1890 Coca and its Therapeutic Application by Angelo Mariani

— 24 —

custom and to incur the contempt of his companions,by offering him,as a pledge of friendship,the object to which he attached the greatest value—hispoporo!(1) Thus the great importance that an Indian attaches to Coca is easily shown. It should be recognized, moreover, that the first conquerors of the country did not fail to countenance the passion of the vanquished forthe national plant. In fact, they quickly recognized that the habit of consuming Coca might become an excellent source of revenue; and Garcillasco de la Vega, a half-breed of the first generation,tells us that in his time a part of the im post was paid to the conqueror in the form of Coca leaves. The benefits which were derived from the traffic in this plant were such that at a certain time the revenues of the bishop and of the canons of the cathedral of Cuzco came from the tithe on these leaves. There was, moreover,another object in favoring the use of Coca among the Indians. The latter were treated, as is known, as if they were beasts of burden, and their oppressors were not slow to recognize the fact that they furnished much better labor when they consumed Coca. We shall see,further on,thatthe recognition of this fact, the correctness of which cannot be disputed,and which served to excite the rapacity of the conquering savages of that time, has become to-day the means of furnishing one of the most valuable aids to contemporary therapeutics. The particular favor in which the plant was held in the beginning of the conquest, was destined to suffer some disturbance. In the seventeenth century, for example, the religious quibbles regaining the ascendancy in pub lic affairs, some sedate theologians pretended that Coca was an aliment, and that under this name the use of it should be prohibited to young people and before the com munion. The question was vigorously contested, and (i) Mr. Mariani has presented to the Academy of Medicine a plaster cast of this very poforo, in his possession.

M n '/

Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs