Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1914-05-17
COCOA AND COCA,
 THE DIFFERENCE
Coca Known as Wonder Plant of the Andes by
 Natives.

so in fact, that they are often con- fused in the mind of the average person, and perhaps by some thought to be the same thing. The presence of the in the last syllable of the first word, however, makes a DOT tentous difference, for there is ab- solutely no similarity between the products bearing these names. Cocoa, which is but chocolate with the fat extracted, is the well known drink and food made from the cacao bean, the fruit of the tree known botanical ly as Theobroma Cacao, while coca is the extract of the leaves of the coca plant, Or shrub, whose technical name is ErythroXylon Coca, and from which that powerful alkalold known as cocaine is derived. Both products are indigenous to certain Latin American countries, both were ia common use by the natives of these regions for centuries before western world was dreamed of in the eastern and both were first intro- duced into Europeb the returning Spanish explorers. Their place of origin is about the only thing com mon to both plants.
 The medicinal properties of the coca leaves are manifold That re- markable property possessed by the alkaloid, cocaine, of producing local anaesthesia has made the plant a boon to suffering humanity and a wonderfully beneficent agent in the hands of the surgeon, even if there were no other uses for it as a cura- 1: 0fh uses, and among the Ilcas of Peru In the May issue of the Bulletin of the Pan American Union Washing ton, D. C., William A. Reid deals with the history of Coca. The wonder | plant of the Andes, and tells of many | strange customs of the Incas in con- | nection with their veneration of the | coca plant, its peculiar properties, and describes the plant itself in it's wild state and the methods of culti- l vation. He writes:
 1 Many years ago when Inca civili- Zalion reigned over a vast section of l the western part of South America, ] the young men of the tribes engaged i in athletic contests and among the most coveted rewards the vict ors could expect were little pouches filled with certain dry leaves. Each pouch perchance bore the handiWork oI some dusky maiden, marvelously wrought in accordance with the teach ings of Mamma Cello, the famous character who tradition says came forth from mysterious Lake Titicaca to teach the world the art of spin ming and weaving. Accompanying the pouch of leaves or Chuspa, as they called it, was a small gourd known as the Popora, containing lime; the leaves had been carefully plucked from the divine plant" coca, while the lime served to make them more pleasing to the taste. The two sub stances combined formed a strength rroducing element of wonderful pow er Subjects of the Incas who thus fortified themselves by chewing coca leaves believed their bodies possess ed super human endurance.
 "The leaves were used at offerings | to the sun; to make the smoke at sacrifices; tied up in packages they were thrown into streams and the faithful followed them for days as a demonstration of their fidelity; and at death a supply of the leaves was always placed with the body of the deceased"
 The original home of the coca plant is in parts of Colombia, Ecua- dor, Peru, Bolivia and Brazil, while it is now cultivated in the West i Indies, Ceylon India, Java, etc. The plant, ErythroXylon Coca, somewhat resembles the black thorn bush of the United States, and grows to height of to feet, according to altitude and climatic conditions. In southern I Columbia, at an altitude of 5000 feet and in some other sections of the Andes. it occasionally measures 12 feet in height, but as elevation in creases the bush degenerates into a l small shrub. The branches are straight and the leaves are green, thin, opaque, oval and taperiag at the ends. The pretty little flowers form in clusters on short stems. The Towering season is followed by the production of small red berries. When grown on the coca plantations l or Cocales, the seeds are sown in December and January on small plots ] of land sheltered from the sun. When /, the plant reaches height of two ! feet it is transplanted to larger space
 
 ' two years and remains so fox 40 years or even longer. The leaves are gathered by pluckers who are skill ! ed in their work. Both hands are used and usually only the best leaves are l gathered These are carried to sheds and spread upon stone beds or hard ground to dry. The drying process is completed il about 10 hours and the leaves are then packed into bales and are ready for shipment. Tn pound packages the best leaves are worth from 35 to 45 cents at the seaport. In 1912 Bolivia exported $300,000 worth of coca leaves. while Peru, where cocaine itself is manufactured, exports annually about $350,000 of that product.
 Clears C0mplexiOn-RemOyes Skin