Thé Mariani is capable of indefinite preservation and easy of transportation; it renders great service to persons who make mountain ascensions, fatiguing marches, or long journeys through unhealthy countries, and in fact in whatever may be called fatiguing work or pleasure.
Thé Mariani may be taken in the dose of from three to six teaspoonfuls in the course of the day, clear, or mixed with brandy, wine, water or milk, etc., hot or cold, in the latter cases sweetened to taste, if desired.
Coca Tea or Infusion.—A teaspoonful of the Thé Mariani, added to a cup of hot water, sweetened to the taste, with or without the addition of cream or milk, makes a very agreeable drink, more digestive, more tonic, and less exciting than coffee or tea, while possessing in a higher degree the tonic and stimulating properties of those two substances.
It is in this form that Coca is especially used in Peru and Bolivia, where it is preferred to the Chinese tea.
Persons who drink Chinese tea at meals may advantageously substitute the Thé Mariani for it.
For patients who cannot generally take milk, it is advisable to add Thé Mariani. Excellent results will be obtained.
Coca Gargles and Sprays.—Independently of its tonic and reconstituent action, Coca possesses anæsthetic and soothing properties that have been observed and made use of in practice by laryngologists in the form of a spray, in the proportion of a teaspoonful of Thé Mariani to half a glassful of warm water.
An ambulance physician of Tonkin, who has experimented with Thé Mariani, sends the following note:
"Thé Mariani has rendered us real service during expeditions as well as in hospital practice; on the march it makes with boiled water, with or without the addition of sugar, a very agreeable, tonic and stimulating drink; a veritable reserve food, it takes the place of alcoholic drinks and insufficiency of food, and aids the men in bearing the most distressing fatigue. The water of swamps, rivers or ditches, mixed with a few spoonfuls of Thé Mariani, could be drank without any inconvenience, and assuaged thirst.