<HTML>I clearly need to practise my html. So here goes a second time and hopefully i get it right:-).
Hi Don,
> I did not know about this, firmly settles the matter of
> 'cocaine mummies' it would seem.
Perhaps not settled but there are clearly other plant sources of cocaine that do not require trans-oceanic trade to get them to Egypt. Also it should be noted that amounts of cocaine are much greater in the leaves obtained from <i>Erythroylum coca</i> than other <i>Erythroxylum</i> species and therefore the only commercial source of cocaine is S. America.
The problem with claiming that evidence of cocaine in Egyptian mummies proves there was trans-Atlantic contact before Colombus (or Leif Eriksson if you like) is why did they only trade cocaine when maize and potato were far more useful commodities? The expansion of Europe following Columbus' discovery was in part due to the agricultural exploitation of these new crops. So it seems very odd to have just traded cocaine with S. America and not exchanged any other useful agricultural crops (no maize or potato in the old world and no wheat, millet, barley, oats, rice etc. in the new).
There is also evidence that Phoenician ships sailed and traded with Southern Africa.
I tried to find an on-line
> reference to the geographic distribution of E. brownianum but
> failed. Do you happen to know of one?
I couldn't find any specific online references for <i>E. brownianum</i> either but these links may help:
<a href="[
www.nybg.org] York Botanical Garden</a>
<a href="[
www.rain-tree.com]; - there's info on the genus <i>Erythroxylaceae</i> at the bottom of the page.
<a href="[
www.aros.net]; - some info on <i>Erythroxylum</i> species from Australia (some of which also contain cocaine).
If you have library access to Phytochemistry then this article will be of interest:
Griffin, W.J & G.D. Lin (2000) Chemotaxonomy and geographical distribution of tropane alkaloids. Phytochemistry 59:623-637
I got the following information from Doug Weller (<a href="[
www.ramtops.demon.co.uk] site</a>
Bernard Ortiz said this on a newsgroup some time ago.
"<i>E. Brownianum</i> is found in southern Africa and has a concentration of 400 ppm, meaning that a mere 5 leaves brings it within the <i>E. Coca</i> range and that numerous species are within the 5 ppm (~400 leaves) range.and also I made a quick search through some literature (A.M. Exell, A. Fernandes & H. Wild, "Flora Zambesiaca", Vol.2, Pt.1 and W.H. Harvey & O.W. Sonder, "Flora Capensis", Vol.1) and came up with the following:
The genus <i>Erythroxylon</i> contains some 200 species distributed throughout the tropics and warm temperate regions but most abundant in America and Madagascar, with a large number also in Africa. They all contain the alkaloid 'cocaine' to a greater or lesser degree
<i>E. Brownianum</i>, Southern Africa
<i>E. caffrum</i>, Southern Africa
<i>E. delagoense</i>, Mozambique through South Africa
<i>E. emarginatum</i>, Guinea to Kenya, Central and Southern Africa
<i>E. gerrardi</i>, Madagascar and Mozambique
<i>E. monogynum</i>, India
<i>E. pictum</i>, Southern Africa
<i>E. platycladum</i>, Kenya to Mozambique and Madagascar
<i>E. pulchellum</i>, Southern Africa
<i>E. zambesiacum</i>, Central Africa
These are just some of the African species occurring in the southern region and described in the above reference sources (a specimen of <i>E. monogynum</i> was in the herbarium collection of the Albany Museum, Grahamstown)."
All the Best,
Duncan</HTML>
