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CUCA.
Where
Grown
—
Sustaining
Power
of
Cuca
—
Early
Mention
of
it,
and
Methods
of
Preparing
and
Using
it
—
Cowley
on
Cuca
—
Its
Modern
Manufacture
and
Cost
—
Its
Medicinal
Properties
Cocaine
and
its
Dangers.
CUCA
or
Coca
{Erythroxylon
Coca)
is
now
used
as
a
drink,
the
leaves,
hitherto,
having
been
masticated.
It
has
very
vahiable
medicinal
qualities,
one
of
the
chief
being-
the
ability
to
sustain
fatigue
by
those
who
use
it.
It
grows
in
the
valleys
of
the
eastern
slope
of
the
Andes,
in
Bolivia,
and
Peru
;
wild
in
many
places,
but
that
in
use
is
generally
cultivated.
It
has
been
known
ever
since
the
Conquest
of
Peru,
notices
of
it
being
very
early
;
and,
considering
the
length
of
time
this
knowledge
has
obtained,
it
is
marvellous
that
it
is
only
of
very
late
years
that
our
scientific
men
have
interested
themselves
in
its
medicinal
properties,
and
that
an
infusion
of
its
leaves
has
not
come
into
common
use.
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