COBWEB. One of the four fairies that appear in Act iii., Scene 7, and Act iv.. Scene 1, of Shakespeare's _I/ idsummer Sight's Dream dainty creation who speaks just three words dur ing the entire play.
COCA (So. Amer. name), Erythroxy/on co ca. A shrub of the natural order Erythroxy lace:e. of which the leaves are much used by the inhabitants of Peru and Bolivia as a narcotic and stimulant. (For illustration. see Plate of CORNFLOWER.) The dried leaves are chewed with a little finely powdered unslaked lime or with the alkaline asheli of the quinoa (q.v.), or certain other plants. The principal constituents of coca are cocaine, and several derivatives, hy coeatannic acid, etc. As a local anaesthetic the alkaloid cocaine is unexcelled. The common forms of administering are in the wine of coca, a fluid extract, and the alkaloid cocaine. The properties and effects of coca resemble those of opium, although it is less narcotic, while it pos sesses the property of dilating the pupil of the eye, which opium does not possess. It also les sens the desire for ordinary food. and for some time, at least, enables the person who uses it to endure greater and more protracted exertion than he otherwise could, and with less food. The leaves are sometimes mixed with forage for mules, when especially long trips are taken. It is especially remarkable for its property of pre venting the difficulty of respiration, so common in the ascent of long and steep slopes at great elevations. But when used habitually and in
excess, it weakens the digestion, produces bilia•y and other disorders, and finally induces a miser able ruin both of body and mind. It has been in use from a very remote period among the Indians of South America, and was extensively cultivated before the Spanish conquest. Many of the Indians of the Peruvian Andes are to this day excessively addicted to it, and its use prevails also to a considerable extent among the other inhabitants of the same regions. Its culture and use have extended into Brazil. (See COCAINE.) The shrub is extensively cultivated in various parts of South America and in Ceylon, India, and Java. It could probably be grown in parts of Florida and California. The shrub is 3-6 feet high, with rusty branches and leaves some what like tea-leaves, which are borne on the ends of the branches, the small yellow flowers some distance below. The annual pnalnetion of leaves in South American trade is estimated at 30 to 50 million pounds. There are many other species of Eryth•oxylon in addition to Eryth•oxylon coca. The name is from the red wood of sonic species.