744 On the preparations of the Indian Hemp, or Gunjah. [Sept. 



leaves check diarrhoea, are stomachic, cure the malady named pitao, 

 and moderate excessive secretion of bile. He mentions the use of 

 Hemp smoke as an enema in strangulated hernia, and of the leaves as 

 an antidote to poisoning by orpiment. Lastly, he notices in the two 

 subsequent chapters varieties of Hemp which he terms the Gunjah 

 sativa and Gunjah agrestis. In the Hortus Malabaricus Rheedes' 

 article on the Hemp is a mere outline of Rumphius' statements. 



Among modern European writers the only information I could 

 trace on the medicinal use of Hemp in Europe, is in the recent work 

 of Ness v. Esenbeck, from which the following is an extract kindly 

 supplied by Dr. Wallich : — 



" The fresh herb of the Hemp has a very powerful and unpleasant 

 narcotic smell, and is used in the East in combination with opium, in 

 the preparation of intoxicating potions, &c. It is probable that the 

 nepenthe of the ancients was prepared from the leaves of this plant. 

 Many physicians, Hahnemann among them, prescribe the vinous 

 extract in various nervous disorders, where opium and hyoscyamus 

 used to be employed, being less heating and devoid of bitterness."* 



No information as to the medicinal effects of Hemp exists in 

 the standard works on Materia Medica, to which I have access. 

 Soubeiran, Fe6, Merat, and de Lens in their admirable dictionary; 

 Chevalier and Richard, Roques (Phytographie Medicale) ; Ratier and 

 Henry (Pharmacopee Francaise) ; and the Dictionnaire des Sciences 

 Medicales — are all equally silent on the subject. 



In Ainslie's Materia Indica, 2nd vol. we find three notices of the 

 plant and its preparations. 



At page 39 " Banghie," ( Tamul) with the Persian and Hindee syno- 

 nymes of " Beng" and " Subjee," is described as an intoxicating liquor 

 prepared with the leaves of the Gunjah, or Hemp plant. 



Under the head Gunjah, Ainslie gives numerous synonymes, and 

 tells that the leaves are sometimes prescribed in cases of diarrhoea ; and 

 in conjunction with turmeric, onions, and warm gingilie oil are made 

 into an unction for painful protruded piles. Dr. Ainslie also gives 

 a brief view of the popular uses and botanical peculiarities of the 

 plant. 



* Handbuch der Medicin : und Pharmac : Botanik, von F. Ness von Esenbeck et 

 Dr. Carl Ebermaier. vol. \, p. 338. 



