136
42. Being prejudiced against the drug when
first studying Materia Medica, I have ignored it
ever since.
44. Don't know. Writers on Materia Medica
given certain uses for the drug, but they are so
uncertain in their statements that I doubted their
correctness, and have never used it.
45 and 47. Don't know.
49. Don't know.
57. Have no experience.
In conclusion, I already reported that I know
nothing whatever about this drug, but have been
again called on to make this report.
65. Evidence of BRIGADE-SURGEON-LIEUTENANT-COLONEL J. ARNOTT, M.D.,
Physician in charge, St. George's Hospital, Bombay,
1. Insufficient opportunities, appointments I
have held affording no scope for such enquiries.
30. I believe that these drugs are chiefly used
by men. I have not seen them used by children.
31. Yes.
32. I believe bhang is used during religious
festivals, and I have seen low caste Hindus appa
-
rently under its influence during the Muharram.
41. Yes.
42. I should consider them harmful.
45. (d) to (g ) Yes.
66. Evidence of SURGEON-MAJOR D. N. PARAKH, Parsi, Surgeon to the Gocul Dass
Tejpal Hospital, Malabar Hill, Bombay.
1. I have had very few opportunities ; have met
with only one case of a man " running amuck " in
military practice ; and have seen a few persons
addicted to the habit, and four or five cases of
poisoning by Cannabis indica. I have not had
charge of any lunatic asylums, where alone cases
are met with of insanity from this cause, and where
such experience as would enable one to answer these
questions could be gained.
2. Yes. By the same names.
41. Very moderate use of bhang increases ap
-
petite, and gives staying-power under severe ex
-
ertion. This I have noticed in the very few cases
I have seen. It does not act as a febrifuge or pre
-
ventive of disease. By bhang I mean the infu-
sion of the leaves and seeds commonly called subji.
Bhang in the form of infusion I have known
to produce the following effects in the persons who
take i t habi tual l y:—It refreshes them, gi ves them
pleasant ideas and increases the appetite. The
after-effects are depression and mental obfuscation ;
want of subsequent gratification dues produce a
longing.
45. ( a ) Yes, mental.
( c) Not, if bhang is moderately used.
(f) Yes. It acts as an exciting cause where
there is a predisposition, but in the very few cases
I have seen there was no predisposition, and yet
it caused insanity, homicidal in character and tem-
porary.
46. I have seen a case of "running amuck" attri
-
butable to this cause (ganja-smoking), the man
running blindly and furiously and shooting at
everyone he met on the road. I have seen an
-
o t h e r c a s e w h e r e a w i l d m a n i a c a l d e l i r i u m f o l l o w e d
the excessive smoking, and the man ultimately
became paralysed.
49. I have seen some men use bhang as an
aphrodisiac. Yes, to the last question.
Oral evidence.
Question 1.—I am Member of the Royal College
of Surgeons and L.R.C.P. I attended the
University College, London. I have served for
nearly twenty years in the Indian Medical Service,
partly with regiments, and for the last twelve
years in the Civil Department. I have had no spe
-
cial experience of insanity. The four or five cases
of poisoning I refer to in my first answer were cases
of intoxication from ganja. They were brought to
the hospital and treated there. They all recover
-
ed, and there were no serious results. I had
no occasion to diagnose these cases from the
symptoms, because the people said they had been
taking ganja. Diagnosis from symptoms alone
would have been very difficult. In one or two of
the cases the contents of the stomach were pumped
out as well as I remember ; but they were not
sent to the Chemical Analyser, because there was
no question of foul play and no fatal result.
Without the contents of the stomach diagnosis
between dhatura and ganja would be practically
impossible.
Question 45 .—The cases I had in mind in my
answer 45 probably include the eases referred to
in answer 46, and my answer 45 should be taken
as referring to excessive use as regards these cases.
I am not prepared with full details of the cases
referred to, for I have no record of them.
Question 46.—There were two or three persons
whom I had to send to asylums for insanity caused
by the excessive smoking of ganja ; but they oc
-
curred so long ago that I have no recollection
either of the exact number of them or of their
details. The lost of these cases must have occur
-
red in 1876 or 1877. As well as I remember,
I did make enquiry in these cases regarding pre-
disposition to insanity, and found no such causes,
The two cases mentioned in answer 46 were not
sent to the asylum, and are distinct from those
referred to above. They occurred about the same
time as the others, and I can give no more detail
about them than is recorded in the answer. I be
-
lieve they were true ganja cases ; but I cannot be
certain that no other drug was used. I cannot be
certain that the insanes did not take liquor ; but
there was no delirium tremens or other symptoms
of alcoholic poisoning. The man who ran amuck
was noisy and violent. He first killed the man
against whom he had a grudge, and then turned
his rifle against any other person he came across.