706 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[March 4,1871. 
collect as their time permits; hence the difference in 
the yield of these drugs between one year and another. 
They are disposed of by them to the nearest country 
storekeeper, who on his part consigns them to the whole¬ 
sale dealer with whom he may happen to do business. 
I am told by reliable informants that the drugs collected 
in the Red River districts seldom reach our markets ex¬ 
cept by way of New Orleans and New York, and that 
when they do reach us direct, they are generally inferior 
in quality. One of our principal wholesale drug-houses 
buys its supplies of indigenous drugs exclusively from 
a New York firm, and nearly all of the others de¬ 
pend upon the same firm when they cannot obtain bar¬ 
gains nearer home. When first making inquiries 
regarding the collection of indigenous drugs, I met with 
the invariable response, “ Inquire in New York.” 
Regarding the method of collecting and preparing the 
drugs for market, I can give you but little direct in¬ 
formation. I have before me a circular addressed to 
drug-gatherers by one of our principal Western dealers 
in indigenous drugs, from which I extract the follow¬ 
ing:— 
“ Most medicinal roots are perennial (that is, the roots 
continue more than two years, whether the leaves con¬ 
tinue or not), and should be gathered any time between 
maturity or decay of the leaves or flowers, in the summer 
or fall, and the vegetating of the succeeding spring. 
Biennial roots, or those that live but two years (like 
burdock and yellow dock), should be collected of the 
growth of one year,—any time between September and 
the time they commence running up to seed in the fol¬ 
lowing spring. 
“ Barks should be gathered as soon after they will 
peel in the spring as possible and all the moss carefully 
removed. It is usually best to fell the tree and remove 
the moss while the bark is on the tree. 
“ Leaves and herbs should be collected just before they 
mature and before they begin to fade ; the stems and 
stalks rejected, as when dry they are a hard, woody 
substance, nearly inert. 
“ Flowers when they first open ; and 
“ Seeds just before they are quite ripe, as they, like 
leaves and flowers, ripen after being gathered. 
“ Roots should be thoroughly cleansed from dirt and 
foreign substances, and if large, like Indian turnip, etc., 
sliced. 
“ All the above articles should be dried; the sooner 
the better. For the first few days it is best to expose 
them to the sun and air, avoiding any dew or dampness; 
then spread around on floor and shelves, watching them 
to see that they do not heat by being piled too thick, till 
nearly dry. Most roots require from three to six weeks 
to dry sufficiently to be safe. 
“ For shipping, it is best to pack them hard in coffee- 
sacks or large gunnies and burlaps; the next best is 
good flour-barrels.” 
These circulars appear to be distributed with great 
circumspection among herb-gatherers and country stores 
throughout the Southern and Western States, and in all 
probability serve as a guide to the gatherers. The few 
gatherers with whom I have been able to converse per¬ 
sonally, proved very slow to give information, but from 
their conversation I judge that they preserve their col¬ 
lections on the general principles above specified. 
It is a matter of sincere regret with me that I have 
been unable to do more than the foregoing towards the 
solution of this question; but I feel sufficient interest in 
it not to let the matter rest where it now stands, and shall 
do all in my power to give a better answer at the next 
meeting of the Association .—Proceedings of the American 
Pharmaceutical Association , 1870. 
Cure for Corns. —A slice of lemon, secured by a 
strip of cloth to the part affected, will generally have a 
beneficial effect .—New York Druggists' Circular. 
- - - - ■ ■ ■ - ■ ■ ■ ■ — - 1 - 
BHANG- AND OPIUM-EATING IN INDIA.* 
The saying that every race finds out for itself some 
stimulant—alcohol for Northern Europe, coffee for 
Arabia, bhang for India, opium for China—is trite 
enough and, on the whole, true enough. In India, 
where the common hemp plant ( Cannabis sutiva) grows 
freely and acquires properties unknown here, its use as 
a stimulant and narcotic is of high antiquity. It is pre¬ 
pared in various modes, and is swallowed or smoked—as 
churrus (the concrete resinous juice of the plant), as 
gunjah (the dried plant retaining its resinous juice) and 
as bhang (the larger leaves and capsules without the 
stalks). So different are the effects of these from those 
produced by the home-grown plant, that it has been 
customary to speak of the Indian variety as Cannabis 
indica, as if the species were different; but it is not so. 
The name “ bhang ” is also given to a narcotic liquor 
prepared from the hemp, which in this form is largely 
consumed. Fi’om it is prepared a sweetmeat called ma- 
joom, which also contains ghee and sugar. The bhang¬ 
drinking is had recourse to because alcoholic beverages 
are forbidden by both the Hindu and Mohammedan re¬ 
ligions, and gunjah-smoking is used for a like purpose. 
Gunjah is never smoked alone, but is kneaded with 
tobacco in the palm of the hand, and when lighted in 
the pipe the smoke is inhaled in long whiffs. As usual, 
under such circumstances, a speedy renewal of the dose 
is necessary to prevent subsequent depression, and so 
the hemp-eater, like the opium-eater, soon becomes con¬ 
firmed in the use, or rather the abuse, of the drug. 
Whilst it lasts, the intoxication produced by hemp is of 
a pleasant kind—a feeling of lightness and as if the 
spirit was no longer connected with the dull body, is 
common. It was the drug employed by tho Old Man of 
the Mountains to give his followers a foretaste of Para¬ 
dise, and thus secure their infallible obedience. As 
his orders usually were for the murder of some offender 
in cool blood, his followers, in course of time, acquired 
the name of Haschischi, modified into our modem word 
assassins. 
The effect of the drug on the constitution is marked, 
but not so great as that of opium. The gunjah-smoker 
is dry and rickety in his appearance, his eyes sunken, 
his cheeks flattened, and of a generally faded look. 
These effects are in a great measure obviated or, at 
least, mitigated by the use of a diet containing an abun¬ 
dance of fat; but a hemp-eater or smoker is never 
stout. Dr. Chevers tells us that in practice he has 
found that an opium-smoker, when sick, must have his 
dose, or he dies, but that the gunjah-smoker may have 
his drug cut off with impunity, except in cases where 
every means of alleviating pain is necessary. In con¬ 
nection with this subject, it may be interesting to note 
that long ago this substance, in the form of majoom, 
was used as a kind of anaesthetic, especially in making 
eunuchs and in circumcision. 
One would have expected that, in a country like India, 
the intoxication produced by the drug would frequently 
have been seized upon by the criminal classes for the pur¬ 
pose of robbery ; but this does not seem to be often the 
case, although in a former article we pointed out that 
the drug was occasionally mixed with datura for that 
purpose. As a result of the prolonged and continuous 
use of the drug, complete loss of speech is sometimes 
noted, but is not very common. Much more frequent, as 
a result of the practice, is the insane condition in which 
the individual is prompted to acts of savage violence. 
A few days’ quiet generally ends in restoring the mental 
* ‘ A Manual of Medical Jurisprudence for India, including 
the Outline of a History of Crime against the Person in In¬ 
dia.’ By Norman Chevers, M.D., Surgeon-Major H.M. 
Bengal Army, Principal of the Calcutta Medical College, 
Professor of Medicine and Senior Physician in the College 
Hospital, etc. Calcutta: Thacker, Spink and Co. Pp. 861. 
