KAVA, an intoxicating drink used in the islands of the
South Pacific from the Sandwich Islands to Fiji. In
Hawaii it is called “kawa”; in the Marquesas “kava
kava”; “ava,” “ava-ava,” and “evava” in Tahiti; and in
Fiji “yaquona.” It is made from the roots or leaves of
Piper methysticum, Miq., a species of pepper indigenous in
these islands; several varieties are also cultivated by the
natives, those growing in a dry soil being considered to be
the most active. To prepare the liquid the fresh roots or
leaves, after being chewed by young girls or boys, with
good teeth, clean mouths, and free from colds, are placed
in a large wooden bowl (“umete”) on three legs made
of the wood of the vesi (Afzelia bijuga, Gray), and water
or cocoa-nut milk poured over the mass. The liquid
is then stirred up, and the woody matter of the root
is removed by repeatedly drawing through the infusion
long fibres prepared by crushing the green stems of the
vau (Hibiscus, sp.), and passing them frequently between
two pieces of wood. By this means a muddy-looking liquid
resembling café au lait in appearance, or of a greenish hue
if made from the leaves, is left in the bowl, a quantity
of fæcula remaining suspended in the fluid. The drink
is then distributed into cups made of plantain leaves, by
dipping some of the vau fibre into it and squeezing the
liquid into the cups, which are handed to the individuals
present. As the process of infusion only takes about
twenty minutes, it is obvious that no fermentation can
take place. The taste of the liquid is at first sweet and
then pungent and acrid. The usual dose is half a cupful, equal to about two mouthfuls of the root. Intoxication follows in about twenty minutes, or immediately if twice the usual quantity be taken.
The drunkenness produced by kava differs from that of
alcohol in being of a melancholy, silent, and drowsy
character, accompanied, if the drink be made from roots
growing in a damp soil, with great irritability at the slightest
noise. The fit lasts for about two hours, but in persons
who only take it occasionally it may continue for six or
twelve hours. At Nukahiva kava is said to be used as a
daily beverage, probably in small quantities, — its use, however, being forbidden to women and children. In many of the Pacific islands kava is given at official receptions, being the offered and accepted token of hospitality. Formerly the drinking of it preceded warlike enterprises and religious festivals.
The daily use of the drug is sometimes followed by a
kind of skin disease, called in Tahiti “arevareva.” The
effect on those who are addicted to the use of kava for any
length of time is to produce obscurity of vision, red
conjunctiva, and yellow coloration of the teeth, while the skin
where thick becomes dry, scaly, cracked, and ulcerated, and the body becomes emaciated and decrepit. In Nukahiva it is given as a medicine in phthisis and in bronchitis, a small dose being taken before going to bed.
Mr Collie, surgeon to the ship “Blossom,” states that he
observed the infusion of the root to be useful in certain
skin diseases (Beachy, Voyage of the “Blossom,” vol. ii. p. 120). Some years ago it was introduced into France as a remedy for various diseases of the mucous membranes (Annal. de Thérap., 1857, p. 61), and it has also been recommended in gout (Med. Times and Gazette, 1856, p. 591).
The root contains an essential oil of a yellow colour and
agreeable odour, 2 per cent, of a balsamic resin called
kawin, and about 49 per cent. of starch, also a neutral
crystalline principle discovered in 1844 by Mr J. R. N. Morson, and called kavahine, or by Gobley methysticia. It is readily soluble in boiling alcohol, crystallizing out on cooling. Hydrochloric acid colours it red, this colour changing to yellow on exposure on the air; concentrated sulphuric acid changes it to a rich purple violet, which on exposure to the air gradually becomes green, or immediately if diluted with water. These tests distinguish it from cubebin and piperin.