55 



Thcro are two distinct ways of preparing the drug for use. In 

 the first, tlie leaves are picked and put out to dry in the siui. until 

 they become crisp, when they are reduced to a powder by rubbing 

 between the hands. The fibrous ribs and veins of the leaves being 

 removed during the process. The resulting powder may then be 

 stored for future use. 



The dose was, characteristically described by an old Malay to be, 

 about ionr-duit ayioiia weight of the powder. A diiit ayam is a 

 small copper coin having on the obverse the figure of a cock. It was 

 issued by the East India Company at several dates at the beginning of 

 the last century. They weigh on an average 34 grains each, so that the 

 dose would be 136 grains, or, say, 2 j drams Apothecai-y's weight. The 

 powder is mixed with cold water in a cup and the whole drunk ; or an 

 infusion is made with hot water and it is taken like tea. It is usual 

 to take it twice a day, before meals. 



The second method of preparation is to dry the leaves as before 

 in the sun, then boil them in water so as to form an infusion. This is 

 strained and the clear filtrate is evaporated to a sirupy consistency. 

 This extract can be kept a long time, and is usually stored in the little 

 horn boxes used by opium smokers for keeping prepared opium in. It 

 is called chandu by the Malays, which is also the name of opium when 

 prepared for smoking. This extract of hiah is mixed with hot water 

 before taking. The dose is said to be one Imn, which is equal to 5.83 

 grains Troy. Some people just put it on to the tongue and wash it 

 down with a drink of water. 



The extract may also be smoked, somewhat in the same way as 

 prepared opium. The pipe employed for this purpose is made of the 

 bamboo known to the Malays as hnloh minyah (Oa'ytennnthera sinvata), 

 and is 14^ inches long and ^ths inch in diameter. It is closed by 

 a natural septum at one end, and is open at the other, this is the end 

 which is applied to the mouth in use. Near the closed end a brass 

 tube is inserted, which projects at right angles to the bamlioo, and is 

 If inch long, with a liore of j inch in diameter. There is in the 

 Museum collection an opium pipe of Patani pattern, almost exactly 

 similar to the one described above, only the bowl, if it may be so called, 

 is of tin in place of brass. The extract is prepared for smoking by 

 mixing it intimately with the finely shi-edded leaves of the Palas palm 

 {Licuala pahidosa) , cut in the same way, and with the same implements, 

 as native-grown tobacco. This mixture, which is a sticky, fibrous> 

 brown mass, is called madat. 



A lamp on a tall foot completes the outfit. A specimen in the 

 Perak Museum has a wooden base in the form of a conventionalized 

 four-lobed flower, of 5 5 inches square and 1| inch thick. The upper 

 part consists of a piece of bamboo 2f inches in diameter, cut so that 

 the upper portion forms a shallow cup, closed beneath by a septum. 



