PREPARATIONS  FROM  CANNABIS  SATIVA  IN  INDIA.  361 
other  parts).  Its  retail  price,  deprived  of  stalks,'  is  at  the  rate 
of  about  Rs.  200  per  maund  (80  lbs.  avoirdupois),  this  high  price 
being  due  to  the  weight  of  the  tax  imposed  upon  it  by  Govern- 
ment. Bhang  is  in  the  form  of  dried  leaves  without  stalks,  or 
at  least  with  only  fragments  of  stalks,  and  abounds  in  the  dried 
inflorescence,  apparently  female.  Its  color  is  a  dull  green ;  it 
has  not  much  odor,  and  is  greatly  deficient  in  resinous  matter ; 
its  intoxicating  properties  are  very  slight. 
Ganja  is  smoked  somewhat  in  the  same  way  as  tobacco  ;  its 
continued  use  invariably  brings  on  severe  asthma.  Bhang  is 
not  smoked,  but  is  ground  up  with  water  into  a  pulp,  and  mixed 
with  other  ingredients,  so  as  to  make  a  thick  drink,  called  Subzee, 
reputed  to  be  cooling,  and  highly  conducive  to  health  ;  people 
accustomed  to  use  it  enjoy  excellent  health,  in  fact  never  get  sick. 
Now  it  has  always  been  a  question  with  me  whether  the  plants 
yielding  (Janja  and  Bhang  are  identical ;  see  O'Shaughnessy's 
Dispensatory,  &c.  The  natives  say  that  Ganja,  like  the  Rajshahye 
drug,  cannot  be  manufactured  here  nor  in  any  of  the  neighboring 
districts.  Bhang  grows  in  abundance,  and  is  absolutely  wild  in 
the  Bhagulpoor  and  Tirhoot  districts,  springing  up  everywhere 
in  the  former  like  a  weed.  With  the  view  of  inquiring  into  the 
matter,  I  have  raised  several  Bhang  plants  in  my  garden  this 
year  ;  they  are  now  coming  into  flower.  The  plants  which  have 
completely  flowered  are,  with  the  exception  of  one,  to  all  intents 
and  purposes,  monoecious,  while  all  the  botanical  books  I  have 
access  to,  make  Cannabis  strictly  dioecious.  The  single  plant, 
which  appears  to  bear  only  female  flowers,  is  not  completely  in 
flower  yet.  The  male  flowers  come  last  and  may  yet  appear,  or 
I  may  have  overlooked  them.  You  will  be  interested,  I  think, 
in  examining  the  inflorescence,  and  therefore  I  enclose  some 
specimens.  [They  appear  to  be  true  Cannabis  sativa. — Ed.]  It 
is  requisite  to  ascertain  whether  the  Rajshahye  plant  presents 
the  same  character,  and  I  have  therefore  sent  to  Rajshahye  for 
specimens. 
You  will  perceive  that  this  subject  is  curious,  as  bearing  upon 
the  alleged  fertilization  of  female  flowers  of  the  dioecious  class, 
in  the  absence  of  the  male  plant ;  for  example,  Ccelebogyne, 
Lychnis  dioica,  &c.  If  dioecious  plants  have  a  tendency,  under 
certain  circumstances  of  soil  and  climate,  to  become  monoecious, 
