Peru, History of Coca, "the devine plant" of the Incas : with an introductory account of the Incas, and of the Andean Indians of to-day

Front matter

PERU

"THE DIVINE PLANT"

OF THE INCAS

Preface

last have read and some former utterance which was diametrically opposite in conclusion. As a result of this want of knowledge, much that has been supposed must be forgotten, before the mind can be receptive for the truths of Coca which are built upon facts.

This uncertainty of detail has been the outgrowth of an inability on the part of certain experimenters, to obtain from the Coca used by them, similar effects to those that had been described by South American writers. In some instances, this was owing to the speedy deterioration of the leaves and their consequent inert condition when experimented with, but it is probable that many of these negative results were more especially due to a want of understanding of the true nature of the plant. Thus, from an expectancy of some marvelous instantaneous effect, w^hen no phenomenal influence was immediately apparent the leaves were condemned and their properties declared to be legendary. The facts all indicate that, the action of Coca is so unique and subtle that it cannot be judged by comparison with any other natural product similarly employed. This truth is embodied by Dr. Searle in the following statement: — ^^It is not a little remarkable that while no other known substance can rival Coca in its sustaining power, no other has so little apparent effect. To one pursuing the even tenor of his usual routine, the chewing of Coca gives no especial sensation. In fact the only result seems to be a negative one, viz. : an absence of the customary desire for food and sleep. It is only when some unusual demand is made upon mind or body that its influence is felt. And to this fact is to be attributed much of the incredulity of those who have carelessly experimented with it and who, expecting some internal commotion or sensation, are disappointed.""^ Just why this is so cannot be briefly told. It is for this reason that the associations, the necessities, the uses and the characteristics of the plant are here so fully discussed.

That Coca has not only not been well known, but barely known indirectly among a majority of those who presumably should know it — physicians who should use it, and teachers

PREFACE.

xi who should instruct as to its properties — is emphasized by the result of an inquiry instituted for the purpose of compiling a collective investigation. Upward of ten thousand letters were sent to a representative class of practitioners and teachers, and a majority of those from whom replies were received wrote in a frank way, that they knew absolutely nothing about Coca. Others had not employed it because they believed it to be inert through a confusion of its name with cocoa, or from confounding it with other products. A few, more liberal, expressed a belief that a substance with such traditional qualities as those surrounding the "^^divine plant," was probably possessed with properties which when better understood, might be made a valuable boon to humanity.

The present work has been constructed in view of these contradictions and uncertainties, and undertakes to trace the associations and uses of Coca, from the earliest accounts which are to be found. The story which necessarily commences with the dynasty of the Incas, embodies sufficient of the doings and the trials of that mighty Empire and its overthrow by the Spanish, as is essential to show the intimate connection between those people and the history of Coca. This has been epitomized from sources of authority and tells of the industries, science, arts, poetry, dramas, laws, social system and religious rites of the Incas as gleaned from tradition and witnessed in their relics, through all of which is interwoven the uses and applications of Coca. The history of that people is sufficiently full of life and color to absorb profound admiration. To this is added the accounts of contemporary travellers and scientists who have further detailed the continued dependence of the Andeans upon this Incan plant, and who tell of their own personal uses of Coca to support them under similar trials to those which the Incas experienced, and to which the present Peruvian Indians are still subjected. To a better understanding of the necessities for such support, the physical aspect of the Andes, together with a description of the life and customs of the modern Andeans is given, and advances our story to the Peru of to-day, a marvelous country of untold w^ealth and unearned posxii

PREFACE.

sibilities. The characteristics and botanical peculiarities of Coca, and the economic uses of plants of the family to which it belongs are described^ and an effort is made to harmonize the early uses of the substance — which are now shown to have been of necessity and not of luxury — with its present employment, through facts of modern physiology. The possible causes which may provoke the energy yielding properties of plants are considered, and are compared with analogous processes in the human body. The chemical problems involved in the study of the products of the Coca leaf and an account of the isolation of its various alkaloids is concisely told, and the possible advantage of Coca to the benefit of nerve, to muscle and to better blood are discussed from the r.esults of careful investigation by a long list of experimenters. The utility of Coca to provoke endurance, its influence in voice production and its adaptability as an adjunct to a popular dietary is suggested.

No effort has been made to make this work in any sense a book of Coca therapy, but a study of the early necessities and the hypothesis here advanced as to the rationale of its empirical uses will doubtless be ample to impress the true status of Coca, and will suggest its application in the affairs of modern life for conditions similar to those which orisrinallv demanded it. This is rendered still more practical by a collective investigation on the physiological action and therapeutic uses of Coca among several hundred physicians, which is tabulated in detail.

In the liberal presentation of any complex problem, it is difficult to review all sides of the question without a large accumulation of data. This subject therefore has necessitated the collection of a vast amount of testimony pro and con, which as here introduced forms a compilation convenient for reference. The facts of Coca history are widely separated, through an immense range of literature not readily available to the general reader. Much difficulty has beset the gathering of even the most trivial details, but to build up a v/ork which shall be accepted as authoritative — because embracing the truths of the matter dealt with — ^has required a deep re-

PREFACE.

xiii search and the repeated verification of thousands of notes. V\'hat was collected one dav was denied the next; for that reason I have been very precise in quoting mj authorities, and the appended bibliography embraces nearly six hundred titles. 'No attempt has been made to include in this all papers upon Coca, but only those consulted or alluded to in the text. It will be appreciated that this work deals specifically with the parent plant and its several alkaloids and not with merely one of these. A relative prominence is given to cocaine, howeverj and its physiological action and therapeutic uses is discussed. Cocaine is an alkaloid of Coca that has excited a prodigious amount of writing all over the world ; the list of its papers as catalogued in the library of the Surgeon- General of the United States Army, between 1885 and 1898, extends over eighteen columns of large quarto pages, printed in small type.

The result of my labor — continued through nearly four years — must now depend upon whether the subject has been treated clearly and made convincing to the reader. As to the value of Coca, there cannot be the slightest doubt. As to its utter harmlessness there can be no question. Even cocaine, against which there has been a cry of perniciousness, is an ally to the physician of inestimable worth, greatly superior — to compare it to a drug of recognized potency, not because of any allied qualities — to morphine. The evils from cocaine have arisen from its pernicious use, in unguarded doses, where used hypodermatically or locally for aucTsthesia, when an excessive dose has often been administered, without estimating the amount of the alkaloid that would be absorbed, and which might result in systemic symptoms. Medicinally employed, cocaine in appropriate dosage is a stimulant that is not only harmless, but usually phenomenally beneficial when indicated.

There has been a looseness of interpretation regarding the term stimulant, which has engendered a dread unfounded in fact. There is a vague belief that any substance capable of producing stimulation, first elevates the system and then depresses it by a corresponding fall. The physiological xiv

PREFACE.

law that stimulants excite to action, and that all functional activity is due to stimulation is forgotten or not generally appreciated. The name stimulant has commonly suggested alcoholics, while alcoholics suggest intoxication and a possible degradation. It recalls a thought of De Quincey when told that an individual was drunk with opium, that certain terms are given too great latitude — ^just as intoxication has been extended to all forms of nervous excitement, instead of restricted to a specific sort of excitement. As expressed by him: ^^Some people have maintained, in my hearing, that they have been drunk upon green tea; and a medical student in London, for whose knowledge in his profession I have reason to feel great respect, assured me, the other day, that a patient in recovering from an illness, had got drunk on beefsteak."^

It will be shown by ample testimony that Coca is not only a substance innocent as is tea or coffee — which are commonly accepted popular necessities — but that Coca is vastly superior to these substances, and more Avorthy of general use because of its depurative action on the blood, as well as through its property of provoking a chemico-physiological change in the tissues whereby the nerves and muscles are rendered more capable for their work. Strong as may appear this assertion, I believe that the facts here presented will amply indicate that sufficient has not been said upon the benefits to accrue from the liberal use of Coca. Indeed, our knowledge of it is yet in its infancy, and if this present writing will but excite others to continue these investigations and experiments. Coca will achieve the position it should maintain as an aid and support to humanity worthy the greatest popularity and the highest possible respect.

As a book of reference can be of little practical value when its facts may not be readily turned to, I have carefully prepared an extended index, embraced in which is a glossary of Incan or Quichua terms. There is a wide variance in the spelling of such words in the writings on Peru, in consequence of which there is an uncertainty of meaning when these con-

* Confessions.

PREFACE.

XV fusional terms recur. This is due to the fact that the Quichua tongue, as spoken by the Incas, was written by the early Spanish historians phonetically, and words were consequently variously spelled. Whenever the Peruvian terms herein employed are not assured by local usage, I have taken the Standard Dictionary of the English Language (Funk & WagnalFs), as my authority. In that volume a greater number of words pertaining to this w^ork are found than in any other reference book that I have consulted.

In the furtherance of this investigation I am indebted to the kindness of those medical confreres who have replied to my inquiries. These correspondents have been in sympathy with the importance of the research, and my thanks are here expressed for their cordial support. Indeed, while engaged in this work, I have been so long under obligations to so many, with some of whom a warm intimacy has developed, that though I may feel much time and persistent effort has been spent, the pursuit of this has not been imalloyed with pleasant associations, the memories of which shall long endure.

I desire to specially acknowledge an indebtedness, for courtesies and assistance, to the following gentlemen: To Mr. Wilberforce Eames, Librarian of Lennox Library, for suggestions in Historical Research ; to Mr. Morris K. Jesup, President of the American Museum of Natural History, for privileges in the Museum; to Mr. Anthony Woodward, for assistance in the Library of that Institution ; to Dr. Franz Boaz, for advice in Archaeological Matters ; to Mr. Marshall H. Saville, for access to Peruvian Eelics; to Mr. Charles Balliard, Metropolitan Museum of Art, for Photographs ; to Mr. Stansbury Ilagar, for notes on his Research in Incan Astronomy; to Mr. Samuel Mathewson Scott, London, England, for Photographs and details of personal experiences in Peru ; to Professor H. H. Rusby, for details of personal experiences in the Coca region of Bolivia ; to Professor Ralph Stockman, University of Glasgow, for reprints and details of his research on the Coca Alkaloids ; to Professor A. B. Lyons, for Analytic Tables and Processes of Coca Assay ; to Mr. R. L. Daus, for suggestions in comparison of Incan Architecture ; to

XVI

PREFACE.

Messrs. Parke, Davis & Co., for details of Coea selection and Assay; to Messrs. Mariani & Co., for details regarding Coca, and for other kindliness ; to Messrs. Boehringer & Soehne, for specimens of Cocaine; to Messrs. Merck & Co., for specimens of Coca Products ; to Professor Lucien M. Underwood^ Columbia University, for advice in Botanical Research; to Captain E. L. Zalinski, U. S. A. (retired), for details of personal experiences on the Andes ; to Dr. Carlton C. Curtis, Lecturer on Physiological Botany, at Columbia University, for assistance in Histological Research in the Laboratories of that Institution, and for reviewing the Botanical Chapters ; to M. Angelo Mariani, Paris, France, for ten Coca plants and for details of Coca cultivation in conservatorv : to the Bureau of American Ethnology, Washington, D. C, for Books and Ethnological details ; to Mr. J. Jaros, for Photographs and for many courtesies ; to Mr. Herbert Tweddle, for access to an extensive and unique Peruvian Collection, for Photographs especially made for this work, for Coca Leaves, and for reviewing the portions of text relating to Peru.

Finally I wish to express my appreciation to the publishers who have carried out the mechanical construction of this book ; they have been not only generous, but indulgent in completing the work in accordance with my wishes.

IsTew York, Apeil, 1901.

Chapter I. An Introduction To The History Of Coca

Work Necessary to Existence. — Activity Means Life, Stagnation Implies Death. — Modern Man Eminently Nervous. — Superstitious Belief Seems Inherent. — Early Attacks Against Scientific Progress. — Chloroform Unholy. — Cinchona Quackery. — Vaccination Humbug. — Tea, Coffee and Chocolate to Be Prohibited by Parliament. — The Properties of Coca Superior to That of All Known Plants. — Coca Used by Millions, Yet Still Generally Unknown.— Neglect Through Ignorance. — Cocaine Is Not Coca. — Coca Conducive to Longevity. — Superstitious Regard Often the Foundation of Fact. — Coca an Exact Power, Not a Luxury. — Cocaine Habit a Sensational Falsity. — Serranos of Andes Could Not Exist Without Coca. — Civilization Demands Adaptation of Earth's Bounties for Modern Effort. — A Legend of Coca of liOng Ago Pages 1-27

Chapter II. The Story Of The Incans

Peru the Cradle of the Human Race. — Incan Relics Tell of Their Greatness. — Attempt to Trace Incan Origin Through Peruvian Folk-Lore. — Relation of the Incans to Other Nations. — Manco Ccapac and His Sister-Wife. — Origin of Incan Legends. — The Shaping of the Hills. — Growth of the Empire. — Division of the People. — Officers of Government. — Dress of the Sovereign. — The Royal Harem. — Physical Appearance of the Race. — Model Civil Laws. — Industry Insisted Upon. — Handicraft of the Incans. — Incas the Highest Type of Socialism. — Government Finds Both Wife and Home. — Great Endurance of the Race Promoted by Coca. — Marvelous Memory. — History by Oral Tradition. — Poetry of the Incans. — The Drama of Ollantay a Worthy Plot for Comic

Opera. — The Line of Sovereigns 28-54

xvii xviii

Chapter III. The Rites And Acts Of The Incans

Prevalence of Sun Worship. — Its Association with Nature Worship.— Coca Typical of Force. — Incan Rites Similar to Eastern Forms. — Origin of Brahma's Four Heads.— Phallic Worship. — Serpent Worship. — Incan Temple of the Sun. — Its Magnificence. — Coca Plants of Gold. — Beauty of the Virgins. — Sacrifices of Coca. — Astronomy of the Incans. — Succession of the Months. — The Annual Games and Sacrifices. — The Ceremony of Knighthood.— Festivals of the Equinoxes. — Offerings to the Dead. — Coca Assures Paradise. — Spain's Petrified Kings. — The Myth of Creation. — Incan Reverence for the Dead. — Elaborate Tapestries.— Cleverness of Device in Incan Pottery. — Whistling Jugs and Portrait Vases. — The Winged Puma. — Hunting for Antiquities.— Coca Empirically Used for the Throat. — Beauty of the Relics. — Peruvian Mummies. — Druidical Stone Temples. — Incan Stone Monuments. — Curious Trephined Skulls. — Division of the Empire Pages 55-89

Chapter IV. The Conquest Of The Incans

The Search for Gold. — First Expedition of Pizarro. — The Second Expedition. — In the Realm of the Incas. — Hardships and Perils of the Spaniards. — Pizarro Goes to Spain. — The Crown Extends Its Patronage to the Adventurers. — Third Expedition. — Capture of the Sovereign. — The Golden Ransom. — Execution of Atahualpa. — Dividing the Golden Spoils. — Establishment of Manco. — Pizarro's Incan Union. — Violent Deaths of the Conquerors. — Spain Assumes Control of Peru. — Incan Oppression Under Spanish Rule. — Attempt to Destroy Coca. — Prejudice Against the Indians. — Coca Tolerated Through Necessity. — Oppression of Church and State. — Indians Driven to Slavery and Death. — Coca Enriched the Government. — Cinchona Bark Made Known. — Immense Natural Wealth of Peru. — The Last of the Conquerors Upholds the Incas to the King o... 90-118

Chapter V. The Physical Aspect Of Peru

Environment Should Be Appreciated to Understand the Benefits of Coca. — Barrenness of the Coast. — Resources of the Land. — The Mighty Andes. — Absence of Rain on the Coast. — Earthquakes

C0NTENT8, xix and Tidal Waves. — Effect of Irrigation. — The Mists of the Coast. ■ — Peru a Land of Every Climate. — Vast Petroleum Fields. — Extensive Fertile Valleys. — Coca and the Potato Preserved Through Centuries. — Nitrates a Source of Wealth. — Down the Coast to Mollendo. — The Southern Railroad of Peru. — The Quaint City of Arequipa. — Across the Andes by Railroad. — A Steamboat Over the Mountains. — Mule-Back to the Eastern Montana.— Coldness of the High Altitudes. — Grandeur of Andean Scenery. — To the Northern Montana by Rail. — The Northern Railroad of Peru. — Famous Silver Mines. — Chocolate, Bananas and Coca the Chief Food. — The Fertile Plain of Cuzco. — Lake Titicaca, 12,545 Feet Above the Sea. — The Vast Ruins of Tiahuanaco. — Cyclopean Relics of Unknown Origin. — A Trip to Cuzco, the Incan Capital. — The Palaces of the Incas. — Coca and Wool the Chief Commerce Pages 119-147

CHAPTER VL

THE HISTORY OF COCA.

Coca Survived Persecution. — Early Americans Leagued with the Devil. — Cieza Tells of the Incans. — Coca Greatest of Incan Plants. — Coca Known in Europe, 1550. — Father Acosta Praises Coca.— The Mines of Potosi.— Royal Fifth 3,000,000 Ducats.— Necessity for Coca Absolute. — First Coca Plantation in Eastern Montana, 1197. — Father Valera's Appeal for Coca. — The Incan Garcilasso Describes Coca, 1609. — Early Use of Coca Along Carribean Coast. — Expedition of La Condamine, 1735. — The Botanist Jussieu Explores Peruvian Flora. — Early Errors in Describing Coca. — Dr. Unanue Advocates Coca. — Supposed Mystery in Coca Sustenance. — Coca Used in the Army. — General Miller in War for Independence. — Five Days Without Other Food Than Coca. — Coca Conducive to Longevity. — Expedition of Count Castelnau. — Prescott and Helps Refer to Coca. — U. S. Expedition of Herndon and Gibbon, 1851. — Peruvian Coca Prized Above Bolivian. — Essay of Dr. Mantegazza, 1859. — Markham Collects Cinchona for India and Praises Coca. — Angelo Mariani Adapts Coca to Modern Necessities, 1859. — The Praise of Coca Universal. — Benefits of Coca Not Exclusively in Cocaine 148-183

Chapter VII. The Present Indians Of Peru

Divisions of the Country.— The Present People of Peru.— The Savage Indians.— The Cholas of the Coast.— A Country of Holidays.— Chicha the Royal Drink.— Lima the City of the Kings.— Catholic

XX

CONTENTS.

Indians. — Serranos Descendants of the Incans. — Their Poetry and Love Songs. — The Qiiichua Tongue. — A Personally Conducted Tour over the Andes — Coca a Measure of Time. — Industry of the Indians. — Take First, Pay Afterward. — Stillness of the Andes. — The Evil Eye. — How the Indian Chews Coca. — One Chew for Three Kilometres. — A Hundred Leagues on Coca. — Labors of the Andeans. — Gold in Every Mountain Stream. — The Llama the Andean Pack. — Sources of Wool. — The Giant Vulture. — Perils of High Altitudes. — Coca Strengthens Heart and Respiration. — Frozen Supplies the Daily Ration. — Coca Helps a Man to Live, Whisky Makes Him Row a Boat. — Luscious Fruits of the Sierra Pages 184-226

Chapter VIII. The Botany Of Coca

Distribution of the Family. — Coca First Botanically Described. 1692. — Classification of the Early Botanists. — Characteristics of Coca. — The Home of Coca. — Cuzco the Incan Center of Cultivation.— Modern Peruvian Cocals. — Essentials for Successful Coca Growing. — Preparation of the Nursery. — Care of the Young Plants. — The Harvesting of Coca. — Drying and Curing the Leaf j — Beauty of the Fruit. — Pests of the Coca Shrub. — Marvelous Ants. — Beautiful Lichens. — Uniformity of Traditional Characteristics.— Great Antiquity of Coca. — Example from an Ancient Mummy Pack. — Comparison with Modern Coca. — Commercial Coca Chosen for Cocaine. — Varieties of Coca. — Peruvian Coca the Classic Type. — Distribution of Coca in the East. — Similarity of Conditions in Tea, Coffee and Coca Culture. — Superiority of Coca for General Use. — Technical Details of Coca. — The Shrub. — Root. — Trunk. — Leaves. — Flower. — Seed 227-264

Chapter IX. In The Coca Region Of Peru

The Eastern Montafia. — Terraced Mountains. — Cultivation of Coca. — Customs of the Incas Continued. — Grandeur of the Montana. — Wealth of Orchids and Dainty Flowers. — Yield of the Coca Shrub. — Packing Coca for Shipment. — Varieties of Commercial Coca. — Possible Source of Error in Judging Coca. — Cocaine Is Not Coca. — Care Essential to Preserve Qualities of Coca. — Odor of Choice Coca Agreeable. — Properly Cured and Packed Coca Will Keep for Years.— Annual Yield of Coca, 40,000,000 Pounds.—

CONTENTS, xxi

Stability of Price of Coca. — Efforts to Improve Packing and Transportation. — Search for El Dorado. — Interest in the Amazon Valley. — U. S. Gunboat Ascends the Mighty Amazon 2,300 Miles. — Tropical Nature of the Stream. — Savage Tribes of Indians. — The Head Hunters. — Journeying 9,000 Miles to Avoid 400. — Tailed Men. — Incan Navigators. — Curare the Indian Arrow Poison. — Hunting with the Blow Gun. — The Lost Soul Bird. — Native Cure for Snake Bite. — Clay Eaters. — South American Bread— Rubber Collecting Pages 265-289

Chapter X. The Products Of The Coca Leaf

Search for the Energy of Coca. — Early Chemical Knowledge Insufficient for Analysis. — The Father of Chemistry Explains Coca Properties. — Research of Liebig and Woehler. — Early Spanish Accounts of Energy from Coca. — The Alkaline Addition to the Leaves a Supposed Factor. — First Attempts to Extract an Alkaloid.— Dr. Scherzer Brings Coca from Peru. — Niemann under Woehler Isolates Cocaine, 1859. — Subsequent Experiments by Maisch. — Lossen Describes Three New Bases, 1862. — Impurity of Early Cocaine, — The Uncrystallizable Bases. — Proof of Associate Alkaloids. — Superiority of Coca to Cocaine. — Controversy over Coca Bases. — The Volatile Oily Bases. — Crude Cocaine Not a Single Base. — Influence of the Methyl and Benzoyl Radical. — Building Up Other Bases. — Manufacture of Artificial Cocaine. — Yield of Alkaloid from Coca. — Simple Process for Cocaine Manufacture.— Assay of Coca for Alkaloids. — Test for Determining Purity of Cocaine. — Table of the Coca Products. — Cocaine Manufacture in Peru. — Assay of Crude Cocaine. — Characteristics of Cocaine 290-319

Chapter XI. The Production Of Alkaloids In Plants

Similarity of Plant and Animal Life. — First Separation of Alkaloids.— Their Chemical Composition. — Interdependence of Organized Bodies. — The Sun a Mighty Alchemist. — Matter Indestructible.— Importance of Carbon. — Formative Property of Nitrogenous Influence in Coca to Create Energy. — Assimilation Only through Solution. — All Living Things Composed of Cells. — The Formation of Chlorophyl. — Production of Starch. — The Vegetable Acids. — The Building of Proteids. — Waste of I^ltroxxii

CONTENTS.

genous Structures. — How Nitrogen Is Introduced. — Influence of the Leaf. — Excreta Analogous in Plants and Animals. — Modification of Plants by Culture. — Possibility of Regulating Alkaloid Production. — Influence of Light and Temperature. — Effects of Water. — Influence of Altitude. — Effect of Electrical Conditions.— Influence of ''Mossing." — Proportionate Yield of Alkaloids from Coca Pages 320-345

Chapter XII. Influence Of Coca Upon Muscular Energy. '

Activity Conducive to Health. — Source of Muscular Energy. — Incan Reliance upon Coca. — Varieties of Muscle. — Influence of Nerves on Muscle. — Contraction Inherent in Muscle. — Energy Due to Chemical Change. — Theories of Pood Influence. — Falsity of ''Wear and Tear" Theory. — Urea Not an Index of Work. — Formative Power of Coca. — Poisonous Products of Tissue Waste. — Functions of the Liver on Excreta. — Effect of Excreta on the Tissues. — Fatigue Results from Used-up Supplies and Retained Waste. — Poisonous Products of Indigestion. — Proof that Waste Impedes Activity. — Pure Blood Favors Repair. — Uric Acid a Possible Source of Depression. — Coca by Freeing Blood Stream Abolishes Fatigue. — Experiments with Coca Suggested by Liebig. — Coca Chewers More Competent than Alcohol and Tobacco Users. — Remarkable Benefit of Coca on Endurance. — Professor Christison Considers "Coca Not Only Removes Fatigue, but Prevents it." — Energy Derived from Conversion of Storage Food. — Use of Coca among Athletes. — The Philosophy of this Seeming Panacea .346-372

Chapter XIII. Action Of Coca Upon The Nervous System

No Standard of Health. — Functions Influenced through the Mind. — Result of Overstrain. — Influence of Coca. — Development of Brain Cells. — Sympathetic Action. — Neurasthenia from Untrained Will. — Influence of Tissue Waste. — Overstrung Organizations.— The Genetic Influence. — Push for Supremacy Excites to Overwork. — Types of Neurasthenia. — Reflex Nature of the Disorder. — Plethoric Prosperity a Cause of Nervousness. — Cases for Advertising Quacks. — The "Jack the Ripper" Type. — Unburdening an Overtroubled Mind. — Subtle Relations Between Mind and Body. — Personal Hypnotism. — Diagnosis vs. Treatment. — "Specifics" of Therapy Few. — Should Physicians

CONTENTS.

XXlll

Instruct Patients? — The Physician as a Personal Factor. — General Plan of Treatment. — Coca an Adjunct to Food. — Efficacy of Water. — Coca Superior to Bromides. — Controversy on Food Use of Alcohol Pages 373-399

Chapter XIV. The Physiological Action Of Coca

History Built from Tradition. — Early Association of Coca. — Science Demands Exactitude. — Medicine Commonly Empirical. — Growth of Physiology. — Fallacy of *'Vital Force." — Confusion of the Term Stimulant. — Coca Like Food a Stimulant. — Some Early Experiments with Coca. — Coca Calls Out the Powers Without After-Depression. — Coca a Marvelous Heart Tonic. — Early Confusion Regarding Cocaine. — First Authentic Account of Adaptation of Cocaine to Surgery. — Action of Cocaine on the Eye. — Supposed Cause of Anaesthetic Influence. — Cell Life First Stimulated, then Inhibited. — Anaesthesia by Application to Nerve Trunks. — Motor Branches Only Influenced through Sensory Nerves. — Action of the Several Important Bases. — Cocaine Directly Affects Nerves, Coca Maintains a Balance over Nerve and Muscle. — False Deductions Erroneously Quoted as Fact. — Dose and Application of Coca. — Coca Is Not Poisonous. — Experiments with Excessive Doses of Cocaine. — No so-called "Cocaine Habit." — Action of Cocaine. — Treatment of Cocaine Poisoning. — Determination of the Alkaloid in Animal Remains 400-435

Chapter XV. Adaptation Of Coca To Voice Production

Musical Sounds Older than Language. — Association of Music with Religion. — Some Ancient Musical Instruments. — Songs of Forty Centuries. — An Early Incan Love Song. — Peruvian Musical Instruments.— Origin of Modern Musical Scale. — Influence of Rome on Musical Culture. — Similarity of Incan Songs to Psalms of Hebrews. — Science of Harmonics. — Analogy of Music and Color. — Larynx a Natural Musical Instrument. — Influence of Coca on Vocal Cords. — What Constitutes Voice. — Compass of the Voice. — — Voice Production. — Impossibility of Foretelling Virtuosi. — Voice Depends on Structure. — Advantage of Cultivation. — Coca a Tensor of Vocal Cords. — Influence of Coca on Respiration. — Effect of Respiration on the Organism. — Derangements of Respiratory Functions. — Benefit of Deep Breathing. — Profound Exertion from Use of Voice, — Systemic Effects of Coca. — Benefit xxiv

CONTENTS.

Shown in Mountain Climbing. — Coca Increases the Chemical Processes of the Body and Augments Respiration. — Mountain Sickness Due to Retained Waste Pages 436-462

Chapter XVI. The Dietetic Influence Of Coca

Confusion of Coca with Cocoa— Coca Not Generally Known.— Some Modern Instances of Error. — Peruvian Traditions Link Coca with Endurance. — Politic Influence Established Early Errors. — Coca an Aid to Nutrition. — Popular Idea of Food Inaccurate. — Early Choice of Food Stuffs. — Indulgence in Primitive Times. — Dietetic Fluctuation between Starvation and Satiety. — The Modern Physician Must Guide. — Utilized Food the Only True Food. — Man a Converting Machine. — Energy Results from Chemical Union. — Variation of Food Elements. — Comparison of the Nitrogenous with Carbohydrates. — Importance of Entire Alimentary Tract. — The Digestive Process. — Coca Furthers Digestion. — Probable Food Value of Coca. — Influence of the Liver on Nutrition.— Effect of Cocaine on Glycogen. — The Object of Food. — No Exclusive Food. — Waste Occasions Energy. — Food Should Repair Waste. — Amount of Food a Relative One. — Nervous Tension a Source of Deranged Digestion. — Coca Not Only an Emergency Food but Provokes Assimilation 463-488