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PHARMACOGNOSY. 
mm. long, coarsely reticulate. Odor slight. Taste mild, 
becoming acrid. 
Constituents. — An amorphous, acrid, emetic alka- 
loid lobeline, which decomposes readily on heating, 
and is contained in greatest amount in the seeds ; a 
non - acrid but pungent volatile oil lobelianin; a 
crystalline neutral principle inflatin, and lobelic acid. 
The seeds contain in addition a fixed oil which, when 
obtained by pressure, is said to contain all the active 
principles of the drug. 
C AN X A HIS IXDICA (East Indian Hemp). 
The flowering tops of the pistillate plants of Cannabis 
sativa (Fam. Moraceae), an annual herb indigenous to 
Central andAVestern Asia, and cultivated in nearly all 
temperate regions for the fiber and seed. The drug, 
however, is obtained from plants cultivated in Tropical 
India. The flowering tops are made into more or less 
compressed masses, forming what is known as “ganja” 
or “guaza.” The best grade of ganja is obtained from 
unfertilized plants grown in Bengal. The leaves may 
be collected and dried separately and constitute what 
is known as “ bhang.” The resin which separates from 
ganja and bhang, or which is collected from the grow- 
ing plant, constitutes what is known as “ charas.” 
Cannabis sativa has become naturalized in the Central 
United States, and while the American drug was at one 
time official, -is now but little used in medicine. Fruit- 
ing spikes with mature seeds should be removed. 
Description. — Usually in compressed masses 5 to 14 
cm. long. Stem cylindrical, about 3 mm. in diameter, 
longitudinally furrowed and wrinkled, light green, 
pubescent, internodes 2 to 20 mm. long. Leaf digi- 
tately compound, with three to seven linear-lanceolate 
nearly sessile leaflets, apex of leaflets acuminate, base 
