POISONS OF THE INTELLIGENCE. 483 



very difficult to find out any more concerning the Oriental modes of 

 preparing hasheesh ; still, though our pharmaceutical information be in- 

 sufficient, we are pretty familiar with the psychic effects of the drug. 

 I have taken it myself again and again in various doses, and have ad- 

 ministered it to many of my friends, and whatever I shall have to say 

 concerning its properties will be based upon my own observations. 

 Taken in moderate doses, it produces a kind of intoxication that is 

 very pleasant, highly advantageous for a correct knowledge of intellect- 

 ual phenomena, and at the same time free from serious consequences. 

 The worst that is to be expected when one takes either dawamesk or 

 hafioun in suitable quantities is slight disorder of the digestion, and a 

 little sense of heaviness and of cerebral excitation. 



If one has not been told what to expect, the first effects of hasheesh 

 pass by unnoticed ; these consist of a certain motor and sensor excita- 

 bility of the spinal cord. There is a twitching in the nape of the neck, 

 the back and the legs, and a shivering that extends over the whole 

 body. It is as though there were puffs of hot and cold air rising to the 

 head; but withal there is a vague sense of comfortableness, and one 

 finds himself in a state of great good-humor, as is the case of most per- 

 sons after the absorption of a certain amount of alcohol. By degrees 

 the excitation of the spinal cord produces effects that are more charac- 

 teristic, as muscular exertion of every kind, walking, stretching, dan- 

 cing, lifting heavy weights ; but meantime the mind is calm. Sudden- 

 ly, however, on hearing some chance remark, the patient is seized with 

 a fit of laughing without any apparent cause, and this continues for a 

 length of time. This having passed, he comes to himself again, and 

 recognizes the first effects of the poison. 



Ideas now come crowding on his brain, one following another with 

 bewildering rapidity. Thoughts come and go without any apparent 

 law of succession or concomitance, but in reality they are governed by 

 the immutable laws of the association of ideas and impressions. The 

 patient thinks the persons he sees around him very slow and dull. 

 Language is not swift enough to give expression to his rapid thoughts. 

 There is, as it were, an hypertrophy of ideas. What in the normal state 

 would cause very trifling discomfort, now becomes an unbearable evil, 

 and the patient cries and begs for commiseration. With the air of a 

 tragic actor he will tell you that it rains, or that the wind blows. One's 

 self-esteem is magnified, and he looks down with scorn upon the igno- 

 rance of others. 



Thus, then, to say nothing as yet of the change in sensation, the 

 moral person is entirely transformed. I am not aware that the resem- 

 blance of these phenomena to those of hysteria has ever been noticed. 

 In general, hysterical women are very intelligent, with brilliant ideas 

 and a lively imagination ; but their mental activity labors under two 

 defects, namely, the exaggeration of the feelings and the absence of 

 will. The same thing is seen in the use of hasheesh. 



