NEPENTHES.
“Bright Helen mixed a mirth-inspiring bowl,
Tempered with drugs of sovereign use, to assuage
The boiling bosom of tumultuous rage;
To clear the cloudy front of wrinkled care,
And dry the tearful sluices of despair.”
POPE’S _Homer_.
The influence of climate in modifying the characters of plants is
a circumstance known to all botanical students. The same plant, in
temperate regions and under the tropics, exhibits different properties,
or, we should rather say, in one instance developes more highly certain
properties which in the other lie nearly dormant. The newly-introduced
sorghum, from which we have been promised an unfailing supply of
excellent sugar, fails in the North of France to reach that degree of
maturity, or to develope in such manner its saccharine secretions as to
be available for the manufacture of a crystallizable sugar. The sweet
floating grass (_Glyceria fluitans_) in Poland and Russia supplies
farinaceous seeds, which, under the name of manna croup, are consumed
as food; but no seeds at all available for that purpose are produced at
home from the same plant, although it grows freely. The flavour of the
onion, as grown in Egypt, is, we are assured, far milder, and vastly
different from the bulbs cultivated in Britain. The odour of violets
and other flowers grown for perfumery and other purposes at Nice,
have a scent more rich and delicious than when grown in English soil,
subject to our variable climate. But the most extraordinary effect of
all, produced by these influences upon plants, occurs in the case of
hemp, which in Europe developes its fibrous qualities to such an extent
as to produce a material for cordage hitherto unsurpassed; but in
India, while deficient in this respect, developes narcotic secretions
to such an extent as to occupy a prominent position among the chief
narcotics of the world.
It was for some time supposed that the Indian or narcotic hemp was a
different species to that which is cultivated for textile purposes; and
even now it is often characterised by a different specific name, which
would seem to assume that the species are distinct. This, however, the
most celebrated of our botanists deny. The difference is declared to
be, not one of species, but of climate, and of climate only. The native
home of the hemp plant is assigned by Dr. Lindley to Persia and the
hills in the North of India, whence it has been introduced into other
countries. Burnett says, “Hemp seed is nutritious and not narcotic; it
has the very singular property of changing the plumage of bullfinches
and goldfinches from red and yellow to black, if they are fed on it for
too long a time or in too large a quantity.” Never having tried the
experiment, we have no ground for disputing or authority for verifying
these remarks. If such, however, is the case, hemp seed possesses some
property, if not narcotic, which canary and poppy seeds, we should
presume, do not.
Johnny Englishman, with his usual genius for discovery and invention,
has been discovered filling his pipe on board ship with oakum, when
the stores of tobacco have been exhausted, but not being satisfied
from his own experiments of the superiority of hemp, in that form, to
his brother Jonathan’s tobacco, he therefore adheres to the latter. He
considers hemp an excellent thing when twisted into a good hawser, but
does not like it as “twist” in the masticatory acceptation of the term;
nor does he at all admire the twist of Ben Battle, when
“Round his melancholy neck
A rope he did entwine,
And for his second time in life,
Enlisted in the line.
“One end he tied around a beam,
And then removed his pegs;
And as his legs were off, of course
He soon was off his legs.
“And there he hung till he was dead
As any nail in town;
For though distress had cut him up,
It could not cut him down.”
Hemp is one of those plants which adapts itself well to any climate:
there is scarce a country in Europe where it cannot, or might not, be
cultivated. From Poland and Russia in the North, to Italy in the South,
the fibre is supplied to our markets. In North America it is grown for
its fibre, and in South America for its narcotic properties. Throughout
Africa, it may be found chiefly as an article for the pipe. In most of
Asia it is known, and it has been cultivated in Australia. Thus, in its
distribution, it may now be considered as almost universal.
Twenty-five centuries ago, Herodotus wrote of its cultivation by the
Scythians:——“They have a sort of hemp growing in this country very
like flax, except in thickness and height; in this respect the hemp
is far superior—it grows both spontaneously and from cultivation, and
from it the Thracians make garments very like linen, nor would any
one who is not well skilled in such matters distinguish whether they
are made of flax or hemp; but a person who has never seen this hemp,
would think the garment was made of flax.” Then follows a description
of the use of the hemp as a narcotic: “The Scythians, transported with
the vapour, shout aloud.” Antiquity is in favour of this narcotic, and
its use for that purpose before any other, except perhaps the poppy,
was known, or at least of those now in use. The _nepenthes_ of Homer
has been supposed to have been this plant, or one of its products. The
use of hemp had become so general amongst the Romans at the time of
Pliny, that they commonly made ropes and cordage of it. The practice
of chewing the leaves to produce intoxication existed in India in very
early ages, whence it was carried to Persia, and before the middle of
the thirteenth century, this custom was adopted in Egypt, but chiefly
by persons of the lower orders.
The narcotic properties of hemp become concentrated in a resinous
juice, which in certain seasons and in tropical countries exudes, and
concretes on the leaves, slender stems, and flowers. This constitutes
the base of all the hemp preparations, to which all the powers of
the drug are attributable. In Central India, the hemp resin called
_churrus_, is collected during the hot season in the following manner.
Men clad in leathern dresses run through the hemp fields, brushing
through the plants with all possible violence; the soft resin adheres
to the leather, and is subsequently scraped off and kneaded into
balls, which sell at from five to six rupees the seer, or about five
or six shillings per pound. A still finer kind, the _momeca_ or waxen
churrus, is collected by the hand in Nepaul, and sells for nearly
double the price of the ordinary kind. Dr. McKinnon says—“In Nepaul,
the leathern attire is dispensed with, and the resin is collected
on the skin of naked coolies.” In Persia the churrus is obtained by
pressing the resinous plant on coarse cloths, and then scraping it from
these and melting it in a pot with a little warm water. Mirza considers
the churrus of Herat the most powerful of all the varieties of the
drug. The hemp resin, when pure, is of a blackish grey colour, with a
fragrant narcotic odour, and a slightly warm, bitterish, acrid taste.
The dried hemp plant which has flowered, and from which the resin has
been removed, is called in India _gunjeh_. It sells at from twelve
annas to a rupee the seer, or from ninepence to a shilling per pound,
in the Calcutta bazaars. It is sold chiefly for smoking, in bundles two
feet long and three inches in diameter, containing twenty-four plants.
The colour is dusky green, the odour agreeably narcotic, the whole
plant resinous and adhesive to the touch.
The larger leaves and capsules without the stalks, are called _Bang_,
_Subjee_, or _Sidhee_ in India, and have been brought into the
London market under the name of _Guaza_. They are used for making an
intoxicating drink, for smoking, and in the conserve called _Majoon_.
Bang is cheaper than Gunjeh, and though less powerful, is sold at
so low a price that for one halfpenny enough can be purchased to
intoxicate an habituated person.
The Gunjeh consumed in Bengal comes chiefly from Mirzapore and
Ghazeepur, being extensively cultivated near Gwalior and in Tirhoot.
The natives cut the plant when in flower, allow it to dry for three
days, and then lay it in bundles averaging two pounds each which are
distributed to the licensed dealers. The best kinds are brought from
Gwalior and Bhurtpore, and it is cultivated of good quality in gardens
around Calcutta.
The _Majoon_ or hemp confection, is a compound of sugar, butter, flour,
milk, and bang. The mass is divided into small lozenge-shaped pieces;
one dram will intoxicate a beginner, three drams one experienced in its
use. The taste is sweet and odour agreeable. Most carnivorous animals
will eat it greedily, and very soon become ludicrously drunk, but
seldom suffering any worse consequences.
The confection called _el mogen_ in use amongst the Moors appears to be
similar to, if not identical with, the _majoon_ of India.
The ancient Saracens and modern Arabs in some parts of Turkey and
generally throughout Syria, use preparations of hemp still known by the
name of _haschisch_ or _Hashash_. M. Adolph Stuze, the court apothecary
at Bucharest, thus describes the haschisch, by which general name all
intoxicating drugs whose chief constituent is hemp, are well known all
over the East. The tops and all the tender part of the hemp plant are
collected after flowering, dried and kept for use. There are several
methods of using it.
I. Boiled in fat, butter, or oil, with a little water; the filtered
product is employed in all kinds of pastry.
II. Powdered for smoking. Five or ten grains of the powder are smoked
from a common pipe with ordinary tobacco, probably the leaf of a
species of Lobelia (Tombuki) possessing strong narcotic properties.
III. Formed with tragacanth mucilage into pastiles, which are placed
upon a pipe and smoked in similar doses.
IV. Made into an electuary with dates or figs and honey. This
preparation is of a dark brown or almost black colour.
V. Another electuary is prepared of the same ingredients, with the
addition of spices, cloves, cinnamon, pepper, amber, and musk. This
preparation is used as an aphrodisiac.
The confection most in use among the Arabs is called _Dawamese_. This
is mingled with other stimulating substances, so as to administer to
the sensual gratifications, which appear to be the _summum bonum_ of
oriental existence.
The _haschisch_ extract is about the consistence of syrup, and is of a
dark greenish colour, with a narcotic odour, and a bitter, unpleasant
taste.
A famous heretical sect among the Mahometans bore the name of
Assassins, and settled in Persia in 1090. In Syria they possessed a
large tract of land among the mountains of Lebanon. They assassinated
Lewis of Bavaria in 1213, were conquered by the Tartars in 1257, and
extirpated in 1272. Their chief assumed the title of “Ancient of
the Mountain.” These men, some authorities inform us, were called
_Haschischins_ because the use of the haschish was common among them
in the performance of certain rites, and that the ancient form has
been corrupted into that now in use. M. de Sacy states that the word
“assassin” has been derived from the Arabic name of hemp. It has also
been declared, that during the wars of the Crusades, certain of the
Saracen army while in a state of intoxication from the use of the
drug, rushed madly into the Christian camp, committing great havoc,
without themselves having any fear of death, and that these men were
called _Hashasheens_, whence has arose our word “assassin.” The term
“hashash,” says Mr. Lane, signifies “a smoker or an eater of hemp,”
and is an appellation of obloquy; noisy and riotous people are often
called “hashasheen,” which is the plural of that appellation, and the
origin of our word “assassin.”
Benjamin of Tudela says, “In the vicinity of Lebanon reside the people
called Assassins, who do not believe in the tenets of Mahommedanism,
but in those of one whom they consider like unto the Prophet Kharmath.
They fulfil whatever he commands them, whether it be a matter of life
or death. He goes by the name of Sheikh-al-Hashishin, or, their old
man, by whose command all the acts of these mountaineers are regulated.
The Assassins are faithful to one another, by the command of their old
man, and make themselves the dread of every one, because their devotion
leads them gladly to risk their lives, and to kill even kings, when
commanded.
In the centre of the Persian, as well as the Assyrian territory of
the Assassins, that is to say, both at Alamut and Massiat, were
situated, in a space surrounded by walls, splendid gardens—true
eastern paradises—there were flower-beds, and thickets of fruit trees,
intersected by canals; shady walks and verdant glades, where the
sparkling stream bubbles at every step; bowers of roses and vineyards;
luxurious halls, and porcelain kiosks, adorned with Persian carpets and
Grecian stuffs, where drinking vessels of gold, silver, and crystal
glittered on trays of the same costly materials; charming maidens and
handsome boys, black-eyed and seductive as the houris and boys of
Mahommed’s paradise, soft as the cushions on which they reposed, and
intoxicating as the wine which they presented; the music of the harp
was mingled with the songs of birds, and the melodious tones of the
songstress harmonised with the murmur of the brooks—everything breathed
pleasure, rapture, and sensuality.
A youth who was deemed worthy, by his strength and resolution, to
be initiated into the Assyrian service, was invited to the table
and conversation of the grand master or grand prior; he was then
intoxicated with henbane (haschish) and carried into the garden, which,
on awakening, he believed to be paradise. Everything around him, the
houris in particular, contributed to confirm his delusion. After he had
experienced as much of the pleasures of paradise—which the prophet has
promised to the blessed—as his strength would admit, after quaffing
enervating delight from the eyes of the houris and intoxicating wine
from the glittering goblets, he sank into the lethargy produced by
debility and the opiate, on awakening from which, after a few hours, he
again found himself by the side of his superior. The latter endeavoured
to convince him that corporeally he had not left his side, but that
spiritually he had been wrapped into paradise, and had then enjoyed
a foretaste of the bliss which awaits the faithful, who devote their
lives to the service of the faith and the obedience of their chief.
Thus did these infatuated youths blindly dedicate themselves as the
tools of murder, and eagerly sought an opportunity to sacrifice their
terrestrial, in order to become the partakers of eternal life.
To this day, Constantinople and Cairo show what an incredible charm
opium with henbane exerts on the drowsy indolence of the Turk and
the fiery imagination of the Arab, and explains the fury with which
those youths the enjoyment of these rich pastiles (haschish), and
the confidence produced in them, that they are able to undertake
anything or everything. From the use of these pastiles they were called
Hashishin (herb-eaters,) which, in the mouths of Greeks and Crusaders,
has been transformed into the word Assassin, and as synonymous with
murder, has immortalized the history of the order in all the languages
of Europe.[23]
This is the account given by Marco Polo, as repeated by Von Hammer in
his “History of the Assassins.” To this let us further add M. Sylvestre
de Sacy’s, from a memoir read before the Institute of France:——“I have
no doubt whatever, that denomination was given to the Ismaelites, on
account of their using an intoxicating liquid or preparation, still
known in the East by the name of hashish. Hemp leaves, and some other
parts of the same vegetable, form the basis of this preparation, which
is employed in different ways, either in liquid or in the form of
pastiles, mixed with saccharine substances, or even in fumigation.
The intoxication produced by the haschish, causes an ecstasy similar
to that which the orientals produce by the use of opium; and from
the testimony of a great number of travellers, we may affirm that
those who fall into this state of delirium, imagine they enjoy the
ordinary objects of their desires, and taste felicity at a cheap rate.
It has not been forgotten that when the French army was in Egypt the
General-in-chief Napoleon, was obliged to prohibit, under the severest
penalties, the sale and use of these pernicious substances, the habit
of which has made an imperious want in the inhabitants of Egypt,
particularly the lower orders. Those who indulge in this custom are to
this day called Hashishin, and these two different expressions explain
why the Ismaelites were called by the historians of the Crusades
sometimes Assissini and sometimes Assassini.”
As an instance of the blind submission of these devoted followers to
the will of their chief, it is narrated that Jelaleddin Melekshah,
Sultan of the Seljuks, having sent an ambassador to the Sheikh of
the Assassins, to require his obedience and fealty, the son of Sahab
called into his presence several of the initiated. Beckoning to one of
them, he said, “Kill thyself,” and he instantly stabbed himself: to
another, “Throw thyself down from the rampart;” the next instant he lay
a mutilated corpse in the moat. On this the grand master, turning to
the envoy, who was unnerved by terror, said—“In this way am I obeyed by
seventy thousand faithful subjects. Be that my answer to thy master.”
From comparison of these notes, it will therefore appear that the order
of Hashishans used the haschish, as a means whereby to induce young
men to devote themselves to their cause. That it was used by the chief
for its intoxicating and illusionary properties, probably without the
knowledge of the members of the order, but as a secret, the divulging
of which would have defeated his design, and that it was not indulged
in habitually by the order; but that from its use in these initiatory
rites they came to be called Haschishans, afterwards corrupted into
Assassins. And ultimately, that their murderous acts procured for all
those who in future times imitated them, the honour of their name.
But to return from this long digression, we still meet with the name of
Haschisch and Hashasheen in Egypt, and also with preparations of hemp,
which are believed as of old to transport those who indulge therein to
scenes such as paradise alone is supposed to furnish.
“Where’er his eye could reach,
Fair structures, rainbow-hued, arose;
And rich pavilions through the opening woods
Gleamed from their waving curtains sunny gold;
And winding through the verdant vale,
Flowed streams of liquid light,
And fluted cypresses reared up
Their living obelisks,
And broad-leaved plane trees in long colonnades,
O’er arched delightful walks,
Where round their trunks the thousand-tendril’d vine
Wound up, and hung the boughs with greener wreaths,
And clusters not their own.”
M. Rouyer, of the Egyptian Commission, says, with the leaves and tops,
collected before ripening, the Egyptians prepare a conserve, which
serves as the base of the _berch_, the _diasmouk_, and the _bernaouy_.
Hemp leaves reduced to powder and incorporated with honey or stirred
with water, constitute the _berch_ of the poorer classes.
Dr. Livingstone found hemp in use among the natives of Southern Africa
under the name of _mutokuane_.
With the Hottentots it is known as _Dacha_, and another plant used for
similar purposes among them is called the _wild Dagga_ or Dacha. The
use of hemp as a narcotic appears to be very general in all parts of
Africa.
The D’amba possesses numerous native titles, but it is only
understood by those distinctive terms which the negroes give it in
their respective countries. By the people of Ambriz and Musula it is
pronounced as D’yambah, while to the various races in Kaffraria, it
is more generally known under the Hottentot name of Dakka or Dacha.
This plant is extensively cultivated by the Dongós, Damarás, and other
tribes to the southward of Benguela. Among the Ambundas or aborigines
of Angola, the dried plant is duly appreciated, not only for its
narcotic effects, but likewise on account of some medicinal virtues
which it has been reputed to enjoy. The markets of St. Paul de Loanda
are mostly supplied from the Dongós, and other adjacent tribes, and
from St. Salvador, and the towns in the vicinity of Upper Kongo.
The mode in which it is prepared for sale, consists in carefully
separating from the leaves and seeds, the larger stalks, retaining only
the smaller stems, which are compressed into a conical mass, varying
from two to four inches in diameter, and from one to two feet in
length, the whole being covered by some dried vegetable, firmly secured
by thin withes. The substance thus manufactured is ordinarily employed
for the purpose of smoking, and is endowed with powerful stimulant and
intoxicating principles, consequently it is proportionately prized by
those nations who are familiar with those peculiar qualities, and is
probably viewed more in the light of a luxury owing to the absence of
all other sources of excitement, for which, perhaps, it was the only
available substitute.
The Zulu Kaffirs and Delagoans of the South Eastern Coast use it under
the same or like names. Amongst the former the herb is powdered and
used as snuff. The true tobacco is known amongst them, and is grown to
a certain extent, but the use of hemp both for smoking and snuffing,
is far more common. Perhaps, requiring less cultivation, it suits best
their indolent habits.
The most eminent of the Persian and Arabian authors refer the origin of
hemp intoxication to the natives of Hindostan. But few traces, however,
of its early use can be found in any part of India.
In the “Rajniguntu,” a treatise on materia medica, the date of which
is vaguely estimated at about six hundred years ago, there is a clear
account of this drug. The names under which it is there known are,
“_Bijoya_,” “_Ujoya_,” and “_Joya_,” meaning promoters of success;
“_Brijputta_,” or the strengthener; “_Chapola_,” the causer of a
reeling gait; “_Ununda_,” or the laughter-moving; “_Hursini_,” the
exciter of sexual desire.
In another treatise in Sanscrit, of later date, the above is repeated;
and in a religious treatise, called the Hindu Tantra, it is stated that
_Sidhee_ is more intoxicating than wine.
In the fifth chapter of the Institutes of Menu, Brahmins are prohibited
to use Pabandoo or onions, _Gunjara_ or _Gunjah_, and such condiments
as have strong and pungent scents.
Persian and Arabic writers give, however, a fuller and more particular
account of the early use of this substance. Makrisi treats of the hemp
in his description of the ancient pleasure-grounds in the vicinity of
Cairo. This quarter, after many vicissitudes, is now a mass of ruins.
In it was situated a cultivated valley, named Djoneina, which was the
theatre of all conceivable abominations. It was famous, above all,
for the sale of the _Hasheesha_ or Haschisch, which is still consumed
by certain of the populace, and from the consumption of which sprung
those excesses which gave rise to the name of “assassin,” in the time
of the Crusades. This author states that the oldest work in which hemp
is noticed is a treatise by Hassan, who states that in the year of the
Hegira 658, the Sheikh Djafar Shirazi, a monk of the order of Haider,
learned from his master, the history of the discovery of hemp. Haider,
the chief of ascetics and self-chasteners, lived in rigid privation on
a mountain between Nishabor and Rama, where he established a monastery
of Fakirs. Ten years he had spent in this retreat, without leaving it
for a moment, till one burning summer’s day, when he departed alone
to the fields. On his return, an air of joy and gaiety was imprinted
on his countenance; he received the visits of his brethren, and
encouraged their conversation. On being questioned, he stated that,
struck by the aspect of a plant which danced in the heat as if with
joy, while all the rest of the vegetable creation was torpid, he had
gathered and eaten of its leaves. He led his companions to the spot—all
ate, and all were similarly excited. A tincture of the hemp-leaf in
wine or spirits, seems to have been the favourite formula in which the
Sheikh Haider indulged himself. An Arab poet sings of Haider’s emerald
cup—an evident allusion to the rich green colour of the tincture of
the drug. The Sheikh survived the discovery ten years, and subsisted
chiefly on this herb, and on his death his disciples, by his desire,
planted an arbour in which it grew about his tomb. From this saintly
sepulchre, the knowledge of the effects of hemp is stated to have
spread into Khorasan. In Chaldea it was unknown until the Mahommedan
year 728, during the reign of the Caliph Mostansir Billah. The kings of
Ormus and Bahrein then introduced it into Chaldea, Syria, Egypt, and
Turkey.
In Khorasan, it seems that the date of the use of hemp is considered,
notwithstanding the foregoing, to be far prior to Haider’s era.
Biraslan, an Indian pilgrim, contemporary with Cosroes (whoever this
same Cosroes may be, for it is a name often occurring, and applied
as Cæsar or Czar to more than one generation), is stated to have
introduced and diffused the custom through Khorasan and Yemen.
In 780 M.E. very severe ordinances were passed in Egypt against this
practice of indulging in hemp. 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 792 M.E. the custom re-established
itself with more than original vigour. A vivid picture is given by
Makrisi of the vice and its victims:——“As a general consequence, great
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 those infatuated beings.” In the “Sisters of
Old,” some further memoranda will be found of the early history of this
extraordinary narcotic.
Not only was its intoxicating power, but many other properties—some
true, some fabulous—were known at the above periods. The contrary
qualities of the plant—its stimulating and sedative effects—are dwelt
on:——“They at first exhilarate the spirits, cause cheerfulness,
give colour to the complexion, bring on intoxication, excite the
imagination into the most rapturous ideas, produce thirst, increase
appetite, excite concupiscence; afterwards, the sedative effects begin
to preside, the spirits sink, the vision darkens and weakens, and
madness, melancholy, fearfulness, dropsy, and such like distempers are
the sequel.” Mirza Abdul Russac says of it: “It produces a ravenous
appetite and constipation, arrests the secretions, except that of the
liver, excites wild imagining, a sensation of ascending, forgetfulness
of all that happens during its use, and such mental exaltation that the
beholders attribute it to supernatural inspiration.” To which he also
adds: “The inexperienced, on first taking it, are often senseless for a
day, some go mad, others are known to die.”
Whether for the purpose of increasing its power, or for what other
reason we know not, in India the seeds of Datura are mixed with hemp,
in compounding some of the confections, as well as the powder of _nux
vomica_. This is, however, exceptional, neither of these substances
entering into the composition of the Majoon of Bengal any more than
does corrosive sublimate form a proportion of the pills in general use
by the opium-eater of Constantinople.
It is a custom with some people to blame, without limit, those who
indulge in nervous stimulants of a nature differing from their own,
while serving the same purpose. Thus, one who thinks that Providence
never designed his corporeal frame to become a perambulating
beer-barrel, eschews all alcoholic drinks, but at the same time
eschews not the abuse of those who think fit to indulge in a little
wine for their stomach’s sake, or a draught of porter for their
bodily infirmities. These same abstainers still adhere to their tea
and coffee, and though harmless enough as these dietetics may be, yet
they in part serve the purposes for which others employ alcoholic
stimulants. An eminent chemist states that persons accustomed to
the use of wine, when they take cod liver oil, soon lose the taste
and inclination for wine. The Temperance Societies should therefore
canonise cod liver oil.
It is true that thousands have lived without a knowledge of tea or
coffee; and daily experience teaches, that under certain circumstances
they may be dispensed with without disadvantage to the merely animal
vital functions. “But it is an error,” writes Liebig, “certainly,
to conclude from this that they may be altogether dispensed with in
reference to their effects; and it is a question whether, if we had no
tea and no coffee, the popular instinct would not seek for and discover
the means of replacing them. Science, which accuses us of so much in
these respects, will have, in the first place, to ascertain whether
it depends on the sensual and sinful inclinations merely, that every
people of the globe has appropriated some such means of acting on the
nervous life—from the shore of the Pacific, where the Indian retires
from life for days, in order to enjoy the bliss of intoxication with
coca, to the Arctic regions, where the Kamtschatdale and Koriakes
prepare an intoxicating beverage from a poisonous mushroom. We think
it, on the contrary, highly probable, not to say certain, that
the instinct of man, feeling certain blanks, certain wants of the
intensified life of our times, which cannot be satisfied or filled
up by mere quantity, has discovered, in these products of vegetable
life, the true means of giving to his food the desired and necessary
quality. Every substance, in so far as it has a share in the vital
processes, acts in a certain way on our nervous system, on the sensual
appetites, and the will of man.” So, although some have no tobacco,
they find in the use of hemp or opium a substitute for that vegetable
which nature has denied them. There can be no doubt that had we never
become acquainted with tobacco or gin, we should have discovered and
used some other narcotic in the place of the one, and a no less fiery
and injurious form of alcohol instead of the other. To talk of the
_degraded_ Chinese as _barbarians_, indulging to an awful extent in
opium, and the _ignorant_ Hindoo and Arab, as in madness revelling
in debauches of hemp confections, is an evidence of the workings of
the same narrow-minded prejudices under which some who abstain from
alcoholic stimulants rail and rave at those whose feelings and habits
lay in an opposite direction, charging upon the enjoyments of the
many the excesses of the few. Friend Brooklove, drink thy tea, and
re-consider thy verdict!