, whose grandson John, however, sold them to Henry VIII.
of Henneberg, his brother-in-law. Henry's daughter Catherine (d. 1397)
married Frederick III. of Meissen, and so brought the castle, town and
countship into the possession of the Saxon house of Wettin. In 1549 Duke
John Ernest of Saxony made Coburg his residence and turned the old
castle into a fortress strong enough to stand a three years' siege
(1632-1635) during the Thirty Years' War. In 1641 Coburg fell to the
dukes of Saxe-Altenburg. In 1835 it became the residence of the dukes of
Saxe-Coburg. For the princes of the house of Coburg see WETTIN And
SAXE-COBURG.

COCA, or CUCA (_Erythroxylon coca_), a plant of the natural order
Erythroxylaceae, the leaves of which are used as a stimulant in the
western countries of South America.[1] It resembles a blackthorn bush,
and grows to a height of 6 or 8 ft. The branches are straight, and the
leaves, which have a lively green tint, are thin, opaque, oval, more or
less tapering at the extremities. A marked characteristic of the leaf
is an areolated portion bounded by two longitudinal curved lines one on
each side of the midrib, and more conspicuous on the under face of the
leaf. Good samples of the dried leaves are uncurled, are of a deep green
on the upper, and a grey-green on the lower surface, and have a strong
tea-like odour; when chewed they produce a sense of warmth in the mouth,
and have a pleasant, pungent taste. Bad specimens have a camphoraceous
smell and a brownish colour, and lack the pungent taste. The flowers are
small, and disposed in little clusters on short stalks; the corolla is
composed of five yellowish-white petals, the anthers are heart-shaped,
and the pistil consists of three carpels united to form a
three-chambered ovary. The flowers are succeeded by red berries. The
seeds are sown in December and January in small plots (_almacigas_)
sheltered from the sun, and the young plants when from 1-1/2 to 2 ft. in
height are placed in holes (_aspi_), or, if the ground is level, in
furrows (_uachos_) in carefully-weeded soil. The plants thrive best in
hot, damp situations, such as the clearings of forests; but the leaves
most preferred are obtained in drier localities, on the sides of hills.
The leaves are gathered from plants varying in age from one and a half
to upwards of forty years. They are considered ready for plucking when
they break on being bent. The first and most abundant harvest is in
Marc