.
caine per day OF twenty-four hours.
When inferior leaves are used, the pro-
duet is brownish In colour, and has to be-
subjected to further treatment, similar to
the above; this results, however, in the loss
of some of the cocaine. A last matter of in
terest is that the approximate cost of pro-
ducing l To. of cocaine is about E5 an
amount which naturally varies with the