1839.] On (he preparations of the Indian Hemp, or Gunjah. 741 



diffused the custom through Khorasan and Yemen. In proof of the 

 great antiquity of the practice, certain passages in the works of Hippo- 

 crates may be cited, in which some of its properties are clearly des- 

 cribed — but the difficulty of deciding whether the passages be spurious 

 or genuine, renders the fact of little value. Dioscorides (lib. ij. cap. 169,) 

 describes Hemp, but merely notices the emollient properties of its 

 seeds — its intoxicating effects must consequently be regarded as un- 

 known to the Greeks prior to his era, which is generally agreed to be 

 about the second century of the Christian epoch, and somewhat subse- 

 quent to the lifetime of Pliny. 



In the narrative of Makrizi we also learn that oxymel and acids 

 are the most powerful antidotes to the effects of this narcotic; next 

 to these, emetics, cold bathing, and sleep ; and we are further told that 

 it possesses diuretic, astringent, and especially aphrodisiac properties. 

 Ibn Beitar was the first to record its tendency to produce mental 

 derangement, and he even states that it occasionally proves fatal. 



In 780 m. e. very severe ordinances were passed in Egypt against the 

 practice: the Djoneina garden was rooted up, and all those convicted 

 of the use of the drug were subjected to the extraction of their teeth ; 

 but in 799 the custom re-established itself with more than original 

 vigour. Makrizi draws an expressive picture of the evils this vice then 

 inflicted on its votaries — " As its consequence, general corruption of 

 sentiments and manners ensued, modesty disappeared, every base and 

 evil passion was openly indulged in, and nobility of external form alone 

 remained to these infatuated beings." 



Section IV. 



Medicinal properties assigned to Hemp by the ancient Arabian and 

 Persian writers, and by modern European authors. 



In the preceding notice of Makrizi's writings on this subject we 

 have confined ourselves chiefly to historical details, excluding descrip- 

 tions of supposed medicinal effects. The Mukzun-ul-Udwieh and the 

 Persian MS. in our possession, inform us as to the properties which the 

 ancient physicians attributed to this powerful narcotic. 



5c 



