1890 Coca and its Therapeutic Application by Angelo Mariani

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did not yield the same results. He says that he could not establish the anaesthetic properties of the plant.(1)" After Moreno y Maiz, Dr. Gazeau(2),in 1870,studied the stimulating effect of Coca on nutrition, and found that it increased the pulse and respiration, assisted digestion,in creased urinary excretion, and strengthened the nervous system. This author arrived at the conclusion that Coca prolongs life and promotes mu.scular energy. He advises its use, locally,for stomatitis, gingivitis, aphthous ulcera- tion, and generally for painful and difficult digestion, gastric disturbance in phthisis, and also for obesity. It was Charles Fauvel who first described the anaesthe tizing effect of Coca on the pharyngeal mucous mem brane (3). Thanks to this circumstance,he has been able to derive much benefit from the use of Coca in granular pharyngitis which is generally unaffected by any'other kind of treatment. Fauvel further showed that the stimulating effect which Coca exercises on all the muscles of the economy,appears to manifest itself specially on all the muscles of the larynx. Hence his apt qualification of the drug,"a tensorpar excel lence of the vocal cords." In 1880, Von Arep published the results of his physio logical researches with Cocaine. He spoke of its double effect on the nervous extremities and on the central nervous system. We approach,on leaving this epoch,the really scientific era, that is to say,that of physiological experiments. All the experiments having been made with Cocaine, we shall speak of it in the next chapter, which will be devoted exclusively to the study of this alkaloid. Before closing, we will mention that it has been claimed frequently that Coca was aphrodisiac. The fact that the (1) Lippmann, Tkhe de Strasbourg^ l868. (2) Gazeau, Thhe de Paris, 1870. (3) Gazette des Ilopitaux, Paris, March 12, 1877.