The Indian hemp ( Cannabis indica) is essentially the same as that so largely cultivated for the sake of its fibre. It was at one time supposed that there were two different species, but a careful examination and comparison have established the fact that our common hemp is identical with the plant which from the earliest times has been celebrated in the East for its intoxicating properties. The hemp came to us originally from Persia, although it is started to be a native of India, but, like the tobacco and the potato, it has a wonderful power of adapting itself to exigencies of soil and climate, and it is now widely distributed over the surface of the globe. The sap contains a particular resinous substance in which the esteemed narcotic virtue resides. In northern countries the proportion of this resin is so small as to have escaped general observation, but in the warmer regions of the East it exudes naturally and in considerable quantities from every part of the plant. In Central India it is collected in the hot season by men clad in leather dresses, who run through the hemp fields brushing violently against the plants. The soft resin naturally adheres to the leather, and is subsequently scraped off and kneaded into balls. In other districts the dress is regarded as superfluous, and is dispensed with, the collectors appearing in the most primitive costume. The parts used in Asia for the purposes of intoxication, and in Europe as a medicine, are chiefly the leaves, the flowering top, and the resin. It forms the intoxicating "bang" of "hashish" of the Eastern nations, and is known in India as "the leaf of delusion," the "increaser of pleasure," the "cementer of friendship," the "cause of a reeling gait," and the "laughter-mover." It can boast of considerable antiquity, and is probably the "assauger of grief" of which Homer speaks as having been given to Helen of Telemachus in the house of Menelaus. It is said that during the wars of the Crusaders the soldiers of the Saracen army when intoxicated with this drug were in the habit of rushing into the camps of the Christians and committing great havoc, being themselves totally indifferent to death. These men were known as "hashasheens," from which is derived our familiar word "assassins."

There are several ways in which the cannabis indica may be employed for the production of its intoxicating effects. Sometimes it is smoked, but the most common form of hashish, and that which is the basis of most of the other preparations, is made by boiling the leaves and flowers in water, to which a certain proportion of fresh butter has been added. The decoction is evaporated to the thickness of a syrup, and is then strained through cloth, the butter in the process becoming impregnated with the active resinous principle of the plant. In this form it retains its active properties for many years, turning only slightly rancid with age. Its taste is very disagreeable, and it is consequently usually taken mixed with spices and other aromatic substances so as to form a confection of electuary. All preparations of Indian hemp are capable of producing intoxication , the most prominent effect of a large dose being a pleasant delirium, followed by more or less exhaustion. With Orientals the inebriation resulting from its use is usually of an agreeable of cheerful character, exciting the individual to laugh, dance, and sing, and to commit various extravagances. The drug is credited with the power of producing true happiness, an enjoyment purely moral and etherial, a gratification uncontaminated with "things rank and gross in nature." The hashish-eater is happy, not like the gourmand, when he has satisfied his appetite, but rather like him who has just received tidings of great joy.

Bayard Taylor, in his "Pictures of Palestine," gives a most interesting account of the effects produced on himself by a dose of hashish taken experimentally. He was not a habitual hashish-eater, having used it only once before in Egypt, and then in a very mild form. The experiment was made in a caravansary in Damascus, and the drug was freshly procured by his dragoman. He was unacquainted with the strength of the mixture or the dose in which it should be taken, and he accordingly commenced with a tea-spoonful, immediately followed by a hot cup of tea, to aid its absorption. This proved effectual, and a "fine nervous thrill," accompanied by a burning at the pit of the stomach, was suddenly experienced. The author in describing his sensations says:-

"The sense of limitation—of the confinement of our senses within the bounds of our own flesh and blood—instantly fell away. The walls of my frame were burst outward and tumbled into ruin ; and without thinking what form I wore—losing sight even of all idea of form—I felt that I existed throughout a vast extent of space. The blood, pulsed from my heart, sped through uncounted leagues before it reached my extremities ; the air drawn into my lungs expanded into the seas of limpid ether, and the arch of my skull was broader than the vault of heaven. Within the concave that held my brain were the fathomless deeps of blue ; clouds floated there, and the winds of heaven rolled them together, and there shone the orb of the sun. It was—though I thought not of that at the time—like a revelation of the mystery of omnipresence. It is difficult to describe this sensation, or the rapidity with which it mastered me. In the state of mental exhalation in which I was then plunged, all sensations as they rose suggested more or less coherent images. They presented themselves to me in a double form ; one physical, and therefore to a certain extent, tangible ; the other spiritual, and revealing itself in a succession of brilliant metaphors. The physical feeling of extended being was accompanied by the image of an exploding meteor, not subsiding into darkness, but continuing to shoot from its centre or nucleus—which corresponded to the burning spot at the pit of my stomach—incessant adumbrations of light that finally lost themselves in the infinity of space.

"My curiosity was now in a way of being satisfied ; the spirit (demon, shall I not rather say?) of hasheesh had entire possession of me. I was cast upon the flood of his illusions, and drifted helplessly whithersoever they might choose to bear me. The thrills which ran through my nervous system became more rapid and fierce, Accompanied with sensations that steeped my whole being in unutterable rapture. I was encompassed by a sea of light, through which played the pure harmonious colours that are born of light. While endeavouring, in broken expressions, to describe my feelings to my friends, who sat looking at me incredulously, I suddenly found myself at the foot of the great Pyramid of Cheops. The tapering courses of yellow limestone gleamed like gold in the sun, and the pile rose so high that it seemed to lean for support upon the blue arch of the sky. I wished to ascend it, and the wish alone placed me immediately upon its apex, lifted thousands of feet above the wheat fields and palm groves of Egypt. I cast my eyes downward, and to my astonishment saw that it was built, not of limestone, but of huge square plugs of cavendish tobacco! Words cannot paint the overwhelming sense of the ludicrous which I then experienced. I writhed on my chair in an agony of laughter, which was only relieved by the vision melting away like a dissolving view ; till out of my confusion of indistinct images, and fragments of images, another and more wonderful vision arose. I was moving over the desert, not upon the rocking dromedary, but seated in a barque, made of mother-of-pearl and studded with jewels of surpassing lustre. The sand was of grains of gold, and my keel slid through them without jar or sound. The air was radiant with excess of light, though no sun was to be seen. I enhaled the most delicious perfumes , and harmonies such as Beethoven may have heard in dreams, but never wrote, floated around me. The atmosphere itself was light, odour and music ; and each and all sublunated beyond anything the sober senses are capable or receiving. Before me, for a thousand leagues, as it seemed, stretched a vista of rainbows, whose colours gleamed with the splendour of gems—arches of living amethyst, sapphire, emerald, topaz, and ruby. By thousands, and tens of thousands, they flew past me, as my dazzling barge sped down the magnificent arcade ; yet the vista still stretched as far as ever before me. I revelled in a sensuous elysium which was perfect, because no sense was left ungratified. But beyond all, my mind was filled with a boundless feeling of triumph. My journey was that of a conqueror—not a conqueror who subdues his race either by love or by will, for I forgot that man existed—but one victorious over the grandest, as well as subtlest, forces of nature. The spirits of light, colour, odour, sound, and motion were my slaves, and having these I was master of the universe. The fulness of my rapture expanded the sense of time ; and though the whole vision was probably not more than five minutes in passing through my mind, years seemed to have elapsed while I shot under the dazzling myriads of rainbow arches."

Sometimes the most ludicrous ideas are produced by the use of hemp. One of Bayard Taylor’s friends imagined, whilst under the influence of the drug, that he was a steam engine. He suddenly sprang from his seat to the floor exclaiming, with a shriek of the wildest laughter, "Oh, ye gods! I’m a locomotive!" This was his ruling hallucination, and for the space of two or three hours he continued to pace to and fro, with a measured stride, exhaling his breath in violent jets, and when he spoke dividing his words into syllables, each of which he brought out with a jerk, at the same time turning his hands at his sides as if they were the cranks of imaginary wheels. The delusion must, in this case, have been very perfect, for having raised a pitcher of water to his lips, to quench his thirst, he put it down again without drinking, exclaiming , in the greatest excitement, "How can I fill my boiler when I’m letting off steam?"

It is stated that all persons are not similarly affected by Indian hemp, and that race and climate exert a modifying influence on its action. It has been estimated that it is habitually used for its intoxicating effects by from two or three hundred millions of the human race, and there is evidence to shoe that, when indulged in for a length of time, it produces loss of appetite and strength, and considerable mental weakness.

The preparation of the drug most commonly used for medicinal purposes is the "Extract of Indian Hemp," made form the flowering tops of the plant grown in India. It may be given in the form of pills (Pr.67), one to be taken three times a day.

It may be combined with iron when there is great pallor, or any other indication for the use of that drug.

Cannabis indica is a most valuable remedy for megrim or sick-headache. It acts like a charm, and is most serviceable in warding off attacks. It is useful in those severe forms in which the headache is continuous for weeks and weeks, but it is especially effective when from fatigue, anxiety, or change of life the attacks are increasing in frequency. In some cases of neuralgia benefit may be experienced from its use, but it is not one of our best remedies for this complaint.

 

PRESCRIPTIONS

67. -- Indian Hemp Pills
Extract of Indian hemp, half a grain.
Make a pill. One to be taken three times a day.