336 VPxTICACE^. 



neutralizing acids. When dissolved in very dilute H'^SO* 

 (1 gtt. in 5 cc), it gave a clear yellow solution and the following 



reactions : 



With Mayer's reagent, an abundant white precipitate. 



» 



>y 



u 



yy M 



j> n 



M >> 



u M 



»» y9 



^> » 



KI+I+H^O, an abundant brown precipitate. 



Phosphomolybdate of soda, an abundant white precipi- 

 tate. 



Solution of picric acid, an abundant yellow precipitate, 



K^C^O^, a yellowish-brown precipitate. 



NH^^OH, a yellowish-green precipitate. 



NaOH, a yellowish-green precij)itate. 



KOH, a yellowish- green precipitate. 



KI, a yellowish precipitate. 



tannic acid, a yellowish-brown precipitate. 

 Supposing this alkaloid of Indian hemp to be highly poisonous, 

 it is present in so small a quantity as to be of little if any 

 importance therapeutically. 



Toxicology. — Lyon says — '* In India, Cannabis appears to be 

 seldom, if ever, used for homicidal purposes. Fatal, accidental 



r 



or suicidal cases have^ however, been reported. Cases have also 

 been reported where the drug has, or appears to have, been 

 used for the purpose of facilitating the commission of an 

 offence. Thus Chevers mentions a case which occurred at 

 Ahmednagar, in which a woman, having first drugged with 

 majun, a child aged seven, afterwards murdered him for the 



Bake of his ornaments, {Med. Jurisp.y p, 225.) Harvey 

 reports a case in which charas appears to have been used 

 by a road-poisoner at Amritsar, in order to facilitate theft. 

 {Beng. Med. Leg. Rep., 1870-72, p, 268.) A case is also 

 reported by Dr. Cullen of Hoshangabad, in which majun 

 was given to a woman and her daughter, "not with the inten- 

 tion of causing death, but to effect a criminal purpose." In 

 these two females, the symptoms present exactly resembled 

 those of dhatura-poisoning, and it would appear that dhatura 

 Ib sometimes used as an ingredient oi majun. {Lyon, Med. 

 Jurisp., p. 260.) Ganja is frequently used as a poison in 

 Southern India, chiefly administered with criminal intent. In 



