282 URTICACE^. 



D. Cannabie^, (Cannabinefe, Bl.) 

 (^Lindl. Nat. Syst. p. 177.) 



Canxabis, L. (Spreng. si/st. S, p. 894, No. 3178;— Endl. gen. pi. \, p. 

 286.) Hemp. 

 \. sativa, L. (Spreng. syst. 3, p. 90S i—Roxb. fl. ind. 3, p. 772; — J. 

 Grah. Cat. B. pi. p. 187 ;—Rheed. 10, t. 60. (male,) ^. 61. (female.) Can- 

 nabis indica, Rumph. 5, t. 77.) ^f?1 Gunja. © Siberia. Tauria. Scy- 

 thia. Thracia. (Herod. 4. 74.) whence the Hemp-plant was introduced 

 into the West by the inhabitants of Marseilles ; at least Hiero, the 

 Syracusan, is said (Athen. 5. 40.) to have received it from the river 

 Rhodus for ropes. Fl. small, greenish- white, and fr. the whole year. 

 In India cultivated every where in the plains, near villages, for the 

 sake of the intoxicating liquor called bhang, which is prepared from 

 it, also for the leaves which are smoked to cause intoxication. " In 

 the Himalayas it is indigenous, extremely abundant at elevations of 

 6-7000 feet, and of very luxuriant growth, rising sometimes to a 

 height of ten and twelve feet. Here though it likewise affords an 

 intoxicating drug, it is also known for the tenacity of its fibre, which 

 is employed by the mountaineers in Ghurwal and Sirmore for making 

 a coarse sackcloth, and strong ropes for crossing their rivers." (Royle.) 

 After so many experiments have been made to discover an efficient 

 substitute for hemp, it is not a little remarkable that no attempts 

 have been made to obtain the plant for commercial purposes, espe- 

 cially as its abundance and use in the North of India were fully known 

 to Dr. Roxburgh, some twenty- six years ago, and by him placed 

 before the public. The Grass -cloth of China would seem to be made 

 of hemp, which the Malays use for sewing- thread and twine, and 

 for making fishing-nets. That the hemp plant is highly narcotic, 

 producing giddiness, symptoms of incipient intoxication, rush of 

 blood to the head, bleeding from the nose, strangury, aphrodisia- 

 cal sensations, &c. is well known. Lately, however, it appears, 

 from Dr. O'Shaughnessy's experiments with the churrus or hemp- 

 resin, that this substance is an efficient remedy against traumatic 

 tetanus. {On the preparations of the Indian Hemp, or Gunjah, 

 their effects on the animal system in health, and their utility in 

 the treatment of tetanus, and other convulsive disorders. Calcutta, 

 1839.) 



E. CHLOROPUoiiEiE, Gaudich. 

 {Lindl. Nat. Syst. p. 177.) 



Antiaris, Leschen. {Spreng. syst. 1, p. 374, No. 550 ; — Endl. gen. pi. p. 

 280.) 

 1. toxicaria, Leschen. {Spreng. syst. 1, p. 492 ; — Rumph. 2, t. 87 ; — Bl. 

 Rumph. p. 56, t. 22, 23.) The Upas-tree of Java. L. b Contains a 

 most deadly poison that depends on the presence of Strychnia. Has 

 been introduced in H. C. G. Fl, .'' 



