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The Role of Coca in the History, Religion, and Medicine of South American Indians Author(s): Richard T. Martin Source: Economic Botany, Vol. 24, No. 4 (Oct. - Dec., 1970), pp. 422-438 Published by: Springer on behalf of New York Botanical Garden Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4253177 . Accessed: 08/02/2011 11:46

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http://www.jstor.org The Role of Coca in the History, Religion, and Medicine of South American Indians

RICHARD T. MARTIN'

Of all the which modern science thickenings in the epidermal cells resulting has adopted from the materia medica of from the manner of unfolding of the . South American Indians, the coca shrub, At the base of the petiole there are charac- Lamarck of the Ery- teristic ovate intrapetiolar stipules. The throxylaceae, is perhaps the most famous. creamy white flowers are about one centi- Coca have been widely used in South meter long with five sepals and five . America as a masticatory and medicine for Each has a distinctive clawed append- over two thousand years. The is ex- age on its inner surface; in the intact flower tensively cultivated in eastern and these unite to form a crown. The 10 slender between 1,500 and 6,000 meters in are basally united into a short mem- the warm, moist valleys of the montania.On branaceouscupule with short denticulations a smallerscale, the plant has been cultivated outside and between the filaments at the also in northern Chile, , southern rim. The pistil possesses a three-locularsu- and the Sierra Nevada de Santa perior ovary with a single ovule suspended Marta, and throughout the , from each locule. The plant is heterostylous, as well as in many countries in the Old i.e. the three yellowish green styles may be World. Although no examples of truly wild either shorter or longer than the stamens. coca are known, the presence of several In the ripening of the fruit, two of the similar wild species in the montanfaregion ovules abort, and the locules are obliterated. of Peru and Bolivia suggest this as the prob- The fruit is an ovate red drupe with one able area of origin of the cultivated species. seed. Many distinct varieties of coca are found The remarkablephysiological activity of under cultivation, several frequently occur- coca is due primarily to its : to ring in the same plantation. Botanists often date, some 14 alkaloids have been isolated regardedcertain of these varieties as distinct from varieties of the coca plant. The alka- species i.e. E. novogranatense (Morris) loids belong to the series, together Hieronymus, E. truxillense Rusby, and E. with and from the bolivianum Burck. Since, however, the Solanaceous genera Datura, Hyoscyamus, plant shows great plasticity under different Atropa, etc. The coca alkaloids are a mix- ecological conditions and virtually nothing ture of , tropeines and hygrines. is known of the genetics of the plant, it The derivatives include seems best to regard these as cultivated (methyl benzoyl ecgonine), methyl ecgonine varieties rather than distinct species, until and cinnamyl cocaine; the tropeines include cytological research and hybridization ex- tropeine and pseudotropine, dihydroxy- periments can determine the significance of peine, tropacocaineand benzoyl tropane;the the variation. hygrines include , hygroline and The coca plant is a shrubof approximately . The stereoisomersa- and P- truxillinehave also been isolated from coca one meter in height with a numberof striking leaves, and has been reported. botanical characteristics. The leaves have The isolation of cocaine from coca leaves very distinctive longitudinal areolate lines by Niemann of Gbttingen in 1860 and the curving toward the midrib which are merely discovery of its application in local anaes- 1 thesia by Dr. Carl Koller in 1884 constituted BotanicalMuseum of HarvardUniversity, majoradvances in the science of pharmacol- Cambridge,Massachusetts. Submitted for pub- licationJune 11, 1970. A paperread before the ogy, and gave the coca plant and its deriva- XI InternationalBotanical Congress, Seattle, tives an importantplace in the development Washington,August 1969. of modern medicine. However, the dis- 422 MARTIN: COCA 423

FIG. Koreguajeboy with coca shrub. (Upper RNCaq etiColombia.byR.E4Photograph

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FIG. 1. Koreguaje boy with coca shrub. ( Upper Rio Caqueta, Colombia. Photograph by R. E. Schultes. covery of cocaine had another less bene- perimentation with and use of coca leaves ficial effect on the reputation of the coca by doctors; only specialized uses of cocaine plant; for the occasional abuse of this alka- in anaesthesia were regarded as acceptable. loid, particularly among persons already Even more serious, however, is the fact that addicted to opiates, which was sensation- confusion about the effects of crude coca alized by the press both in Europe and the leaves and those of cocaine has caused many United States at the end of the 19th Cen- people to regard the chewing of coca leaves tury, created the erroneous fear that coca as practiced by the Indians of South Amer- equalled in its perniciousnessand its ica as merely an addictive vice, with the deleterious effect on physical and mental lamentable result that coca is now being health. In the space of 20 or 30 years, coca suppressed even in areas where the Indians went from high praise by kings, popes, art- have relied on its stimulating and medicinal ists and doctors as the most beneficial stim- propertiesfor thousandsof years, and where ulant tonic known to man to vigorous con- it has formed a significant part of their demnationas a dangerousaddictive . religious and cultural heritage. The effect of this prejudice and the sub- My purpose here is to review briefly the sequent legal ban on coca leaves in Eu- importance of coca leaves in the lives of rope and the United States was to halt ex- South AmericanIndians with particularem- 424 ECONOMICBOTANY _ - E ._ _

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_Jwr ill i 1112 fl _ | .w | | s l 'S t;" i l | l 4. _ t l l S - S | l l l | _ *i'?, l 1|l l il FIG. 2. Fruits and buds of Efythrorylumcoca Lam. (Photographby T. Plowman.) phasis on its role in indigenous medicine its narcotic effects; the mild mental excita- and religion. Only appreciating the use of tion which follows the mastication of the coca from the point of view of the Indians' leaves enabled him to enter more easily into culturalheritage, their beliefs, and the neces- a trance state in which he could communi- sities of their daily lives can give a proper cate with the spiritual forces of nature and perspective on the meaning of coca to these summon them to his aid. The Indians' people. In examiningthe literatureon coca, spiritual practices of fasting, meditation, one notices the fact that those authors-sci- incantations and dancing appear to be in entists and laymen alike-who have spent every way analagous to similar shamanistic time living, working and making friends and religious practices found in the Old with the Indians have been the most ready World. to emphasize coca's beneficial effects and This power of coca to enhance the effec- lack of serious deleterious effects, which in tiveness of meditation and incantations and many cases they corroboratedby personal to produce trance states is responsible more experiences with the ; on the other than any other factor for its reputation as a hand, the most derogatory and condemning divine plant. The religious importance of reportshave come from travellerslike Poep- coca is seen even in the earliest evidences pig, who admitted his distaste for Indian for its use. Mochican pottery from the Clas- customs, or from officials and doctors who sic Epoch of the northern coast of Peru have had little if any experience with In- (around 500 AD) contains numerous exam- dian life. ples of painted scenes of coca chewers and Perhaps the most ancient use of coca in molded vessels showing the characteristic distended cheeks of coca chewers which in- South America is its employment in various dicates that coca was used by persons of shamanistic practices and religious rituals. high rank, probably priests. The Incas re- As is the case with , the Indian garded coca as the most sacred of plants, as medicine man valued coca specifically for a "living manifestation of divinity, and the MARTIN: COCA 425

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FIG. 3. Nasca jar depicting wounded warrior with an acullico in the left side of the mouth. (From Yacovleff and Herrera,"El Mundo Vegetal de los Antiguos Peruanos,"p. 298). place of its growth a sanctuary where all Empire, the use of coca was restricted mortals should bend the knee."2 Garcilasso largely to the nobility and priests; a gift of Inca de la Vega, an early chronicler of coca was considered one of the highest mixed Spanish and Incan ancestry, recounts marks of imperial favor. At the huaraca, or the legend that the children of the Sun pre- initiation ceremony for young Inca nobles, sented the Incas with the coca leaf to satisfy the young men competed in foot races, the hungry, provide t-heweary and fainting while young maidens stood along the course with new vigour and to cause the unhappy offering coca and and crying, "come to forget their miseries. Under the Inca quickly youths, for we are waiting."3 At the

2 Unanue, 1794. 3Mortimer, p. 70. 426 ECONOMIC BOTANY end, each youth was invested with a huaraca Indian will throw his quid of coca against or sling and the chuspa filled with coca the rocks. Coca is also periodically offered leaves to symbolize his new manhood. Coca to the earth mother to ensure good crops or was also presented to the nobles of newly before inserting the corner stones of a new conquered tribes when they were assimi- house, and a young man frequently takes lated into the empire. All of the records, offerings of coca to a girl's parents to ob- traditions and history of the tain their consent for marriage. In graves were handed down by court orators or where are found, there is always yaravecs, individuals with phenomenal a supply of coca in chuspas, and frequently memorieswho related the history of the race a quid has been placed in the mouth of the in detail at royal councils, aided only by a deceased to give him strength on his jour- system of knotted strings, the . The ney. Poeppig relates a common Indian be- yaravecs were permitted the use of coca to lief that, if a dying man can appreciate the strengthen their capacity for recollection; taste of coca leaves pressed to his lips, his this tradition stands in contrast to some soul will enter paradise. modern authorswho have claimed that coca Coca was equally importantin the spiri- retards the memory and dulls the intelli- tual life and religious rituals of many other gence. Special sacrificesof coca were made groups of Indians, particularly among the at Incan ceremonies at the Temple of the Chibcha of Colombia and the Aymara of Sun in Cuzco, and it was considered essen- Bolivia. Among the Chibcha, coca was used tial that supplicants should approach the by the priests (cheque) for divining. After alter only when they had coca in their 12 years of training, a cheque's ears and mouths. As the most importantvegetal of- nose were pierced and he was invested by fering, coca was sacrificed at virtually all the ruler with a pointed mantle and a cala- religious festivals, the leaves being thrown bash container for his coca. Among the to the four cardinalpoints or burnt upon the Aymara, coca is chewed at all ceremonial altars. Coca was also frequently used for occasions such as marriages and wakes. purposesof divination;the Incas believed in When a new headman of an ayllu or district consulting supernatural powers before un- is introduced by his predecessor, he takes dertaking any importantaction. Frequently a drink and a pinch of coca with every diviners would chew coca leaves and spit household head. The chief method of div- the juice into their palms with the two long- ination among the Aymara is through the est fingers extended: if the juice ran down medium of coca. Coca divination is prac- both fingers equally the augury was good; ticed not only by diviners (yatiri)but also if unequally, it was bad. Other diviners by black magicians (laiqa), white magicians would burn coca leaves with llama fat and (paq) and healers (qolasiri). watch the way in which they burned. The most accurate and complete account Following the destruction of the Inca of the religious uses of coca among modern empire by the Spaniards, the use of coca Indians is Reichel-Dolmatoff'sreport on the became much more general among the significance of coca among the Kogi, a masses; nonetheless, it retained its place as group of Indians of the Sierra Nevada de the divine plant and has been used by the Santa Martawhich has been sufficientlyiso- Quechua Indians in all offerings and reli- lated to retain many tribaltraditions. Among gious rites up to the present time. When a the Kogi the use of coca is restrictedto the pack train is ready to depart, the Indians males. After the evening meal, the men throw coca in the air to propitiate the gods either retire to meditate and chew coca or of the mountain and ensure a safe trip. they go to the ceremonial house to chew Piles of sacred stones, originallydedicated to coca and spend the night dancing, chanting, and having ceremonial conversations with Apachic or Pachacamac, now with rude "Los Antiguos." Reichel-Dolmatoff's ac- crosses placed on them by missionaries,are count gives a clear description of their mo- scattered along the paths in dangerous tives for chewing coca: "Upon the effect of mountain passes; as an offering and to ask the coca, the Kogi emphasizes in the first for continued strength and endurance, the place that its consumptionbrings a certain MARTIN: COCA 427

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FIG.4. Mochevase showingconsumer of coca holdinga calabashin one handand a smallstick for extractingthe lime in the other. Note the chuspafor carryingcoca leaves hangingon the left side. (From Yacovleffand Herrera"El MundoVegetal de los AntiguosPeruanos," p. 298.) mental clarity which one ought to take ad- longed by the gradualconsumption of larger vantage of for ceremonial gatherings and and larger quantities. The individual turns any religious act in general, being conver- into an animated speaker, and says that he sations, personal rites, or group rites. Evi- feels an agreeable sensation of tingling over dently the coca causes a euphoric state all the body and that his memory is con- which lasts for a long period and is pro- siderably refreshed which permits him to 428 ECONOMIC BOTANY speak, sing, and recite during the following ground or two kilometers going uphill. hours. In the second place the Kogi say Lloyd, in his study on the use of coca by that coca appeases hunger. According to the Momberos of Colombia, describes the them, however, this never is the object of incredible endurance of Indian porters near consuming coca but only an agreeable con- Popayan: "Aftereating a simple breakfastof sequence, seeing that during the ceremonies ground corn porridge they would start with or ceremonial conversations the consump- their heavy packs, weighing from seventy- tion of food is prohibited and the assistants five to more than one hundred pounds, ought to fast. Another effect which is at- strapped to their backs. All day long they tributed to the coca is insomnia. Here again travelled at a rapid gait, over steep moun- the Kogi see an advantage since the cere- tain spurs and across mucky swamps, at an monial conversationsshould be carriedon at altitude that, to us, without any load what- night and individuals who can speak and ever, was most exhausting. On these trips sing for one or several nights without sleep, the Indians neither rested anywhere,nor ate merit high prestige. The Kogi ideal would at noon, but incessantly sucked their wads be to never eat anything beside coca, to of coca throughout the entire day. These abstain totally from sex, to never sleep, and Indians we found very pleasant, always to speak all of his life of the "Ancients,"that cheerful, happy, and good natured, in spite is to say, to sing, to dance and to recite."4 of the fact that their daily toil subjected The utilization of coca leaves by Indian them to the severest of hardships and the laborers and travellers to reduce muscular most frugal fare."5 An even more impres- exhaustion and alleviate hunger and thirst sive account of endurancesustained by coca has been widely reported by various au- is given by von Tschudi: "A Cholo of Huari, thors, and is perhaps the most widely known named Hatun Huamang, was employed by of the uses of coca. The Incas recognized me in very laborious digging. During the coca's power to increase endurance,and the whole time he was in my service, viz. five chasquis or relay messengers and the days and nights, he never tasted any food, soldiers were enabled to endure incred- and took only two hours sleep nightly. But ibly long marches at high speed by at intervalsof two and a half or three hours, chewing coca. The Spaniardswere likewise he regularly masticated about one half an quick to recognize this capacity of the drug ounce of coca leaves, and he kept an acul- since it enabled the Indians to performmore lico continually in his mouth. I was con- work with less food; unfortunately,the mine stantly beside him, and therefore I had the and plantationowners too frequentlyabused opportunity of closely observing him. The this propertyof coca and forced the Indians work for which I engaged him being fin- to work unbelievably long hours-up to ished, he accompanied me on a two days forty-eight hours at a time-without ade- journey of twenty-three leagues across the quate nourishmentor rest. The Indians of level heights. Though on foot he kept up the Peruvian Sierra are famous for their with the pace of my mule, and halted only ability to travel rapidly along mountain for the chaccar. On leaving me, he declared paths with heavy burdens, sustained only that he would willingly engage himself for by an occasional acullico or chew of coca. the same amount of work, and that he The Sierra Indians are even accustomed to would go through it without food if I would measuring the length of a journey by the but allow him a sufficient supply of coca. hours that one chew of coca will sustain The village priest assured me that this man them in their journey-a period of time was sixty-two years of age, and that he had called the cocada. The cocada is more a never known him to be ill in his life."6 measurementof time than distance; the first Coca is equally importantin the daily rou- influence of the leaves is felt within ten tine of the Indian farmer. The work day of minutes, and the effect lasts about 45 min- a Quechua Indian during plowing time be- utes in all, during which time the Indian gins at dawn, when he meets the members will cover about three kilometers on level 5Lloyd, A treatise on Coca, pp. 12-13. 4Reichel-Dolmatoff, I. pp. 77-78. 6 Von Tschudi, p. 453. MARTIN: COCA 429

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FIG. 5. Kubeo woman preparing powdered coca. (Ri'oKuduyaril, Vaup6s Colombia. Photo- graph by R. E. Schultes.) of his work party, and they sit together on reaches into his chuspa, or woven sack for the ground chewing coca supplied by the carrying coca, and, with great deliberation owner of the plot. Work commences soon and evident satisfaction, he withdraws the after, but is interrupted after an hour for leaves one by one, sometimes removing the another coca chew. At noon, another break midrib, and places the leaves in his mouth, is taken for a brief lunch of chunio,potatoes, chewing and turning them until they form and sometimes cheese, followed by more a ball or quid (the acullico), which is held coca. After working until two o'clock, the between the cheek and the gums. party stops for another chew of coca; the He then inserts a small moistened stick or work day ends at five o'clock, when the needle into a small tin container or more membersof the party return home. In argu- frequently a calabash gourd (known as an ing against the suppression of coca in Co- ishcupuru in Peru and a poporo in Colom- lombia, Henri Lehmann emphasizes the im- bia), which contains an alkaline mixture, portance of coca to the Indian farmers, variously known as llipta, tocra, or mambe. particularlysince their fields frequently lie This alkaline substance varies according to far from their homes, and the Indians eat regional availability of materials; it may be usually only at dawn and at the end of the composed of quicklime, powdered calcare- work day. ous shells or ashes obtained by burning the The process of masticating coca, termed stalks of the plant (Chenopodium chaccar or acullicar in Peru and Bolivia, is quinoa L.), the barks of various trees, a essentially the same now as it was in the woody cactus, or even Musa root-the ashes time of the Incas. The Indian who is pre- being made into a paste for use. This alka- paring to acullicar first relieves himself of line mixture is then carefully introduced his burden and makes himself as comfort- into the quid of coca leaves, care being able as circumstances permit. He then taken not to cauterize the lips and mouth 430 ECONOMIC BOTANY OfiheCoca.

tMuw erotr to fiettatterbe fo 01batebort 3nlunoans,emnri I t7 restopafbtbt !tbecall tbt co,- lZicbtbep anbtiltlitb nucbe Ze}d D>U>ms are,antb ittgenteberadr,etoo be itbaotteir pitafuret,slbbicbvill (Ppeak Of. tbe Cocato alllerboftbe tbe biugbtafa ari,litle moxeo;lIs, Tbcdeferip. it Cariwtbteaias Itke to ArrdibhA# * x,oftIe fndbWatgratar,snl in tbatLeat etere ts marktban o Ceca tter learf oftbt like foame,IuttbA lin brv tbin: tbep are (oft., .fcs,lur a IigUtbr&ne,tbsvcarv tJe f(be in tlufttrs, qitcommetl~tobtoter 3ei Iz tisripe, astbe(eb ot Arrus. bh44bbtn it is ripe.1fb itiSOtbe aine greitnes, bWb*e bearsisfea(ons9tjat itisto be gathffr t,ts knoltn in trtRetbes at itia ripe ubteniti offoms reaun like to a blaktiffu.colour,anbtbIjbearbe bing gattertb, it put two Catnsanbotbertngt0at1Xtev ma? .oj that toepuaa b kepteaun calcto tber parft o ttbattes carie tbbm fm t0$00 UMttM,te atotr #lu, asmarcb&ibS to (Figure 6-part 1) FIG. 6. Early description of the medicinal uses of coca in Monardes' "Joyfull Newes out of the Newe Founde Worlde." (Fol. 102-103, London, 1596.) and apparentlyfacilitates the release of the Colombia. Long slender tubes of the rolled desired active principles. The leaves are and partly dried leaves of Ischnosiphonare kept in the mouth with the lime, while the tamped half full with small lumps of the juice trickles into the stomach: in other whitish resin of Protium heptaphyllum words, the leaves are never actually chewed. March. An Indian then lights the tube and The average coquero will consume between inserts the burning end into the still glow- one and two ounces of coca daily in this ing pile of ashes; by blowing manner. vigorously on the tube, he causes the bal- The only significant divergence from this samic incense to permeatethe ashes, impart- method of mastication is found among the ing a very strong flavor to the ash, which is tribes of the Amazon Basin. In this region, then mixed with the pulverized coca. the coca leaves, known as ipadu in Brazil, Perhaps the most controversialaspect of are roasted on the mandiocca oven and the use of coca leaves is the question of its afterwardsground into a fine green powder effect on the health of the Indians. The In- in a large cylindricalwooden mortar. Often, dians almost universally regard coca as a a small quantity of tapioca is added to give food, from which they derive actual sus- it consistency, and the finely sifted ashes of tenance. On the other hand, many modem the imbauibaor yarumotree (variousspecies observers have assumed that coca acts of Cecropia and Pourouma) are thoroughly merely to anaesthetize the sensory feeling mixed with the green powder. An unusual of hunger without aiding nutrition in any modificationof this procedurewas observed way, and some have condemned coca as by Schultes among the Tanimuka of the actually producing malnutritionamong the Igarape Peritome on the Rlo Apaporis in Indians. However, the Indians rarely use MARTIN: COCA 431

arebrougfht%from theWeft Indias. F0o1102 to be(oleAtberbarter anti cbanup tlem to; 0auttellanBti cattel,anobdtt,an,otbertbins1imbicrunne like mani ainongtb,tbeU pIqnt tbe feeae in Amciga, anbfromtbat tbevtake tbnm bp antfet tlem in otber places, into eartb tbatio lnttabouretoi .tillet, antimiate consntentto (et tbeminbvtteir linesaut oqwr,ao lD tiO ftt btreitOabena of)J5eanes,olofqpea(ow. be breofltamucgft tbt3 noiansi0 atoinsenerll, Thbtro fal mnytfbingo,fo; tbbtnttepMuell bpte WcaIj;nt,f1ZsX anatbro:teir content bAen toep are in tleir beu(es,tb)evI* it intbis fb;me. ibe ta1ke4Tottles o. Zplterointbe; belle,anriburietbem anti grtntse tOetnant aftertbay are burIe6tbeg remaiue like Ltnte,berp (mall grounbe : ten tbe2takethe Leaues of tie (cka,anti cbehue tbtm inttblc; Voutoea,antgo tjepcsbeIDeit,tbevmingl;UttbIit (on, od tbepo"utermatieoftbetbellesn(ucb(o$c., t$ttbevmake itlrke to a P411e, taking leffe af tte Poutertben of ti bearbe,ano of this patteetiel make certe"ue (maltbatales rounse,anolap tbem to U;si, Wbbtoev Will tre toF tbel takealittle *4aUl intoeir moutg, anti Obebe it,robling it tromone place to anotjer,p;ocurfng to contereift all tbat tbepcan antitbatbeing tioae,tbetake anotber,ant f tbeg goe,lb(ngitat toe time tblatbep baut ne,e,Iubwb i bbeu tbtetrauellbftbetuaye, anti efpeciallp-MitbeebV 1saes fbtiertisno meate,no; plentie of tiater. jFoztbeb(e oftbefe title 5aIRe0taketbltoe bunger anttbirt front tbem: I tbte faetbat tbep receiue fubftance t1erbv,ao tbougl tlj' BTi atemeate.atotber ttmes tbepte tbem fo; tbetr plature, alttouabtbev labour not bpthe tIay, anttbe bt(cte (ams COcaalone,cbelingit t tUingit intbeir moutbz,fronmone tetoanotl,er,bntl tbere be no bertue rettaining init, ant ntbe'etak anotier. Wbentbepbsill matetbsm(elues tuunhe, anti be out ofitbpment)tls mingle,ittbtbe CoCA tbe leautsoftbe Tabaco, (Figure 6-part 2)

Thethyrde part ofthe thmn ;es that Tabaco,aniticbebetmltogetber, an gcsae* etre outoftbeir bittes, o; as ittb bertebw nke,In!ticbis a tbingtattiwtM glue them great catentment, to intat fobt.Anrelli to atting ofgreat contoeradonto fte botos Utirontbs 3notans are to be tep;iueuoftbtir biittis,ans tobee biitb*t tntraniing, (stingtbat tbe te tbustbs Cocab4ftb tbe Tabaeo,ant atto tlis enti,tbat tbep 1uoulb b! Ilitbontbn"bntilng,ant banetbeirbftts taknfoom tbtms lotsefa^ts in tb fcconwspartestmnbetreatet oftb raba. (Figure 6-part 3) 432 ECONOMIC BOTANY coca to the exclusion of other food, although mixed with salt and egg white was adminis- they may make use of the ability of coca to tered in small quantities to dry out and heal allay hunger when food is scarce or unavail- ulcers. The decoction of the seed, drunk able. This is apparentfrom Weddel's obser- with bee honey and yerba buena, is men- vations in northern Bolivia: "The Indians tioned as aiding the relaxationof the stom- who accompanied me in my voyages ach and alleviating vomiting. chewed, in effect, the coca during the en- The coca plant also finds many other uses tire day; but when evening arrived, they in alleviating the ills and discomfortsof the replenishedtheir stomachs like starved men, Indians. Coca has frequently been praised and I can assure that I have seen them often for its beneficial effect on respiration, an ingest in one meal, as much food as I would important consideration since Peru and consume in two days."7 The chemical anal- Bolivia possess some of the highest inhabited ysis of coca leaves has shown that they are areas of the globe. Dr. Carlos Monge, relatively rich in vitamins, particularlyvita- South America's leading expert on high min B1, and ; in fact, altitude biology, has noted the direct rela- chewing approximatelytwo ounces of coca tion between the frequency of the coca leaves daily (an average dose) will supply habit and the altitude and emphasizes the almost a daily vitamin requirement,an im- important effect that coca has on the portant point in view of the great scarcity physiology of people living at high altitudes. of fruits and vegetables in the sierra. The Indians also administer a coca to Even more importantthan these consider- bring quick relief from the alarming symp- ations, however, is the action of coca in en- toms of nausea, dizziness and severe head- hancing the assimilationof other foods, by ache in soroche, or mountainsickness, which increasing the flow of saliva and gastric occasionally results from the low oxygen secretions and giving strength to the mus- content of the air and the low atmospheric cles of the gastrointestinal tract. Von pressure. Tschudi8 comments that the food of the In- The Indians also consider coca to be ef- dians consists almost exclusively of vege- fective in preventing infirmitiesof the teeth table substances, especially roasted maize and gums. Cobo was among the early and barley converted by crushing, which chroniclersto draw attention to this appli- they consume without admixture of any cation of coca: "Its temperamentis hot and other substance. The continued use of this dry, with very good stypticity;when chewed farinaceousfood, he maintains,causes severe regularly,it removes from the teeth all cor- obstructionswhich the well known aperient ruption and decay, and makes them white, qualities of the coca counteract, and many firm, and strong. It happened to me, that serious diseases may thereby be prevented. calling one time on a barber to extract a Furthermore,throughout South America,an molar, since it pained me very much, the infusion of coca leaves is regarded as the barber said to me that it would be a pity to remedy par excellence for indigestion, stom- remove it, since it was good and healthy; ach ache and stomachcomplaints in general. and since there was present a religiousfriend Even Indians who do not regularly masti- of mine, he counseled me to chew coca for cate the leaves frequently possess a few some days. This I did, and with it the tooth- plants for this purpose alone. Cobo,9 who ache left and the tooth remained firm like listed the medicinal uses of coca by indige- the rest."10 nous doctors, mentions that the juice of coca Coca was also widely employed to relieve comforts the stomach and aids digestion, the pains of rheumatism,headache and ex- and that it removes all gas and pains in the ternal sores. Padre Blas Valera reports that side. The decoction of the leaf drunk regu- "Coca protects the body from many ail- larly is reportedto be valuable against laxity ments, and our doctors use it in powdered of the bowels, and the powder of the leaves form to reduce the swelling of wounds, to strengthenbroken bones, to expel cold from 7Weddel, p. 531. the body or prevent it from entering, and 8Von Tschudi, p. 453. 9 Cobo, pp. 476-477. 10 Cobo, p. 476. MARTIN: COCA 433 to cure rotten wounds or sores that are full Dolmatoff reports that this ef- of maggots.""1Ruiz, a botanist who did ex- fect is well known among the K6gi, but, tensive travelling in Peru and Bolivia, men- that after a long period of time, it appears tions that "the natives apply the concoction to have the opposite effect, since the men of this plant with salt in hot baths for oedem- frequently lose interest in women. How- atous and gouty swellings and for pains in ever, it is not clear whether this is due to the side; and to relieve the head they take actual physical impotency or to the fact hot infusions of this plant as an aperitive that the demands of their spirituallife have and diuretic remedy to banish gloomy and become more important than women. The melancholy choler, to clear the spleen, and Indians of the Sierraare, furthermore,noted to diminishobstructions."'2 Cobo also men- for their longevity, with ages of eighty, tions the use of powdered coca mixed with ninety, and one-hundred years being quite salt and egg white to consolidate and repair common; the Indians attribute their longev- fractures and disintegrationof bone and to ity and robust health to the use of coca relieve painful sores. Furthermore, he re- which enables them to resist disease and lates that the Indians say that the seed of prevent bodily decay. Von Tschudi men- coca, taken in vapor, checks all flow of tions that, in the sierra, Indians frequently blood from the nose, while the powder of live to well over one hundred years and the leaves, mixed in the proportion of two makes the following comment: "Setting parts powdered coca to one part sugar, is aside all extravagant and visionary notions employed to relieve and hoarseness on the subject, I am clearly of the opinion of the chest. Markham also relates that, that the moderate use of coca is not merely among Cinchona collectors in the forests of innoxious,but that it may even be very con- Bolivia, coca was more highly valued as a ducive to health. In support of this conclu- remedy for than the specific which sion, I may refer to the numerous examples they were engaged in collecting. of longevity among Indians, who, almost Sergio Quijadain his study on the impor- from the age of boyhood, have been in the tance of coca in Indian customs relates sev- habit of masticatingcoca three times a day, eral interesting medicinal uses of the plant. and who in the course of their lives have For irritation of the eyes, masticated coca consumed no less than 2,700 pounds; yet, is placed as a poultice on the eye during the nevertheless enjoy perfect health. I allude night; in the morningthe eye is washed with here to individuals (and such cases are by lukewarmwater of roses or chamomile. For no means singular) who have attained the sore throat, a gargle is made from an infu- great age of 130. Supposing these Indians sion of coca leaves mixed with a little salt, to have begun to masticate coca at ten while for headache two or three coca leaves years old, and calculate their daily con- are chewed and placed on the temples, sumption as a minimum of an ounce, the where they are held by a piece of white result is the consumption of 2,700 pounds flannel until the leaves have dried. weight in 120 years."14 I have personally Finally, coca is prized by the Indians as encountered such examples of longevity an aphrodisiac, a restorative of lost vigor, among coca users in the western Amazon; and a means of insuringlongevity. The fact on the Rio Napo in Peru, I met a Huitoto that the Incan Venus was represented as Indian, reportedly over 120 years of age, holding in her hand a leaf of coca has been who claimed that he had chewed coca since regarded by some authors as symbolic of he was three years old and had never been the reputed aphrodisiacvirtues of the plant. sick a day in his life. Dr. Unanue speaks of "certain coqueros, Because of the general skepticismof medi- eighty years of age and over, and yet capa- cal doctors today with regard to herbal ble of such prowess as young men in the remedies, it is doubtful that many modern prime of life would be proud of."'13 Reichel- doctors would be as convinced of the cura- tive properties of the coca leaf as are the 11 Garcilasso,p. 509. South American Indians. However, during 12 Ruiz, p. 198. 13 Unanue, 1794. 14 Von Tschudi, p. 452. 434 ECONOMIC BOTANY

FIG. 7. "Mama Coca Presenting the 'Divine Plant' to the Old World." An aquarelle by Robida. (Frontispiece to Mortimer'sHistory of Coca.) the latter part of the 19th Century, when and coca enjoyed wide popularity as the doctors in the United States and Europe basis for various -tonic prepara- were more familiar with herbal remedies, tions, as anyone familiar with the history of coca preparations were extensively used Coca- well knows. Coca was widely therapeutically for many diverse disorders, valued by physicians for its depurative MARTIN: COCA 435 properties in ridding the blood of waste for no other reason than it is abused, should products of metabolism, particularly uric be, in my estimation,classed with that horde acid. Coca preparations also were widely of fanatics who would interdict the use of employed to treat neurasthenia,nervousness, alcoholicson the ground of their abuse by a depression, rheumatism, cardiac irregulari- small minority of the population."'I6 ties and cardiac weakness, stomatitis,throat The reputation that coca use constitutes infections, asthma and numerous other dis- an addiction only slightly less pemicious orders, and many physicians reported very than that of opium has remained with the beneficial results in professional journals. coca leaf and has been the basis for many However, even in this period, a prejudice national and international controls being was beginning to form against coca because placed on its distribution and use. Even of rumorsof the "cocainehabit." Dr. Morti- use of the pure cocaine, however, mer of New York,who employed coca leaves will not produce the same physical addic- in his practice for nearly 30 years, lamented tion as opiates, characterized by the need the reluctance of his contemporariesto rec- to increase dosage periodically and by dras- ognize the value of coca in the following tic physical withdrawalsymptoms. And the terms: "That spirit of antagonism which distinctionbetween the employmentof coca seems rampant at the very suggestion of leaves in their crude form by the Indians of progress has caused its allies to rehabilitate South America and the usage of cocaine is and magnify the early errors and supersti- even greater. Coca leaves were employed tions whenever opportunity might admit, in South America for two thousand years together with those newer accessions of before the discovery of cocaine without pro- false premises engendered through shallow- ducing any marked toxic results. The oc- ness of investigation. Every department of casional reports of extreme overindulgence science has been subjected to similar in- in coca by some coqueros with resulting stances of annoyance, though it would ap- damage to their physical vigor and mental pear that medicine is particularlymore sub- health represent clearly exceptional cases, ject to such influence."'15The concluding and they are certainly not more prevalent remarksof Dr. Henry Schweig in his article than cases of alcoholism and nicotinism in "New Remedies" are very revealing as to our society. Although an Indian accustomed the nature of the origin of the prejudice to chewing coca will, out of preference, against coca: "The vagaries and wild delu- return to his habit whenever possible, the sions of writers (non-professional,of course) Indians of the sierra who are drafted for for the daily press have done much to poi- military service where coca chewing is not son the popular mind regarding coca, and permitted do not show any withdrawal this often proves a serious drawback to the symptomson leaving off the drug. Further- physician. The few cases in which'cocaine' more, there is no clinical disease which is has been abused have served as a basis for directly attributableto coca. Although many launching forth a wild and wholesale con- pathologicaldefects have been suggested as demnation of a valuable drug. Not one in- possibly attributable to coca chewing- stance has come to my knowledge in which hyponutrition,ocular disturbances,enlarged any preparation of coca, intelligently em- thyroid glands and lymph nodes, hepato- ployed, except the alkaloid, has produced megaly, glossitis, stomatitis, and various even the faintest toxic symptoms. As well degenerative stigmata-it remains to be discard morphia, chloral, indica, shown which of these conditions,if any, can and the bromides, for the reason that they be attributed solely to the detrimental ef- count the victims to their abuse by the thou- fects of chewing of the leaf, particularly sands every year. All potent medicinal because, in such cases, it is difficult if not agents are placed in our hands to be intel- impossible to separate the effects of coca ligently and temperately employed, not to chewing from those of malnutrition,- excess, and the medical man who would ism, lack of education and social exploita- hesitate to call to his aid a medicinal agent tion.

13 Mortimer, p. 10. 16 Schweig, Henry, "New Remedies," 1886. 436 ECONOMIC BOTANY

The easiest way to resolve the conflicting dried leaves from some favorite cocal, whose reports on the effects of coca use is to rec- produce is always most readily bought out, ognize the fact that, like any other potent and absolutely rejecting other leaves, not- medicinal agent, coca is beneficial when withstanding that the percentages of co- used appropriatelyand is detrimentalwhen caine may be almost identical."'17 used to excess. Linnaeus considered that a Although physicians may disagree as to medicine differed from a poison more in its the various effects of the coca leaf, the In- dose than in its nature, and this precept dian himself is too familiar with its effects seems applicable to the coca leaf. Another to be bothered by this confusion. Centuries source of confusion is the fact that the ef- of empiricalapplication of coca have taught fects of the coca leaf often have been pre- the Indian the proper uses of the leaf and sumed to be embodied in the alkaloid co- the appropriatedosage to be taken for the caine, albeit in a more potent form, with desired effects. Furthermore, since the the result that the majority of the physio- South American Indian in general does not logical research for the last 50 years has have access to well supplied pharmacies,he been performedsolely with cocaine and not must rely for the most part on his traditional with other preparationsof coca leaves. How- herbal remedies to preserve his health and ever, many physicianshave emphasizedthat treat his ills. For the Indian, coca leaves the effects of these two are not identical, provide the same benefits that aspirin, cof- and particularlythat the therapeutic quali- fee, tea, , sedatives, and numer- ties of coca are not represented completely ous other medicaments supply in our so- in the active principle cocaine. An impor- ciety. tant considerationin this regard is that ac- In conclusion,I will repeat that coca is an tive principles and particularly alkaloids integral part of the Indians' way of life, can exert quite different effects when ad- deeply involved with his traditions,his reli- ministered as they are naturally combined gion, his work and his medicine. To deny in the plant than when administeredsingly the use of coca to the Indians is as serious in pure form. Very little is known about a disregard for human rights as would be the physiological activity of the associate an attempt to outlaw beer in Germany,cof- alkaloids of the coca plant, and still less fee in the near east or betel chewing in In- about their effects in combination. The dia. The recent attempts to suppress and necessity of looking into the possible impor- control the use of coca can be interpreted tance of these other compounds is empha- only as the latest step in the white man's sized by the fact that an Indian will fre- attempt to exterminate the Indian way of quently reject the bitter coca leaves with life and make him completely dependent on the highest percentage of cocaine in favor the alien society and economy which has of the sweeter leaves which are richer in graduallysurrounded him. Henri Lehmann the more aromatic alkaloids. Dr. Henry has very accurately stated the severity of Rusby, a professor of materia medica sent the problem in the conclusion to his paper, to Bolivia by Parke, Davis and Co., was "The Suppression of the Sale of Coca in among the first to notice this subtle yet im- Colombia":"The prohibition of the sale of portant distinction: "It only remains for me coca is a step forward in the Indians' de- to point out that the relative amount of co- pendence, it is a step toward his complete caine contained in native coca leaves exerts enslavement. It is the duty of all the Indian no influence in determiningthe Indian's se- Institutes to interfere in the policy of their lection of his supply. As a matter of fact, administrationsto the end that such steps shall not be taken, before it is too late. the ordinaryconditions to which the leaves For several years now, the fight against the In- are subject during their first two or three dians has taken new forms. With the pre- months after they are gathered have but text of liberating the Indian, for example, little effect on their initial percentages of many communal lands were dissolved, cocaine. The Indian, however, makes his which has permitted the whites to buv up selection from among such leaves with the greatest care, eagerly seeking the properly 17 Mortimer, p. 183. MARTIN: COCA 437

Indian lands and evict the natives. The fight Hegenauer, R. Chemotaxonomie der pflanzen. against coca by means of such methods as IV, 84-89, Basel, Birkhauser Verlag. we have here described, has turned upon 1966. the very people it is trying to safeguard."18 Henry, Thomas Anderson. The plant alkaloids. Philadelphia, Blakiston Co. 1949. Holmes, H. L. The chemistry of the tropane Literature Cited alkaloids. IV. Cocaine. Acosta, Jose de. Historia natural y moral de las Holmstedt, B. Coca and cocaine. Manuscript. Indias. Madrid, Ramon Angles. 1894. Lehmann, Henry. Suppression of the sale of (Original: Seville. 1588). coca in Colombia. Boletin Indigenista, Avila, P. Francisco de. Origen y costumbres de IX, 26-31, . 1949. los antiguos Huaruchiri. Anales del In- Leon, Luis A. Historia y extincion del cocaismo stituto de Ethnologia Americana, VII, en el Ecuador. America Indlgena, XII, 225-260. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. 7-32, Mexico. 1952. 1946. Lewin, Louis. Phantastica: narcotic and stimu- Cieza de Leon. The Incas of Pedro de Cieza de lating . New York, E. P. Dutton. Leon. (trans. Harriet de Onis, edit. von 1964. Hagen), University of Oklahoma Press. Lloyd, J. T. A treatise on coca. Drug Treatise 1959. XXVII. Cincinatti, Lloyd Brothers. 1913. Cobo, El P. Barnabe6.Historia del Nuevo Mundo. Manske & Holmes, The alkaloids. 204-307, I and IV, Sevilla, Imp. de E. Rasco, New York, Academic Press. 1950. Bustos Tavera. 1890. Markham,Clements R. A history of Peru. Chi- De Candolle, Alphonse. Origin of cultivated cago, Charles Sergel and Co. 1892. plants. New York, Hafner. 1959. . Travels in Peru and India. London, Duque Gomez, Luis. Notas sobre el cocaismo John Murray. 1862. en Colombia. Boletin de Arqueologia, I, Mariani, Angelo. Coca and its therapeutic ap- 445-451. Bogota. 1945. plication. New York, J. N. Jaros. 1890. Ernst, Adolph. Del uso de la coca en los paises Monardes, Nicholas. Joyfull newes out of the septentrionalesde la America Meridional. newe founde worlde. ( trans. John Acta Venezolana I, no. 3. Caracas. 1946. Frampton, edit. Whibley), New York, Espinosa Brave, C. A. Informe de la comision Alfred A. Knopf. 1925. (Original edi- de estudio de las hojas de la coca. tion: London, E. Allde. 1596). America Indigena XI, 371-172. Mexico. Monge Medrano, Carlos. La necesidad de es- 1951. tudiar el problema de la masticacion de Fuentes, Manuel A. Memoire sur la coca du las hojas de la coca. Peru Indlgena, III, Perou. Paris, Laine et Havard. 1866. 131-135, Lima. 1952. Mortimer, W. Golden History of Coca, New Garcilaso de la Vega. Royal commentaries of York, J. H. Vail & Co., 1901. the Incas and general history of Peru, I and II, (trans. Livermore). Austin, Uni- Occhio, Elsa dell'. La coca, el cocaismo y los versity of Texas Press. 1966. problemas de la hora presente. Runa II, 191-197, Buenos Aires. 1949. de. Noticia sobre la Garganta Fabrega, Miguel Victor Manuel. Plantas cultivadas y ani- coca en el Occidente Re- Patifio, Colombiano. males domesticos en America Equinoc- vista de Historia, I, 215-232. Pasto. 1942. cial. I-III, Cali, Imp. Departmental, 1963. Goodman, Louis & Gilman, Alfred. The phar- Poeppig, Eduard von. Reise in Chile, Peru und New macological basis of therapeutics. auf den Amazonen Strohme wahrend der York, Macmillan. 1960. Jahre 1829-32. Liepzig. 1839. Gutierrez-Noriega,Carlos. El habito de la coca Puga I., Mario A. El indio y la coca. Cuadernos en el Peru. American Indigena, XII, Americanos, X, 39-51, Mexico. 1951. 111-120, Mexico. 1952. Quijada Jara, Sergio. La coca en las costumbres Gutierrez-Noreiga,Carlos & V. W. von Hagen. indlgenas. Huancayo, Peru. 1950. Coca-the mainstay of an arduous life Reichel-Dolmatoff, Gerardo. Los Kogi: un in the . Economic Botany, V, 145- tribu de la Sierra Nevada de Santa 152. 1951. Marta. Colombia, I and II, Bogota. Koch-Grunberg.Zwei Jahre unter der Indianern, 1949, 1951. - Graz, Austria, Akademische Druck u. . Report of the commission of enquiry Verlagsanstaff. 1967. on the coca leaf. U.N. Economic and Social Council, Lake Success, New York. 18 Lehmann, p. 31. 1950. 438 ECONOMIC BOTANY

Ricketts,Carlos. El cocaismo en el Peru. America American Indians I-VI. Washington, Indigena, XII, 309-322, Mexico. 1952. U.S. GovernmentPrinting Office. 1947- . La masticacion de las hojas de coca en 1950. el Peru. America Indlgena, XIV, 113- Towle, Margaret A. The ethnobotany of pre- 126, Mexico. 1954. Colombian Peru. New York, Wenner- Ruiz, Hipolito. Travels of Ruiz, Pavon, and Gren Foundation. 1961. Dombey in Peru and Chile (1777-1788). Tschudi, Johann Jacob von. Travels in Peru (trans. Dahlgren), Botanical Series, Field during the years 1838-1842. ( trans. Museum of Natural History, Chicago. Ross). London, David Bogue. 1847. 1940. Unanue, Hipolito. Disertacion sobre el aspecto, Safford, W. E. Narcotic plants and stimulants cultivo, commercio, y virtudes de la of the ancient Americans. Annual Re- famosa planta del Peru nombrada coca. port of the Smithsonian Institution. Mercurio Peruano XI, 205-250, Lima. 1916; Washington. 1917. 1794. Schultes, R. E. A new method of coca prepara- Uscategul M., N. The present distribution of tion in the ColombianAmazon. Botanical and stimulants amongst the Museum Leaflets, Harvard University, Indian tribes of Colombia. Botanical 17, 241-146, Cambridge. 1957. Museum Leaflets, 18, 273-304, Cam- Schulz, 0. E. Erythroxylaceae. Das Pflanzen- bridge. 1959. reich IV, 134, Weinheim, H. R. Engel- Weddel, H. A. Voyage dans le nord de la Bo- mann. 1959. livie. Paris. 1853. Schweig, Dr. Henry. New remedies. New York Whiffen, Thomas. The north-west Amazons. Medical Monthly, October, 1886. New York, Duttfiel. 1915. Spruce, Richard. Notes of a botanist on the Yacovleff, E. & Herrera, F. L. El mundo vege- Amazon and Andes. London, Macmillan tal de los antiguos Peruanos. Revista and Co. 1908. del Museo Nacional, III no. 3, 296-298, Steward, Julian H. (editor). Handbook of South Lima. 1934.

Notice Staff of this Branch and State Agricultural Experiment Station cooperators in the Federal-State "New Plants" Project have noted with satisfaction the marked upward trend in the documentary use of Plant Introduction (PI) numbers in research publica- tions. Because PI numbers have usually been transcribed numerous times before appearing in a journal article, errors are not uncommon. To encourage the continued use of PI numbers and to enhance their reliability in providing access to documentary data, we will be glad to check their accuracy prior to publication. In most cases we will need only the PI number and the scientific name of the plant identified with that number. This information should be sent to: Mr. Howard L. Hyland New Crops Research Branch Plant Industry Station Beltsville, Maryland 20705