546 CANNABINE^. 



With regard to the results of researches on other edible fruits, made 

 about the same time in the laboratory of Fresenius, it would appear 

 that the mulberry is one of the most saccharine, being only surpassed 

 by the cherry (10*79 of sugar) and grape (10'6 to ID'O).^ It is richer 

 in sugar than the following, namely : — 



Raspberries, yielding 4 per cent, of sugar and 1*48 of (malic) acid. 



Strawberries ,, 5"7 „ „ I'ol 



Whortleberries „ 5'8 „ „ 1'34 



Currants ,, 61 „ „ 2*04 



?> M 



)> )J 



?> }f 



The amount of free acid in the mulberry is not small, nor is it exces- 

 sive. The small proportion of insoluble matters is worthy of notice in 

 comparison, for instance with the whortleberry, which contains no less 

 than 13 per cent. The colouring matter of the mulberry has not 

 been examined. The acid is probably not simply malic, but in part 

 tartaric. 



.Uses — The sole use in medicine of mulberries is for the preparation 

 of a syrup employed to flavour or colour any other medicines. In 

 Greece, the fruit is submitted to fermentation, thereby furnishing an 



inebriating beverage. 



CANNABINEJE. 



HERBA CANNABIS. 



dian Hemv: F. Chanvre Tndien ; G. Hanfk 



Botanical Qv\g\n— Cannabis saliva L., Common Hemp, an annua! 

 dicecious plant, native of Western and Central Asia, cultivated in tem- 

 perate as well as in tropical countries. 



It grows wild luxuriantly on the banks of the lower Ural andToIga 

 near the Caspian Sea, extending thence to Persia, the Altai range, and 

 Northern and Western China. It is found in Kashmir and on the 

 Himalaya, growing 10 to 12 feet high, and thriving vigorously at an 

 elevation of GOOO to 10,000 feet. It likewise occurs in Tropical Aftic|>- 

 on the eastern and western coasts as well as in the central track 

 watered by the Congo and Zambesi, but whether truly indigenous is 

 doubtful. It has been naturalized in Bi-azil, north of Rio de ^f^f^' 

 the seeds having been brought thither by the negroes from Western 

 Africa. The cultivation of hemp is carried On in many parts of conti- 

 nental Europe, but especially in Central and Southern Russia. 



)mp plant grown in India exhibits certain differences as 



The hemp 



trasted with that cultivated in Europe, which were noticed by Kunj; 

 phius in the 17th century, and which (about A.D. 1790), induced bama 

 to claim f(ir tho fnrmn^ T.io.,+ ^-^.^ ,.„,.i, ^f ^ .i;,.+;K,r.f oriAnles. under i 



to claim for the for 



name of Cannabis 



ormer j)lant the rank of a distinct species, under ^^^^ 

 Isivdica. But the variations observed ^^ /^^what 



"p.v. ,^i yytuiiuwin %vatca. iiut the variations ouservuu ^" - ,> ^ 

 plants are of so little botanical importance and are so inconstant i 



the mamtenance of C. indica as distinct from G. sativa has 



abandoned by general consent. 



* The fig excepted, whicli is much more saccharine than any. 



