365
to do it, I could name many more. I can only recall
at this moment four cases of insanity brought on by
other causes than ganja. With effort I could recall
more. No doubt I have been thinking about
ganja lately, and the cases due to that cause are
therefore more present to my mind ; but I don't
think I could possibly recall more than six or seven
cases into which I have enquired, which were due
to other causes than ganja. Five of the 10 ganja
cases, which include the two mentioned in my
paper, occurred among Christians, and into these
I made careful enquiry ; in the other five cases
I simply asked the neighbours generally. I have
not treated any of these eases medically. In two
cases the insanes came to my notice as being
violent ; two others were middle-aged, and their
insanity was ra'her of the idiotic type. They were
pointed out to me as wise men, perhaps in jest.
Having ascertained the ganja habit, I proceeded to
make further enquiry as to other causes of insanity
in the cases of the Native Christians and in some
of the other cases also. The enquiries I made were
whether the insane was all right before he took to
the ganja habit, and how long he had used the
drug. I cannot remember having made enquiry
about heredity in any case. So far as my memory
goes, I made enquiry regarding heredity in one
case. Heredity would be only one predisposing
cause. I do not think I ascertained the absence
of other exciting causes in a strictly medical sense;
but I have enquired of the man and his friends, if
anything had happened to him to unhinge his
mind. The reason why I made enquiry into other
causes besides ganja is that I was anxious to ascer-
tain if the drug was so harmful as it was generally
supposed to be. I am a total abstainer, and we
have a temperance association in our mission to
which I belong.
149. Evidence of the REV. S. J. LONG, Missionary, Coimbatore.
1. I have recently made careful enquiries from
ganja cultivators in their gardens, sellers in their
shops, and consumers in chattrams and elsewhere.
Out of the nine shops opened for 1893-94 in this
district (Coimbatore), I have visited four with a
permit from the Collector.
I have visited about a score of smokers and have
conversed, in some cases on more than one occasion,
with ten of them. 1 have done so with the direct
intention of getting evidence for the Commission.
2. The parts and productions of the hemp plant
sold in this district are, as far as I could tell, the
flowering heads of the female plant either separate
(a) , and unbroken (b ) , b r o k e n (
c ) , o r a s d u s t , o
r
else pressed together in cakes about one-third inch
thick. These cakes are called javathu. There
are also three or four electuaries made from similar
flowering heads.
Although I cannot speak certainly, I think the
sale of the leaves of the male plant is not usual here.
It may be the leaves are mixed up with the
flowering heads, but the several specimens I
brought all seemed to me to be ' heads ' in one or
other of the conditions which I have mentioned.
There is no charas for sale in any shop I visited.
The name was unknown ; also the names siddhi,
subji, patti and chug were practically unknown,
The following names are in use in this district :—
Ganja thul = ganja dust.
} The same.
Ganja podi = ganja powder.
Kali ganja = separate sprouts of ganja, not broken
—probably from verb kali "to sprout " and to
distinguish whole ganja from powder or dust.
Nattu ganja=country ganja, local growth.
Koth-thumali ganja=a variety of ganja with
special smell. Not grown locally (?)
Sadai ganja = ordinary female ganja that has
come or is coming to state suitable for use in
smoking, etc. SaLi=entangled or matted locks—
a ganja head looks like matted hair.
Karun ganja=black ganja, said to be stronger,
perhaps the variety of the ganja plant having
black stems ; grown here as well as the white
stemmed ganja.
Ilai ganja= leaf ganja, male plant (?)
Pukkanga= flower ganja, plants gone to flower,
useless, but, if used, injurious ; very bad for eyes
if this be smoked.
Javathu = ganja heads compressed into a thick
cake; generally said to be from Vellore, and
stronger than country ganja.
The ganja as sold is commonly called ganja or
bangi. The latter term is not perhaps quite so
common as the former, but is frequently used and
well understood. I wish to lay emphasis on this,
because it is often stated that bhang is only a
liquid preparation. Thus the Commission seems
to regard it ; while in Government returns for this
district it includes all drugs made from the hemp
plant. The sellers have to give returns under two
heads, " ganja" and " bhang. " Under the former,
they give the sales of the ganja plant for smoking
purposes; under the latter (and quite incorrectly),
they give the sales of various electuaries made from
the ganja plant. Bhang in Government local re-
turns does not specially signify a liquid, nor does
it mean ganja as sold for smoking, as etymologi-
cally it might properly do ; but it is used for these
electuaries alone. The sellers are hopelessly con-
fused in dividing their sales into sales of ganja and
bhang as Government requires. Some assert that
bhang is a name applied to the leaves of the male
plant. That is not my experience of this district
at all. Bangi is occasionally used for the plant
and all its products interchangeably with the term
ganja. Winslow's Tamil Dictionary gives " Bangi
(foreign) =Tile ganja plant—Eng. bhang."
One man only told me bhang was a liquid; two
others, on being asked, admitted that there is a
liquid called bhang made with milk, also a pre-
paration of ,ganja with eggs for eating; but from
all I learned there is no doubt in my mind that the
usual custom in this district is to use the flower
heads of ganja for smoking, and the same heads
are used in making various electuaries, and unless
in my remarks throughout my answer I say some-
thing distinctly to the contrary, it should be borne
in mind that I allude to this common custom.
The following are the electuaries prepared from
the ganja plant and probably sold nearly as much
as the ganja which is sold for smoking :-
(1) Ganja majium or masium or masanum.
This is the common form of the drug.
(2) White majium, a preparation as a medi-
cine for children.
(3) Puranathi or puranathi legiam.
(4) Mathana Kamesuram