Coca, the dried leaf of the shrub erythroxylon coca, or, as in Prescott's "Conquest of Peru," "erythroxylum Peruvianum, or cuca, as called by the natives." This plant is found wild in the mountainous regions of Peru and Bolivia, and is cultivated in districts elevated from 2,000 to 5,000 ft. above the sea. It is valued for its stimulating narcotic properties, which it is said to possess in a greater degree than opium, tobacco, or any other vegetable production. The leaves are gathered and dried in the sun, and are chewed mixed with quicklime, which the Peruvians affirm renders its flavor sensible to the taste. As described by Poppig (Peise in Chile, Peru, etc, vol. ii., 1835), the practice of chewing the leaf is attended with the most pernicious consequences, producing an intoxication like that of opium. As the indulgence is repeated, the appetite for it increases, and the power of resistance diminishes, until at last death relieves the miserable victim. He describes the aroma exhaled from heaps of freshly dried leaves as so powerful in its effects, that persons unused to its properties suffer from severe headaches if they fall asleep near them.

Prescott speaks of the coca as an article of so invigorating a nature that "with a small supply of it in his pouch, and a handful of roasted maize, the Peruvian Indian of our time performs his wearisome journeys, day after day, without fatigue, or at least without complaint." Under the incas it is said to have been exclusively reserved for the noble orders. The statement of Mr. Whittall, R. N., made public by Dr. Thomson, in his "Cyclopaedia of Chemistry," confirms the account of its giving wonderful powers of endurance, the Indians under its influence working 20 and 30 hours together without sleep. They travel on foot from La Paz to Sucre, 70 leagues, in three days, consuming little food, but chewing constantly the coca, carrying it in a small bag over their shoulder, together with a bottle of quicklime. The miners of this country, mostly Indians, are furnished with provisions by their employers, everything, excepting coca, in limited quantity; of this they are supplied with all they want. Some consume of it a pound a week, worth 6 reals (75 cents), or, if cultivated by the proprietors, about 4 reals. Its infusion has been used as a substitute for tea, enough for half a dozen people being made with four or five leaves.

These are first treated before steeping with a little hot water, to draw off the acidity.