486 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



the three states of dreaming, insanity, and hasheesh intoxication. In all 

 these external impressions are all-powerful, and the mind is subject, 

 unchecked, to the excitation of the senses. 



One great difference between intoxication by hasheesh and that by 

 alcohol and chloroform is that in the former, when the dose is light, 

 memory is intact : one remembers with marvelous exactitude all that 

 he saw, did, or said. But if the dose be strong, the loss of memory 

 is complete ; then, too, there is delirium, wild delirium. In such doses 

 hasheesh is dangerous, though I do not think a single case of death 

 from this cause has ever been recorded in Europe. But sometimes the 

 delirium has continued for several days, and assumed serious propor- 

 tions. No one should take hasheesh without having some person to 

 care for him while under the influence of the drug ; oftentimes the 

 hasheesh gives such a sense of lightness and agility that a person will 

 attempt to fly by leaping out of a window. 



In the East hasheesh is in very general use. It is nearly always 

 smoked in large pipes, which are passed from mouth to mouth. The 

 smoke is very agreeable, possessing a peculiar aromatic odor. On en- 

 tering certain Arab cafes at Cairo or at Damascus, one perceives this 

 penetrating odor, which gently intoxicates even those who do not 

 smoke. In this mild dose hasheesh produces a sort of sleepiness, 

 during which external objects assume fantastic forms, and all is like a 

 dream. The monotonous, nasal music has a gentle, tranquilizing effect 

 during this sleep. On the walls of the cafe are rudely-pictured cam- 

 els, grotesque human forms, or the surface is marked with lines, quad- 

 rangles, and triangles. In the minds of the hasheesh-smokers these 

 rude pictures awaken delightful illusions, and they fancy themselves 

 to be transported to Mohammed's paradise. To further amuse the indo- 

 lence of the customers, a chanter drones out a long story, semi-religious, 

 semi-heroic. The tale is in couplets, and between the couplets the 

 music strikes up again its interminable rhythm. Now and then a 

 smoker will rise staggering to his feet, and will give expression by 

 3 r ells to the delight with which he contemplates some fantastic image 

 that he sees. The rest of the company then laugh uproariously, but 

 anon will greet the last speaker with " Allah be with thee ! Allah be 

 praised ! " Never shall I forget this spectacle, which, in a dark 

 corner of the noisy bazaars of Damascus, with the dim light of a smoky 

 lamp, to the sound of the tambourine and guitar with three cords, en- 

 abled me to understand one side of Oriental life. 



