Ava
ARVA, YAVA, or KAVA (piper methysticum), a plant of the natural order piperaceæ, possessing narcotic properties. Until recently, it was ranked in shrubby plant, with heart-shaped acuminate leaves, and very short, solitary, axillary spikes of flowers. It is a native of many of the South Sea islands, where the inhabitants intoxicate themselves with a fermented liquor prepared from the upper portion of the root and the base of the stem. The narcotic property is ascribed to an acrid resin kawine , which is present in the root. The intoxication is not like that produced by ardent spirits, but rather a stupefaction like that caused by opium. The habitual use of ava causes a whitish scurf on the skin, which, among the heathen Tahitians, was reckoned a badge of nobility , the common people not having the means of indulgence requisite to produce it.
Ava is, like cocaine, a local anæsthetic. , a local anesthetic.