Mr. A. Christison on Cannabis indica. 491 



and repeated doses with benefit in treating disease, — that so large a 

 dose as 1 grains of churrus did not prove fatal to a dog. 



A very curious result of Dr. O'Shaughnessy's experiments is, that 

 carnivorous animals and fish very speedily underwent the effects of 

 hemp, while graminivorous animals were only very slightly affected 

 even by large doses of the drug. 



The physiological action of hemp is in the first place stimulant in 

 small doses, exciting the cerebral and digestive systems ; and secondly, 

 when given in larger quantity its effects are powerfully sedative and 

 antispasmodic ; and at last it induces insensibility. A consequence 

 of these properties is the extensive use of the compounds of hemp in 

 the East for the purpose of causing intoxication, and the effects cor- 

 respond to the natural disposition of the individual. In some mere 

 laziness and stupidity are induced, in others a pleasing state of reverie 

 without other remarkable condition ; and many are attacked with loud 

 laughter, fits of dancing and singing, venereal appetite, inclination to 

 quarrel, according to the various dispositions. The aphrodisiac action 

 is by most authors regarded as peculiar to the hemp, but on the 

 other hand there are some who regard this effect as merely depend- 

 ing on the disposition of the individual. 



But what really appears to be inherent in the plant is, that in all 

 there is a remarkable desire for food ; it is quite astonishing and at 

 the same time very ridiculous to observe an individual under the in- 

 fluence of Cannabis eagerly devouring his food without stopping, and 

 apparently without any intention of so doing. 



It has been noticed by Dr. O'Shaughnessy and others in India, 

 that in most cases the effect of hemp is powerfully aphrodisiac. After 

 the stage of excitement, sleep supervenes ; and on waking the experi- 

 menter returns to his natural state, except that the ideas are often 

 confused for a little, and in some cases vertigo is present to a slight 

 extent. An example of the great extent to which the use of hemp 

 is pushed in India is given by M. Liautaud, in his communication to 

 the Academie des Sciences, as follows : — 



"The grand feast of Dourga Pondja is terminated by the ceremony 

 of immersing the idol in the river ; after which the people return to 

 intoxicate themselves with a drink from the leaves of hemp, and the 

 whole ends in a scene of disgraceful drunkenness ;" and in allusion to 

 the physiological action, M. Liautaud remarks, that " there is peculiar 

 ecstasy without convulsion ;" that "the drinks excite the nervous sy- 

 stem more than the powder or smoke." "This intoxication has ap- 

 peared to him much less intense than that of opium and that produced 

 in the Chinese smoker ; the consequences are not so deadly, but the 

 moral degradation the same." 



Dr. O'Shaughnessy thus described the delirium induced by the 

 incautious use of hemp : — " The state is at once recognized by the 

 strange balancing gait of the patient, a constant rubbing of the hands, 

 perpetual giggling, and a propensity to caress and chafe the feet of 

 all bystanders of whatever rank. The eye wears an expression of 

 cunning and merriment which can scarcely be mistaken, there is no 

 increased heat or frequency of circulation, and the skin and general 

 functions are in a natural state." 



