Mr. A. Christison on Cannabis indica. 491 
and repeated doses with benefit in treating disease,—that so large a 
dose as 10 grains of churrus did not prove fatal to a dog. 
A very curious result of Dr. O’Shaughnessy’s experiments is, that 
carnivorous animals and fish very speedily underwent the effects of 
hemp, while graminivorous animals were only very slightly affected 
even by large doses of the drug. 
The physiological action of hemp is in the first place stimulant in 
small doses, exciting the cerebral and digestive systems ; and secondly, 
when given in larger quantity its effects are powerfully sedative and 
antispasmodic ; and at last it induces insensibility. A consequence 
of these properties is the extensive use of the compounds of hemp in 
the East for the purpose of causing intoxication, and the effects cor- 
respond to the natural disposition of the individual. In some mere 
laziness and stupidity are induced, in others a pleasing state of reverie 
without other remarkable condition ; and many are attacked with loud 
laughter, fits of dancing and singing, venereal appetite, inclination to 
quarrel, according to the various dispositions. The aphrodisiac action 
is by most authors regarded as peculiar to the hemp, but on the 
other hand there are some who regard this effect as merely depend- 
ing on the disposition of the individual. 
But what really appears to be inherent in the plant is, that in all 
there is a remarkable desire for food; it is quite astonishing and at 
the same time very ridiculous to observe an individual under the in- 
fluence of Cannabis eagerly devouring his food without stopping, and 
apparently without any intention of so doing. 
It has been noticed by Dr. O'Shaughnessy and others in India, 
that in most cases the effect of hemp is powerfully aphrodisiac. After 
the stage of excitement, sleep supervenes ; and on waking the experi- 
menter returns to his natural state, except that the ideas are often 
confused for a little, and in some cases vertigo 1s present to a slight 
extent. An example of the great extent to which the use of hemp 
is pushed in India is given by M. Liautaud, in his communication to 
the Académie des Sciences, as follows :— 
«The grand feast of Dourga Pondja is terminated by the ceremony 
of immersing the idol‘in the river; after which the people return to 
intoxicate themselves with a drink from the leaves of hemp, and the 
whole ends in a scene of disgraceful drunkenness ;’’ and in allusion to 
the physiological action, M. Liautaud remarks, that “there is peculiar 
ecstasy without convulsion ;” that ‘the drinks excite the nervous sy- 
stem more than the powder or smoke.’ ‘‘' This intoxication has ap- 
peared to him much less intense than that of opium and that produced 
ia the Chinese smoker; the consequences are not so deadly, but the ~ 
moral degradation the same.” 
Dr. O’Shaughnessy thus described the delirium induced by the 
incautious use of hemp :—‘‘ The state is at once recognized by the 
strange balancing gait of the patient, a constant rubbing of the hands, 
perpetual giggling, and a propensity to caress and chafe the feet of 
all bystanders of whatever rank. The eye wears an expression of 
cunning and merriment which can scarcely be mistaken, there is no 
increased heat or frequency of circulation, and the skin and general 
functions are in a natural state.” 
