208 HERBS 



The tops of these are collected, allowed to wilt, and then pressed, by 

 treading them under the feet, into more or less compact flattened 

 masses. This forms the drug known on the London market as 

 ' guaza ' ; it is exported from Bombay, formerly in rounded canvas 

 bales called ' robbins,' but now more frequently in wooden cases. 



In the Calcutta districts a somewhat different procedure is adopted. 

 The tops that are collected are short, and, after being allowed to wilt, 

 they are rolled under the feet of men, who support their weight by 

 grasping a horizontal bamboo pole. In this way rounded, instead of 

 flattened masses are produced. This variety is known as ' round ' 

 or Bengal ganjah (or guaza) ; it is more active than the flat Bombay 

 drug, but is not seen in commerce in England, such quantities as are 

 imported being immediately re-exported to the West Indies for the 

 use of the coolies. 



The larger leaves and young twigs collected and dried form the 

 drug known as ' bhang ' ; it is chiefly consumed in India, made up 

 into an electuary. 



In addition to these drugs the resin secreted by the plant is also 

 roughly collected by beating the plants on cloths to which the resin 

 adheres ; in this way a greenish brown soft mass is obtained, which 

 may be freed from vegetable debris by warming and pressing through 

 cloths. This resin is known as ' charas ' or ' churrus,' and, like ganjah, 

 is usually smoked. The Pharmacopoeia guards against the use of the 

 plants thus exhausted by limiting the drug to that ' from which the 

 resin has not been removed.' 



All these varieties of the drug are largely used in India for producing 

 an agreeable form of intoxication. 



Description. In English commerce the drug usually occurs in 

 flattened, compressed, rough masses of dull dusky green colour, harsh 

 and resinous to the touch. Sometimes the tops are only 5 to 10 cm. 

 in length, but more frequently they are 15 to 30 cm., the former being 

 preferred. They consist of a straight stem with ascending branches, 

 longitudinally furrowed, and bearing numerous, small, curved, ap- 

 pressed hairs and occasional glands. The hairs are characterised 

 not only by their shape, but by being enlarged at the base and 

 containing cystoliths. 



The leaves on the drug (that is, the upper leaves of the plant) are 

 alternate ; the lower are digitate, and consist of three or five linear- 

 lanceolate leaflets with distinctly serrated margins ; the upper are 

 simple. The upper part of the stem and branches bear numerous 

 flowers or fruits. 



The pistillate flowers are small and consist of a single ovary, sur- 

 rounded by a perianth and supported by an ovate bract, beyond which 

 two long brown stigmas, easily visible under a lens, protrude. The 

 fruit is ovoid, slightly reticulated, and contains a single oily seed. 



