OEGANIC POISONS AND DEUGS 127 



of crime. In that country three forms are used to secure 

 pleasant dreams — viz., bhang, the powdered ears and stalks; 

 ganja, the dried flowering tops ; and charas, the resin ex- 

 tracted from the green plant. The first two are used to 

 prepare drinks and sweetmeats, and the third (charas), or 

 a similar preparation, sometimes containing datura and 

 called ' majun,' is used for smoking. 



Ganja is used in India as an anodyne — e.g., in the 

 shoeing of, or surgical operation on, the horse, and is nearly, 

 if not equally, as good as morphine. Kutherford, who used 

 the drug in India against equine colic, states that it is as 

 rapid as opium; and has the advantage of not arresting the 

 action of the bowels or causing delirium. It is also stated 

 that the duration of the narcosis is longer. 



The toxic doses for animals must be large. In the 

 literature there are few, if any, references to poisoning of 

 animals either by the plant or extract. Hobday, quoted by 

 Finlay Dun, states that doses of 10 grains to 2 drachms of 

 extract given to dogs, cause stupor, with paralysis of the hind 

 quarters, which might last two days, but are not fatal. 



P. Smith and Eutherford both used Indian extract in 

 veterinary work, and the latter (quoted by Finlay Dun) 

 observed the effects of doses of 1 to 8 drachms in bolus to 

 horses. Only the 1-drachm doses caused preliminary 

 excitement. The general symptoms were dulness and 

 sleepiness, pulse and respiration slowed, food neglected. 

 When trotted, the animals moved as if drunken, sideways 

 and unsteadily. Defsecation was suppressed, and the 

 dulness lasted up to thirty-five hours, after which recovery 

 ensued. 



From these valuable observations it is clear that fatal 

 poisoning by Indian hemp need not be seriously apprehended 

 in its applications to animals. 



SANTONIN AND WORMWOOD. 



OeeuFrenee. — The shrubs santonica {Artemisia maritima) 

 and wormwood {Artemisia absinthium) of the order Compo- 



