442 Experiences of Haschisch. 



said, ce They are only two forms of the same fact/' and I laughed 

 aloud, and they all laughed with me — the umbrellas, I mean — 

 for my umbrella hung on a hat rail, and it peopled the 

 room with offspring, and away went the furniture and orna- 

 ments and books, all carrying umbrellas, dancing, whistling, 

 and splashing the water from the pools upon me till I stamped 

 my foot and smothered myself with sparks, and planets, and 

 auroras, and sank back with a pain in the head that literally 

 dispelled the delusions, and created a momentary alarm. I 

 was now beset with prickings; I seemed to swell; I had a 

 difficulty in breathing — and yet it was a pleasant one. I put 

 the tobacco away, inspected everything about me, and thought 

 of trying the effects of reading aloud, and of attempting to 

 sing ; but I found my strength gone, I was spell-bound, so 

 light I could not govern my movements, and by degrees I 

 began to discover that the illusion was over, that it had left 

 me tremulous, and with a low pulse, and requiring refresh- 

 ment for my recovery. The first act on fairly reviewing the 

 case was to seize the fragment of Haschisch that remained and 

 fling it up the chimney. It went up, and did not even return 

 again ; I saw it go into the sky and become a bird, for the 

 chimney was glass, and I could see through all its windings. 

 I now felt that madness had really come upon me, and I began 

 to bathe my temples and drink soda-water, and soon discovered 

 that I had had a second paroxysm, for there lay the Haschisch 

 among the shavings in the fire-place. I applied a match, 

 there was a glorious blaze, and 1 now saw it dissolve into 

 a grand procession of coloured lights, that died away and 

 left me quietly and collectedly reflecting on the whole affair. 

 This was the third paroxysm. There was yet one more, 

 but of a trivial nature, and I had now done with Haschisch. 



Having at that same period of my life frequently indulged 

 in the use of opium, I can compare its effects with those of 

 Haschisch, and I notice this great distinction as regards my own 

 experiences: — With opium the mind and body become alike con- 

 tented. Pain soon ceases after commencing to smoke a pipe in 

 which a fragment of opium is mixed with the tobacco. On 

 the other hand, Haschisch causes pain, and many unpleasant 

 sensations are mingled with the most delightful of the visions 

 it presents. Another distinction is that opium always causes 

 some amount of nausea when its pleasurable effects are over. 

 Haschisch leaves a slight depression, but the stomach does not 

 appear to be affected ; but this might be different if the use of 

 Haschisch became habitual. Another distinction is, that the 

 mind can pursue a train of thought logically while influenced 

 by opium, but Haschisch causes so many alternations of feeling, 

 that sequence is destroyed. 



