1890 Coca and its Therapeutic Application by Angelo Mariani

CHAPTER III.

PHYSIOLOGY OF COCA.

T is to empiricism and that alone that we owe our first knowledge of the physiological action of Coca. There is nothing surprising in that, for empiricism is nothing more,in reality, than unconscious observation. The Indians,who from time immemorial consumed so great a quantity of Coca leaves, did not do so merely from religious sentiment which deified the leaves of Coca, they well knew that they would derive great benefit from its use: they knew it only too well,since it is to that cause that we must attribute the legendary accounts given by the first authors who wrote on Coca. This veneration for Coca arose, as we have seen, from its wonderful qualities. There are indeed,in this direction, some truly extraordinary accounts which should not be dismissed without notice,as they are given in good faith. Unanue, of Lima, relates that at the siege of La Paz, Bolivia, in 1781, only those inhabitants who had taken Coca were able to endure hunger and fatigue. Nearly all of the soldiers perished, deprived, as they were of food and overcome by forced marches, except those who had the precaution to provide themselves with Coca taken leaves It must not be believed that this prolonged fast, sus tained by the use of Coca, wastes the strength and is inju-

Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs