330 VRTICACEM. 



marked anaestLesIa. The last-named effect led to the use of 

 cannabis by the Chinese in certain surgical operations. {StilU 

 and Mmsch.) 



Collection. — The flowering tops of the female plant are 

 collected, and, after having been allowed to wither in the open 

 air for about 48 hours, are arranged on a mat so as to form a 

 circle, and are trodden upon by a number of men, linked 

 together by resting their arms across each other's shoulders, 

 who walk round and round ; the object being to compress 

 the resinous flower tops into a compact mass. This process is 

 repeated several times after shifting and re-arranging the 



. In Bengal a round kind of Gdnja is prepared by 

 rolling the flowering tops under the feet^ and afterwards 

 between the palms of the hands. During the manufacture of 

 Gdn/a a quantity of powder separates^ which is known as Chur 

 or Rora; it is collected, mixed with an extract of the plant, and 

 made into round balls about the size of a musket ball, which are 

 used for smoking like Charas. A similar preparation is made 

 from the dust of the leaves ; it is popularly known as Ghams ; 

 eeveral varieties of it are found in the bazars. True Charm is 

 collected in Central Asia by shaking, rubbing, or beating the 

 resinous exudation from the flowering plant ; it separates as a 

 greyish powder, which, after being packed in bags, gradually 

 consolidates into an oily resinous mass. The genuine article is 

 rarely to be met with in commerce, that sold in the bazars 

 being largely adulterated by the middlemen in the Punjab 

 with the leaves and dtist of Bhang. Bhang is made by collecting 

 the leaves and drying them. All of these drugs are obtained 

 from the female plant, which the natives consider to be the 

 male, because it bears the seed ; all male plants are carefully 

 extirpated by the hemp doctor^ a person whose business it is to 

 prune the plants so as to produce the maximum amount of 

 flowering heads. 



Description. — Bhang 



form 



coarse powder ; the odour is peculiar. The leaves have long 



