148 



URTICACE^E 



TEST. When made into a fl'ext. and assayed biologically, produces inco- 

 ordination when administered to dogs in a dose of not more than 0.03 mil 

 of fl'ext. per kilogramme of body weight. 



BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS. Stem 4 to 8 feet high, annual, tall, and roughish, 

 the inner bark consisting of tough fibers. Leaves palmately 5- to 7-divided, 

 the leaflets coarsely serrate. Flowers dioecious green, in compound, axillary 

 racemes or panicles. Akene globose, crustaceous. 



FIG. 63. Cannabis indica Branch. 



SOURCE. The plant is indigenous to Asia, from India northward to 

 Western China and Caspian Sea. Its cultivation has extended to 

 Central and Southern Europe, Russia, Brazil, and the Western 

 United States in fact, it may be said to grow in all civilized countries 

 on the globe. 



DESCRIPTION or DRUG. Cannabis indica occurs in commerce as bundles 

 of the flowering tops; the branches, digitate leaves, and the numerous 

 flower-bracts are more or less compressed, and agglutinated together 

 with a resinous exudation; color brownish-green; odor peculiar, 

 narcotic; taste bitterish, somewhat acrid. It is sold in Indian bazaars 

 for smoking purposes as "gunjah." The leaves, small stalks, and 

 capsules, dried separately and mixed with aromatics and fruits, form 

 the Arabian confection, "hashish, bhang, or siddhi." "Churrus" 



