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Show 166 entirely in coca for the family and the mambe necessary for preparing it for chewing. The rest of his money is spent in powder, salt and guarapo (sugar-cane juice). The Indian does not interest himself in either food or clothing. His wife spins linen and weaves her cloth for the children's clothes. The coca addict in time suffers physical disorders; he becomes pale and his skin wrinkles and turns an earthy yellow color. His muscles get flabby and anemia finally develops. The evils of coca are hereditary: children of addicts are of low intelligence and have other defects resulting from the degeneracy of their parents. The resultant physical weakness produces disastrous moral effects: crime is common among those who habitually use this narcotic. The writer concludes with an analysis of the statistics relating to the sale of coca in the abo\e-mentioned Departments. The figures are alarmingly high, a fact which reveals the enormous consumption of coca. In Huila and Cauca, it is estimated that there are sixty thousand coca addicts, including men, women and children. de la Fuente, Julio (Mexico). "Sobre-Nutricion y Enfermedades de Indios," America Indigena, V No. 3 (July, 1945), Mexico, D.F., pp. 235-239. English Summary: "Indian diseases," it must be understood, are not necessarily peculiar to "Indians," but are diseases on which both the urban doctors and the field workers have little or no information. This paper undertakes to examine briefly the situation existing among some Zapotec Indians of the Northern highlands of the State of Oaxaca, Mexico, with reference to a special disease called "white erysipelas" in Spanish, "white animal" and "animal-fright." It happens to be the first or the second cause of mortality in some villages and tends to appear among the poorer and the rustic rather than among the more cityfied and rich. There are indications that no correct identification of this disease has been made by urban doctors. Guided by direct observations in the field, on the one hand, and reading knowledge on the other, the writer suggests that "white erysipelas" might be identified with the disease variously named "edema of war," "edema of hunger," etc., and more scientifically, "nutritional edema," ascribed in many cases to a lack of protein in the diet, poor nutritional habits and other causes which the specialists have found and described. The paper concludes that the Zapotecs being one of the better-fed ethnic groups in the general area of Oaxaca, other groups would probably have a greater number of people affected by this disease, and also implies the need of some degree of cooperation between doctors with rural experience and understanding of folk people and field workers. Gabriel Garces, V. (Ecuador). "El Indio Ecuatoriano y la Coca," America Indigena, V No. 4 (October, 1945), Mexico, D.F., pp. 287-293~ |
