"BRAIN REST."
By J. LEONARD CORNING, M.D., New York.
Published by G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS.
"The preparation of Coca known as 'Vin Mariani' is the one to which I
resort in meeting the exigencies incident to excessive and habitual
worry and functional brain trouble.
"Of 'Vin Mariani' I need hardly speak, as the medical profession is
already well aware of its virtues. Of all tonic preparations ever
introduced to the notice of the profession, this is undoubtedly the
most potent for good in the treatment of exhaustive and irritative
conditions of the central nervous system.
"Mr. Angelo Mariani has spent many years in the careful study of the
Coca plant, and as a result his preparations are unrivaled. The medical
profession certainly owes a debt of gratitude to this gentleman for his
valuable labors in this direction."
[Illustration: BRANCH OF COCA PLANT,
Showing Leaf, Flower and Seed.
(Specimen from hot-houses of M. Mariani, Neuilly, France.)]
COCA
AND ITS
Therapeutic Application
BY
ANGELO MARIANI
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS
Third Edition.
NEW YORK
J. N. Jaros, 52 W. 15th St
1896.
The following pages are inscribed and respectfully dedicated to the
medical profession, as a token of appreciation for the kind aid ever
extended to me in my efforts to popularize that valuable addition to
therapeutics, "Erythroxylon Coca."
ANGELO MARIANI.
41 Boulevard Haussmann,
Paris, France.
TO THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.
The physiological studies, researches, designs, etc., are made at
our laboratory, Neuilly s/Seine, France, where, in connection with
hot-houses, the study and cultivation of the Coca plant is carried on
under my personal supervision, and am pleased to say have succeeded
in producing large quantities of Coca plants, in all stages of growth
and of various species, under all conditions of planting, by seeds,
transplantation and grafting, all results being carefully watched and
recorded.
I hereby extend the most cordial invitation to the medical profession
and shall be happy to receive the visit of physicians who may be
interested in the subject.
Respectfully,
ANGELO MARIANI.
41 Boulevard Haussmann,
Paris, France.
[Illustration: OUTLINE OF COCA PLANT.
(Showing leaves and seeds. Nos. 1 and 2, Coca leaves seen by
transmitted light.)]
All illustrations in this volume have been specially prepared for this
work, and are from original drawings from life by M. Mariani.
[Illustration]
INTRODUCTION.
Each race has its fashions and fancies. The Indian munches the betel;
the Chinaman woos with passion the brutalizing intoxication of opium;
the European occupies his idle hours or employs his leisure ones in
smoking, chewing or snuffing tobacco. Guided by a happier instinct,
the native of South America has adopted Coca. When young, he robs his
father of it; later on, he devotes his first savings to its purchase.
Without it he would fear vertigo on the summit of the Andes, and weaken
at his severe labor in the mines. It is with him everywhere; even in
his sleep he keeps his precious quid in his mouth.
But should Coca be regarded merely as a masticatory? And must we
accept as irrevocable the decision of certain therapeutists: "Cocaine,
worthless; Coca, superfluous drug"?[1]
For several years laryngologists such as: Fauvel, of France; Morell
Mackenzie and Lennox Browne, of England; and Elsberg, of America, had
undertaken the defense of Coca.
Under such patronage Coca and its preparations were not slow in
becoming popular.
Charles Fauvel was the first to make use of it as a general tonic,
having a special action on the larynx; and to make known its anæsthetic
and analgesic qualities.
Coca was further recommended, as it were empirically, against
stomatitis, gingivitis, gastric disturbances, and phthisis (Rabuteau),
_Eléments de thérapeutique et de pharmacologie_.
Although striking effects were obtained from this valuable medicine,
its full worth was yet unknown and there was diversity of opinion as to
its mode of action, until the communications of Köller, of Vienna, on
Coca and Cocaine, appeared in 1884.
These interesting publications led to such general discussion among
medical men, that nearly every one eagerly followed the work, and
watched the splendid results obtained by the Viennese physician (now
Professor of Ophthalmology in New York Polyclinic).
It is found that studies made of the active principles of Coca
have entirely corroborated our previsions, and probably no subject
has received greater attention than have the virtues of this
little Peruvian shrub, formerly looked upon in Europe with so much
indifference.
The scientific study of the principles of Coca may be considered
as completed; and we believe that the time has arrived in which to
summarize data regarding this therapeutic agent, so that the employment
of our preparations may be based on positive clinical experience.
The aim of this modest work is to offer to the medical profession a
short account of the history of Coca, and of the investigations which
it has called forth up to the present day.
We propose to divide our subject into five parts.
1ST. We will describe the botanical character of Coca, and also speak
of its culture and the mode of gathering it.
2D. Its history, its properties and uses.
3D. The physiological researches made in the domain of Coca, devoting a
special chapter to Cocaine.
4TH. Its therapeutic application.
Finally we will quote some general conclusions and explanations
regarding the method of using our different preparations, based on
observations made by competent physicians in Europe and America.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: SPECIMEN OF THE COCA SHRUB.
(Grown in a Hot-house by Mr. Mariani showing general frail condition of
the leaf.)]
[Illustration]
CHAPTER I.
ERYTHROXYLON COCA,
ITS BOTANICAL CHARACTER.
Coca is indigenous to South America. The different botanists disagree
as to which exact family it should be assigned. Linnæus, De Candolle,
Payer, Raymundi of Lima, Huntk, and others, place it in the family
of the _Erythroxyleæ_, of which there exists but one genus, the
_Erythroxylon_, while Jussien adopts another classification and places
it in the family of the _Malpighiaceæ_ (_genus Sethia_). Lamarck, on
the contrary, believes that this plant should be classed among the
family of Nerprem (Rhamneæ).
_Erythroxylon Coca_ is a shrub which reaches a height of from six to
nine feet and the stem is of about the thickness of a finger. In our
climate it cannot thrive except in a hot-house, and there its height
does not exceed one metre.
The root, rather thick, shows multiple and uniform divisions; its trunk
is covered with a ridged bark, rugged, nearly always glabrous, and of a
whitish color. Its boughs and branches, rather numerous, are alternant,
sometimes covered with thorns when the plant is cultivated in a soil
which is not well adapted to it.
The leaves, which fall spontaneously at the end of each season, are
alternate, petiolate, with double intra-accillary stipules at the base.
In shape they are elliptical-lanceolate, their size varying according
to the nature of the plant or of the soil in which it grows.
The leaf of Coca gathered in Peru, of which we give two figures of the
natural size, is generally larger and thicker than the leaf of the
Bolivian Coca. It is also richer in the alkaloid, consequently much
more bitter.
The Coca leaf from Bolivia, smaller than the Peruvian leaf, is as much
esteemed as the latter, although it contains less of the alkaloid.
It possesses so exquisite and so soft an aroma, indeed, that the
_coqueros_ seek it in preference to any other.
[Illustration: LEAVES OF PERUVIAN COCA, NATURAL SIZE
A. Upper surface of the leaf.
B. Lower surface of the leaf, showing the longitudinal projections of
the two sides of the midrib.]
The Coca leaves of Brazil and Colombia are much smaller than those of
Peru and Bolivia. Their color is much paler. Containing but traces of
the alkaloid they are not bitter, and possess a pleasant, but very
volatile aroma.
One of the most important characteristics of the Coca leaf is the
disposition of its nervures; parallel with the midrib two longitudinal
projections are to be seen, which, starting from the base of the leaf,
extend in a gentle curve to its point.
[Illustration: LEAVES OF BOLIVIAN COCA, NATURAL SIZE.
(Lower surface.)]
The upper surface of these leaves is of a beautiful green tint; the
lower surface of a paler green, except, however, near the midrib. At
this point, there is a strip of green darker than the rest, which
becomes brown in the withered leaves.
[Illustration: LEAF OF COCA OF COLOMBIA, NATURAL SIZE.]
The flowers, small, regular and hermaphrodite, white or greenish
yellow, are found either alone or in groups in little bunches of cyme
at the axil of the leaves or bracts, which take their place on certain
branches. The disposition into cymes is that most commonly met with.
They are supported by a slender pedicel, somewhat inflated at the top,
the length of which does not exceed one centimetre.
[Illustration: NERVURES OF THE LEAF OF PERUVIAN COCA, SEEN BY
TRANSMITTED LIGHT. NATURAL SIZE.]
The sepals, joined at the base and lanceolated, are of a green tint
with a whitish top. The petals, half a centimetre in length, pointed,
concave inside and yellowish white, exhale a rather pleasant odor. They
are provided with an exterior appendage, of the same color and of the
same consistency, surmounted on each side with an ascending fimbriated
leaf, irregularly triangular in shape. The stamens, at first joined in
a tube for one-third of their length, afterward separate into white
subulated strings, provided with an obtuse ovoid anther which extends
a little beyond the petals. The ovary is ovoid in shape and green in
color, thickening at the top into a yellowish glandular tissue. The
style which rises above it separates into three diverging branches,
provided with orbicular papilliform bodies at their extremity,
obliquely inserted into the slender patina.
[Illustration: Seeds of Coca.]
The fruit is a drupe of an elongated ovoid form, being a little more
than a centimetre in length, of a reddish color when fresh, and having
a tender, thickish pulp inclosing a seed. This seed shows longitudinal
furrows and alternate vertical projections which make its division
irregularly hexagonal. When the fruit is dried, the skin assumes a
brownish color, shrivels up and molds itself on the protuberances and
irregularities of the seed.
CULTIVATION OF COCA.
_Erythroxylon Coca_ appears to have come originally from Peru, and from
there its cultivation was carried into Bolivia, Ecuador, New Grenada,
and Brazil, in a word, throughout the entire torrid zone of South
America.
For some time, as a result of the extended consumption of Coca
and for a still stronger reason, now that the day is at hand when
the consumption of Coca will assume greater proportions, numerous
plantations of Coca trees have been laid out in regions where that
shrub was formerly unknown. We take pleasure in recording that these
attempts have proved successful in the Antilles, thanks to the
disinterested sacrifices of our friend, Dr. Bétancès. It is also with
pleasure that we present anew an interesting communication made by the
learned doctor to the "Société d'Acclimatation de France" as appeared
in the _Revue Diplomatique_, 17th of March, 1888.
[Illustration: BRANCH OF COCA. NATURAL SIZE.
Sent by Monseigneur de Mereño, Archbishop of San Domingo, to Dr.
Bétancès, Paris.]
"Dr. Bétancès has succeeded in acclimatizing Coca in the Antilles. At
considerable expense and after numerous shipments of seeds and the
transportation of plants (this with the greatest difficulty) to Porto
Rico and San Domingo, Dr. Bétancès had the pleasure of receiving a fine
branch of Coca in full bloom, which was sent to him by Monseigneur
Mereño, Archbishop of San Domingo. This twig, which the members of
the Society were enabled to examine, excited the most lively curiosity
and won the commendation of M. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire. It was raised
from a plant which had been only eighteen months under cultivation."
"In Porto Rico the plant reaches a greater height than in Peru.
"A box filled with beautiful leaves has also been received by Dr.
Bétancès and forwarded to Mr. Mariani. This also came from Monseigneur
Mereño.
"It is therefore evident that the plant can be cultivated in the
Antilles and that it may become a source of wealth to that country."
Plantations like this would probably thrive in Corsica or Algeria,
countries where the temperature at certain points is somewhat analogous
to that of the tropics.
It is a fact that this shrub does not attain its complete development
except in countries where the mean temperature is from fifteen to
eighteen degrees centigrade.
But heat does not suffice; great humidity is also necessary to
Coca. Therefore it is met with principally on the sides of hills
and at the bottom of wooded valleys which abound on both sides of
the Cordillieras. Unfortunately, these regions are rather distant
from the coast and they are, furthermore, devoid of easy means of
communication; it is above all to this particular cause, the difficulty
of transportation, that we must attribute the relatively high price of
Coca leaves.
The cultivation of Coca trees is begun by sowing the seed in beds
called _Almazigos_. As soon as the plant appears it is protected from
the heat of the sun by means of screens and matting; when it reaches a
height of from 40 to 50 centimetres, it is transferred to furrows 18
centimetres in length by 7 in depth, care being taken that each plant
is separated from its neighbor by a distance of a foot.
During the first year maize is sown in the interspaces, rapidly
overreaching the shrub, and taking the place of the screens and mats.
The growth of the shrub is rather rapid, reaching its full height in
about five years. But the time when it becomes productive precedes
that at which it attains its complete height by about 3½ years after
being planted. After that, when the season has been especially damp, it
yields as often as four times a year.
[Illustration: BRANCH OF COCA, as grown in a hot-house.]
Attempts have been made to acclimatize it in Europe, but so far
without success. As early as 1869 the cultivation of it was tried
in the Botanical Garden of Hyères, but no satisfactory result was
obtained. We presented, in 1872, two samples to the appreciative and
learned director of the Garden of Acclimatization of Paris, M. Geoffroy
Saint-Hilaire, and notwithstanding all the care taken of the young
plants, they failed to reach their full growth. Several frail Coca
plants may be seen in the conservatories of the _Jardin des Plantes de
Paris_, in the Botanical Gardens of London, of Brussels, etc., likewise
at several great horticulturists' of Gand, notably Van Houten's. As may
be seen by the large colored engraving[2] and by the branch engraved
above, these specimens of _Erythroxylon Coca_ are very far from giving
an idea of the plant growing in the open air, in a soil and under a
temperature that are favorable to its development, as shown by the
leaves of Peruvian Coca, illustrated above, and which come from one of
the newest _haciendas_ of Santa-Anna, belonging to M. M.-P. Concha,
bordering on the territory of a savage tribe of Antis or Campas, on the
Urubanba river, which joins the Amazon in latitude 12° S., longitude
75° W.
GATHERING OF COCA.
The plant begins to yield when it is about a year and a half old.
The leaf is the only part of the plant used.
It should be gathered in dry weather; this is entrusted generally to
women, and simply consists in plucking each leaf with the fingers.
The leaves are received into aprons, carefully carried under sheds, to
shelter them from the rain and dampness, dried, and then packed.
We quote from the _Voyage dans la région du Titicaca_, by Paul
Marcoy, the following passage ("Tour of the World," May, 1877): "Of
all the valleys of the Carabaya group, Ituata is the one where Coca
is cultivated on the largest scale. They were then at the height of
the work, peons and peonnes were following each other through the
plantations of the shrub, so dear to the natives that a decree of 1825
placed it in the crown of the arms of Peru, alongside of the vicunia
and cornucopia, or horn-of-plenty. Men and women carried a cloth slung
across the shoulders in which were placed the leaves, as they gathered
them one by one. These leaves, spread out on large awnings, were
exposed to the sun for two or three days, then packed up in bags of
about one metre in size, and sent off to all parts of the territory.
"This gathering of the Coca is just such an occasion for rejoicing
for the natives of the valleys, as reaping-time and harvests are for
our peasants. On the day when the gathering of the leaves is finished
both sexes that have taken part in the work assemble and celebrate, in
dances and libations, the pleasure they experience in having finished
their labors."
In 1851, the annual production of Bolivia was estimated to be more
than 400,000 certos (600,000 kilogrammes) of Coca leaves, of which
three-quarters came from the province of Yungas.
[Illustration:
38 days after planting. 40 days. 51 days.
65 days. 68 days. 71 days.
Observation of Growing Seeds in Hot-houses of M. Mariani.]
[Illustration: ERYTHROXYLON COCA.
(Specimen of a branch grown in hot-houses of Mr. Mariani.)]
[Illustration: COCA PLANT Obtained by transplanting; eight months.
(Hot-houses of Mariani.)]
[Illustration: COCA PLANT Obtained from seed; eight months.
(Hot-houses of Mariani.)]
[Illustration]