First experimental study on cocaine…Chi Chi, get the yayo…
 
Recherches Chimiques et Physiologiques sur l’Erythroxylum Coca du Pérou et la Cocaïne.
Thomas Moreno y Maiz
Paris, 1868
 
Bound in contemporary quarter leather and paper boards with 8 other rare medical works mainly related to anesthesia. A well-executed rebacking with original spine laid down, rear board with some water damage, some water stains on the last few leaves and pastedowns - heavier on the endleaves, last leaf with a small center hole affecting a few letters, textblock slightly trimmed. However, most of the textblock is rather clean and overall it’s a Very Good book.
 
First edition of the first experimental study on cocaine – the earliest suggested use of cocaine as a local anesthetic. One lithographic plate showing the leaves of the Erythroxylum coca Huanuco along with several tables and graphs in the text. Moreno y Maiz was a Peruvian army surgeon who went to Paris for post-graduate training. He was a believer in rigorous scientific experimentation and his work with cocaine produced “some of the most blessed moments of my life.” Limited supplies of coca leaves, poor quality refined cocaine, and high prices were sources of frustration(some things never change!) during his studies. The body of the book contains examinations of cocaine-injected frogs - he later surmises on the potential use of cocaine as an anesthetic. His work influenced future students of the drug, including Freud.
 
The other works as bound before Moreno y Maiz:
 
- Quelques réflexions sur l'absorption cutanée by Paul-Leonce Flurin, 1864
- Etude sur les Injections narcotiques Sous-Cutanées by Henri Piedvache, 1865
- Essai sur l'anesthésie Locale by Emeric de Vasarhely, 1865
- De la méthode physiologique en thérapeutique et de ses applications à l'étude de la belladone by Andre-Isidore Meuriot, 1868 presentation copy
 
- Considérations et expériences sur la méthode hypodermique by Arthur Denis, 1868
- Memoria sobre as injecções subcutaneas by Carlos May Figueira, 1867
- Propriétés thérapeutiques de l'acide picrique et spécialement de son emploi comme succédané du sulfate de quinine by Francisque Parisel, 1868
- Du mode d'action physiologique des alcaloïdes by Gustave Lemattre, 1865
 
A very interesting compilation of works from an important transitional time in medical history.
 
Ref: A Brief History of Cocaine, Karch
         Moreno and the First Study on Cocaine, Seigel and Hirschman
 
(science)