172 



THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



LEAF OF THE HEMP. 



in pools or streams of water, until they undergo a species of putre- 

 faction, and when large quantities are going through this process, 

 the stench arising from them is extremely offensive. By being thus 

 steeped in water, the glutinous matter of the plant is destroyed, 

 and the fibre is in a great 

 measure liberated. They are 

 then taken out of the water, 

 and spread out to dry and 

 bleach in the sun. The whole, 

 except the woody fibre, is 

 now become very brittle ; it 

 is then beaten and chopped 

 between stout pieces of wood 

 arranged for the purpose, 

 and the fibre separated from 

 the rest of the vegetable 

 matter. It is then combed, 

 and tied up into convenient- 

 sized bundles for home use 

 or sale. 



The roots of the hemp 

 are very liable to be attacked 

 by one of the species of that 

 curious tribe of parasitical 

 plants the Ordbanche, and, 



from its stem being branched, it is called the O. ramosa. It grows 

 from six to twelve inches high, is of a pale yellowish brown colour, 

 and bears a few scattered brown membranous scales in the place of 

 leaves ; its flowers are numerous, of a pale purplish colour. An 

 ordinary sized plant bears about sixty-six capsules, and in each there 

 are about 1100 small, but very beautiful-looking seeds; so that one 

 plant alone furnishes no less a number than 72,G00 seeds ! each of 

 which is capable of producing a plant, and as the seeds of the 

 Orabanche are known to remain a '^considerable time in the ground 

 without losing their vitality, the chances of their ultimate develop- 

 ment on the roots of the hemp are increased. 



I have observed, in a field where the hemp has grown, the roots 

 very much infested with this plant, but still the plants of the hemp 

 on which it grew were apparently uninjured by it. The field was 

 sown with wheat, turnips, and other crops, I believe, five suc- 

 ceeding years ; but not a plant of the Orobanche was to be found, 

 but hemp was again sown, and then there sprung up an abundance 

 of this pretty parasitical plant. 



The most remarkable property of the hemp, however, is to be 

 found in the resin, which in hot climates is derived from its juices. 

 The intoxicating properties of this substance, wliich is known by 

 the terms bang, subjea, churras, haschisch, etc., etc., have in all pro- 

 bability been well known from the most ancient times by many 

 races of men. Herodotus relates the use of it by the Scythians 

 (B.C. 75), and it answers exactly to the description of the plant 

 which Homer makes Helen administer to Telemachus to make him 



