“1. The Indian has naturally a voracious appetite whenever he is brought into contact with any one generous enough to feed him. “2. A great many Spaniards, who could not support the labour of the mines and the inclemency of the Cordillera, having taken to the regular use of Coca, have forthwith acquired the Herculean force of the Indians. “3. When the natives give up the use of Coca, and change their ordinary food system, they lose that ancient vigour and power which enabled them to resist fatigue and the inclemency of the weather. “4. Notwithstanding the rigorous prevention of the use of Coca in Tucuman, the habit of chewing the leaf is clandestinely practised, because it is alone found to give to the muleteers the power of resisting the rigours of the icy plateaux of Lipes, and of prolonged night watches to prevent the mules they are transporting to Peru from straying. “5. During the prolonged siege which the rebel Indians carried on in 1781 against the town of La Paz in Bolivia, the inhabitants had no other food left than leather, unclean animals, &c., and having to watch at night in the trenches during a rigorous winter to repulse the attacks of the Indians, a great many took to the use of Coca, as the only means of averting this horrible famine. “Passing now to the beneficial effects of Coca on the sick and invalid, facts which, Senor Fuentes asserts, experience has confirmed; it is said to strengthen the gums and preserve the teeth. Taken in the form of an infusion, like tea, it excites perspiration and soothes those who suffer from asthma. Taken either in infusion or chewed, it assists the functions of the stomach, removes obstructions, and cures gripes or colic. Applied externally in friction or plasters, it allays rheumatic pains caused by the cold. “Our author further asserts that it cures intermittent fevers in the dose of a teaspoonful of sulphate of cocaine(?), and is a protection against syphilis. This last allegation is probable, seeing that an Indian is rarely met with afflicted with venereal diseases, so common among whites and negroes.” In Western Brazil a preparation of the Coca leaf in powder is known as Ypadú or Ipadú. Martius says[19] “the powder of the dried leaves is notable from its wonderful effect on the nervous system, especially on the brain, as has been lately observed, and it should be received into the treasures of materia medica.” [Footnote 19: “Systema Materia Medica Vegetabilis Braziliensis,” by C. F. P. de Martius. Leipsic: 1843.] By R. Spruce,[20] Ipadú is described as he saw it used on the banks of the Rio Negro, an affluent of the Amazon; the powdered roasted(?) Coca leaves are mixed with a little tapioca and the ashes of Imbaúba (_Cecropia peltata_, &c.). He says:—“With a chew of Ipadú in his cheek an Indian will go two or three days” without food, and without “having any feeling or desire to sleep.”