Mr. A. Christison on Cannabis indica. 487 
that in Central India and Nepal men in leathern dresses brush forcibly 
through the plants, and the resin which adheres to them is then 
scraped off. And Dr. M‘Kinnon states that in Nepal the resin is 
gathered on the backs of naked coolies. Dr. Royle says, “The glan- 
dular secretion is collected from the plants on the hills, by the natives 
pressing the upper part of the young plants between the palms of 
their hands and scraping off the secretion which adheres.” 
V. In the preparation of the electuaries, &c., butter is used as the 
means of separating the active principle, consequently these compounds 
are very apt to become rancid. They are thus described by M.Charnac 
in the ‘ Annuaire de Thérap.’ for 1846 :— 
1. Preparations mixed with honey or melted sugar. 2. A more 
active form called hachich kava-mesk (musked drug), containing musk, 
essence of roses and almonds, of pasty consistence, and of the colour 
of impure honey ; the quantity used being about the size of a walnut. 
3. Two kinds are found at Smyrna, called Israél, the one a fine 
powder, the other a roll of firm mastic consistence. 4. A black 
round kind has great aphrodisiac repute among the Fellahs, but in 
this case it is found that cantharides is added to increase the effect. 
At Cairo the compound from which the various conserves are pre- 
pared is thus made. Equal parts of well sifted haschich, butter and 
water are put in a vessel on the fire; after some boiling the water is 
dissipated ; the residue is twisted in a cloth to isolate the fatty matter, 
and to this the different spices are added. 
Haschich is to the Arabians what opium is to the Turks and 
Chinese. Hachach, signifying in Arabian drunkard, is the epithet 
applied to those who eat haschich. 
The Arabians smoke the powdered plant, free of seeds, which con- 
tain fatty, disagreeable-tasted matter, along with tobacco. 
VI. Landerer describes a tincture of hemp used at Cairo, called 
Chatsraky, made by infusing in spirit for three weeks with a gentle 
heat, the varnish-covered bark sliced from the stems when the plants 
are in flower. 
As the activity of the preparations of hemp depends on the pre- 
sence of a resinous varnish on the leaves, and consequently as the 
most active of these is found to contain the largest quantity of resin, 
it becomes a matter of great importance to decide upon the proper 
period for collecting the plant. 
M. Gastinell, an apothecary at Cairo in 1849, states that he found 
the active powers of hemp to depend on a resinous matter which forms 
on the leaves as the seeds ripen. Again, M. de Charnac observes, 
that in Egypt the tops of the plants are used at the end of flowering, 
but before eomplete maturity of the seeds. And Mr. Jameson, Di- 
rector of the Botanic Gardens at Saharunpore, makes a like state- 
ment in a letter dated 17th August, 1849. As this letter contains 
an interesting account of Hemp in that part of India, it has appeared 
to me to be well worthy of a place in this essay. He says—“<In 
Kimaon and Gurhwal Cannadis is grown in large quantities, partly 
in order to obtain its resinous secretion, and partly for its bark, from 
which a strong coarse cloth called Bungila is manufactured ; it forms 
