CHAPTER XVIII. THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN. INDIAN HEMP. The common European the same as the Indian hemp.-Its narcotic resin more abundant in warm climates.-Mode of collecting the resin.-The Churrus or Kirs, Gunjah, Bang, and alcoholic extract.-Forms in which the hemp is used-The Haschisch of Turkey.-Antiquity and extent of its use.-The nepenthes of Homer, an Egyptian drug.-The tombeki of India.-Origin of the word "assassin."-Use of hemp in Africa and America.-Effects of hemp on the system.-Sometimes produces catelepsy.-Experience of M. Moreau.-Excitability produced by it.— Errors of perception.-Its effects vary with the individual and with the race.Influence on Orientals greater, on Europeans less.-Experience of M. de Sauley.— Chemistry of the hemp plant.-Its volatile oil.-The natural resin and resinous extract probably contain several substances.-Hemp compared with opium.--Differences in their comparative effects.-Extent to which hemp is used. VII. INDIAN HEMP.-Little is popularly and practically know in northern Europe of the use of hemp as a narcotic indulgence; yet in the East it is as familiar to the sensual voluptuary as the opium treated of in the preceding chapter. Our common European hemp (Cannabis sativa), fig. 68, so extensively cultivated for its fibre, is the same plant with the Indian hemp (Cannabis Indica), which from the remotest times has been celebrated among Eastern nations for its narcotic virtues. The plant came to Europe from Persia, DISTRIBUTION OF THE HEMP PLANT. Fig. 68. 377 and is supposed by many to be a native of India; but, like tobacco and the potato, it has a wonderful power of adapting itself to differences in soil and climate. Hence it is now cultivated, not merely on the plains of Persia, India, and Arabia, but in Africa, from its northern to its southern extremities; in America, all over its north-eastern states and provinces, and on the flats of Brazil; and in Europe, in almost every kingdom and country. In northern Russia it is an important article of culture, even as far north as Archangel, and from that region our manufacturers have been accustomed to receive large supplies of its valuable fibre. In the sap of this plant-probably in all countries-there exists a peculiar resinous substance, in which the esteemed narcotic virtue resides. In northern climates, the proportion of this resin in the several parts of the plant is so small as to have escaped general observation. The whole plant, indeed, has a peculiar smell, even when grown in Europe, which, though Cannabis sativa-The culti- not unpleasant to every one, often gives headache and giddiness to persons who remain long in a hemp field. This probably arises from an escape into the air of a small quantity of a volatile narcotic principle. But in the warmer regions of the East, the resinous sub stance is so abundant as to exude naturally, and in sensible quantity, from the flowers, from the leaves, and from the young twigs of the hemp-plant. We have already seen that climate modifies considerably the proportions of the active ingredients contained in the dried leaf of tobacco, and in the dried juice of the poppy. The hemp-plant exhibits a still more striking illustration of the influence of climate upon the chemical changes which take place in the interior of liv ing vegetables. It grows well, and produces abundance of excellent fibre in the north, but no sensible proportion of narcotic resin. It grows still better, and more magnificently, in tropical regions; but there its fibre is worthless and unheeded, while for the resin it spontaneously yields it is prized and cultivated. It 10. MODE OF COLLECTING THE RESIN AND PLANT.-In India the resinous exudation of the hemp plant is collected in various ways. In Nepaul it is gathered by the hand in the same way as opium. This variety is very pure, and much prized. It is called momeea, or waxen churrus. remains soft, even after continued drying; has a fragrant narcotic odour, which becomes strong and aromatic on heating. Its taste is slightly hot, bitterish, and acrid, yet balsamic. In Central India, men covered with leather aprons run backwards and forwards through the hemp-fields, beating the plants violently. By this means the resin is detached and adheres to the leather. This is scraped off, and is the ordinary churrus of Cabul. It does not bring so high a price as the momeea. In other places the leather aprons are dispensed with, and the resin is collected on the naked skins of the coolies. In Persia it is collected by pressing the resinous plant on coarse cloths, and afterwards scraping the resin from these, and melting it in a little warm water. The churrus, or "kirs," of Herat is considered one of the best and most powerful varieties of the drug. FORMS IN WHICH IT IS USED. 379 The plant itself is often collected and dried for the sake of the resin it contains. The whole plant gathered when in flower, and dried without the removal of the resin, is called gunjah. In this form it is sold in the markets of Calcutta in bundles about three inches in diameter, and containing each twenty-four plants. The larger leaves and seed capsules separated from the stalks are called bang, subjee, or sidhee. This form is less esteemed than the gunjah. The tops or tender parts of the plant, the flowers, and even the pistils of the flowers, are separated, and when dried alone are very powerful, and much esteemed. The seeds, I believe, are never used as a narcotic indulgence. In some medical works they are spoken of as cramp-stilling and painremoving; but if they really possess these virtues, it must be in a very inferior degree; and they probably reside in the husk, and not in the body of the seed itself. When boiled in alcohol the gunjah yields as much as one-fifth of its weight of resinous extract, and hence this method of preparing the drug in a pure state has been recommended as the most efficient and economical. I am not aware, however, that it is anywhere adopted in the East. 20. FORMS IN WHICH HEMP IS USED.-Among the ancient Saracens and the modern Arabs, in some parts of Turkey, and generally throughout Syria, the preparations of hemp in common use were, and are still, known by the names of haschisch, hashash, or husheesh. The most common form of haschisch, and that which is the basis of all others, is prepared by boiling the leaves and flowers of the hemp with water, to which a certain quantity of fresh butter has been added, evaporating the decoction to the thickness of a syrup, and then straining it through cloth. The *Pharmaceutical Journal, voi. i. p. 490. As is the case with the Syrian rue, Peganum harmala, described at the close of the preceding chapter. butter thus becomes charged with the active resinous principle of the plant, and acquires a greenish colour. This preparation retains its properties for many years, only be coming a little rancid. Its taste, however, is very disagreeable, and hence it is seldom taken alone, but is mixed with confections and aromatics-camphor, cloves, nutmegs, mace, and not unfrequently ambergris and musk-so as to form a sort of electuary. The confection used among the Moors is called el mogen, and is sold at an enormous price. Dawa mese is the name given by the Arabs to that which they most commonly use. This is frequently mingled, however, with other substances of reputed aphrodisiac virtues, to enable it to administer more effectually to the sensual gratifications, which are the grand object of life among many of the orientals. The Turks give the names of hadschy malach and madjoun to the compositions they use for purposes of excitement. According to Dr. Madden, the madjoun of Constantinople is composed of the pistils of the flowers of the hemp plant ground to powder, and mixed in honey with powdered cloves, nutmegs, and saffron. Thus the Indian hemp and its products are used in one or other of four different forms : First, The whole plant dried and known by the name of gunjah; or the larger leaves and capsules dried and known as bang, subjee, or sidhee; or the tops and tender parts of the plants collected after they have been in flower, and which in some places are called haschisch; or the dried flowers, called in Morocco kief, a pipe of which, scarcely the size of an English pipe, is sufficient to intoxicate; or the dried pistils of the flower as they enter into the composition of the madjoun of the Turks. These several parts of the dried plant, when newly gathered, have a rapid and energetic action. Their efficacy diminishes, however, by keeping. |