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Concerning an Organic Base in Cbcaby W.Coca, which consists of the leaves of Erythroxylonspecies, has been in general use in Peru and other SouthAmerican countries ever since ancient times. The Indianschew it mixed with powdered chalk or ash, and this customhas made the coca bush an integral part of their culture.The most wonderful tales are told about the physiologicalconsequences of its use. (*) See for example J.J. v.Tschudi's Peru, Vol II, p. 299) Enjoyed in moderation itacts as a stimulant able to substitute for food for long* Fran the Reports of the G. A. Uhiversitat and theImperial Acadeny of Science in Gottingen, 21 March, 1860.The article was signed 'W 1 , for Friedrich Woehler(1800-1882), to whom Niemann was an assistant. It isclear from the text that Niemann was the first to observeand record the local anesthetic property of cocaine.He was also the first among the several outstandinginvestigators of cocaine - Schroff, Bennett, von Anrep,Hammond, Freud - who failed to appreciate the enormousimportance of that property, until the fact dawned onCarl Koller. Koller was the one who, in 1884, realizedand demon-strated the ability of cocaine to producesurgical local anesthesia. This landmark in humanity'slong struggle against pain was one of the most importantmedical discoveries of the nineteenth century, or anycentury, and missed winning the Nobel Prize only becauseit was made a little too soon, and too convincingly(Liljestrand, G.: Acta physiol. scand. Suppl 299, 1967,p.5).tTranslated from Ueber eine organische Base in der Coca.Justus Liebig's Annalen der Chemie, 114:213-217, 1860.