Sealed square paper packet contains dried plant material wrapped and sealed in clear plastic; information about parts used, lot number stamped in red inlk and other details on label.
Sealed square paper packet contains dried plant material wrapped and sealed in clear plastic; information about parts used, lot number stamped in red inlk and other details on label.
Top: "COCA // LEAVES // C46052 // (Erythroxylon Coca, Lam.) // Parke, Davis & Co. // MANUFACTURING CHEMISTS. // WALKERVILLE, ONT. CANADA. "; front side panel : "SYNONYMS - Cuca, Hayo, Ipado, etc. // PART EMPLOYED - The leaves. // NATURAL ORDER - Lineae. // HABITAT - Peru and Bolivia."; back: "PROPERTIES - Relieves nervous depression, and // stimulates digestion. Dose, a wine- // glassful of two ounces to the pint in- // fusion."
Permanent Location
Storage Room 0010
0010-A
Temporary Location
On exhibit “Selling Hope: A History of the Medical Marketplace” at Museum of Health Care, 29 June 2017.
Dimension Notes
Length 5.4 cm x Width 5.4 cm x Depth 1.8 cm
Condition Remarks
Paper and label are yellowed and very fragile; both are torn at top right corner; paper is punctured in five places on back; some plant material has escaped packet and is trapped in plastic.
Copy Type
Original
Reference Types
Document
Person
Internet
Reference Comments
"Parke-Davis Antique Pharmacy Collection," by Jack Willson, part 1 page 1; personal communication with Jack Willson, May 2000
The plastic wrap is not part of the original packaging; it was added to protect the materials as they were collected after 1949.
Coca leaves are where the drug cocaine originates. The natives of South America used to chew coca leaves to invigourate themselves and as a local anaesthetic. Cocaine was isolated in the 1800s and marketed as healthful, and as a treatment for morphine addiction. Laws were introduced to control it in 1903, and it was removed at this time from Coca Cola.
Exhibit History
On exhibit, "Potions, Pills, and Prescriptions," Museum of Health Care, May 1, 2000 - 28 Jan 2017.