Burck attributes the plant cultivated in British India to a new species—_Erythroxylon Bolivianum_, Burck—and that cultivated in Java to a distinct variety, _E. Coca_, var. _Spruceanum_. The Cocas from these sources, as well as from Ceylon, have not proved satisfactory in their yield of cocaine. According to Hesse, the alkaloids accompanying it considerably preponderate, the base frequently consisting principally of cinnamyl-ecgonine methyl ester.—P.J. 1891, 760, 1109. The uses of the Coca leaf in Bolivia and Peru have been described by many travellers, who have seen it chewed, as has been before mentioned. From two to eight or twelve drachms or more is used daily, in conjunction with the ashes of the quinoa plant or with lime, as a remedy for, or preventive against, the effects of extraordinary physical exertion, to relieve the difficulty of respiration in ascending mountains, and to appease hunger, thirst, and fatigue. The leaves contain the crystalline alkaloid, Cocaine (See page 54). They are said to be most active when freshly dried, and are much used by the native Indians, miners, travellers, and others. The benumbing effect on the tongue—dulling its sensibility—I find is much greater on chewing a fresh living leaf than that produced by a number of dried leaves. “The average duration,” says Markham,[27] “of Coca in a sound state on the coast is about five months, after which time it is said to lose flavour, and is rejected by the Indians as worthless.” It cannot be kept in stock for any length of time without suffering deterioration, unless it be either stored in air-tight cases in a cool and perfectly dry place, or kept in its original compressed packages; like hops detached from the “pocket,” it is said to lose its aroma. “The Peruvians,”[28] says Pöppig, “are of opinion that too much heat deprives even the best Coca of the active principle, that a warm climate will spoil the ‘Coca del Dia’ (that dried in one day) in ten months, whilst it continues good for a year and a half in the cold and dry districts of the Andes.” [Footnote 27: “Travels in Peru and India.” London: 1862, p. 237.] [Footnote 28: _Op. cit._, p. 168.] CHAPTER X. COCA IN COMMERCE.