LONG-DISTANCE WALKING AND CHEWING COCA.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 43, 10 June 1876, Page 2

LONG-DISTANCE WALKING AND CHEWING COCA.

The following extract from the " British Medical Journal," referring to the astonishing physical endurance of the American pedestrian Weston, may be interesting to plant-lovers as an additional testimony in favour of the coca : - :

"At intervals, as he persistently pursues his route, Weston may be seen to go through the action of chewing; and a brown stain upon his lips, which the observant spectator may notice at the same time, leads to the suspicion that he is refreshing himself with a quid of tobacco. Yet it is well known that both during a walk, and for some time previous to it, Weston renounces tobacco, and on these occasions he is masticating a substance which, although credited with some of the properties of tobacco, is the most serviceable of its class for use under exertion. That substance is the dried leaf of the Erythroxylon coca. This, it need scarcely be remarked,- has no connection with tho cacao plant, although the active principle of each is said to be similar, if not identical, with the other, as well as with that of tea, and guarana. Provided with adequate/supplies of this leaf the South American Indian is able to perform tasks, prolonged over a period of days, not only .without fo&d, but without discomfort. As a rule, however, he uses it during the day only, in the evening taking a copious meal with a hearty appetite. . Perhaps the best »Tfth*tfc^dii^urifcß«bf* j «£ effects, save those which have, been written by : such travellers as Poppig and Von Tscbudi, is that given in his Society in 1875. That gentleman, who is well known to be advanced in years, related how he madg.the ascent of Ben Voirlich ; and how, arriving at the summit greatly fatigued, he chewed a portion, of, ? coca, leaves, and found himself ' able the descent *psfe firmness and jutfeiijle elasticity. He also stated that, assistance of the coca leaf, he could watt: sixteen miles' with' "ease, while withftuY'it. he felt (on Other Occasions) very'much fatigued. According to Dr. Alexander Bennett, this, plant, when taken iin'tp the system, affects the respiration, ! increasing both in 'frequency, and the former in force, at first; subsequently, if the dose be large, it diminishes both. Von Tschudi also refers to its effects upon respiration from a personal observation of them, alleging that under its influence, at a height of 18,000 ft. above the sea level, he was able to run, hunting, and shooting,*with no more discomfort than he wouUp have suffered on the sea coast. The" general oj>inion is that coca, like other plants from which theine may be extracted, diminishes the waste of tissues- on no other hypothesis does : it to account for of sustaining prolonged food which it confers, f o^^^^^;^.jSg/leaf is swak lowed. extracted a part cisi^j^jicted'" : J^ it appears thS& ttitcrplant ac|jp: upon--the system the manned anticipated, by retajjging the waste of. the tissues ; and that thereduetion of temperature by 2deg., which was noticed in Weston's forty-eight hours' walk, may be accounted for.