HEMPSEED AND BHANG 



decay), " scotched " (that is the hard wood must be broken 

 and removed), and " heckled." 



This last process is familiar to all who are interested in 

 political matters. It consists of being drawn on hard points 

 difficult to traverse and of a very fine and sharp character ! 

 Hemp is the commonest fibre for string, rope, etc. ; it used 

 to be employed for sailmaking by the Romans. Catherine 

 de' Medici is said to have had two chemises made of hemp. 



Hempseed is much appreciated by poultry and birds of all 

 kinds (which makes both harvesting and sowing rather diffi- 

 cult) ; but the chief use of the seed is to furnish a fatty oil 

 used for soft soap, lighting, and painting. The remains, 

 after taking the oil, are employed as a cattle food, but it 

 does not form a satisfactory cake. 



The chief interest of hemp is, however, the drug that is 

 made from the resinous juice. No doubt this has the effect 

 of keeping off dangerous insects, for it is said that plants of 

 hemp even keep off insects from other plants planted close 

 beside them. 



Sometimes the leaves and stalks are dried in order to 

 make the drug " bhang."" Many allusions to this substance 

 are found in Eastern poetry, where it is called the " Leaf of 

 Delusion,'' "Increaser of Pleasure,'' and "Cementer of Friend- 

 ship," but madness is the result of addiction to its use. 



The resin is collected by making the labourers put on 

 leather aprons, and then run up and down vigorously 

 through the hempfields. The resin is then scraped off the 

 leather, or off their skins if they prefer to do without 

 leather. It is either eaten or smoked. Burton describes 

 how at every cottage door in East Africa the Arabs may be 

 seen smoking bhang with or without tobacco. " It produces 

 a violent cough ending in a kind of scream after a few long 



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