270
with its hemispheres removed. Sarandas Anandas
may be taken as an example of the exalted inco-
herent period. When he was last admitted into
the asylum, he went on during his examination in
the most extraordinary way, until the veins of his
neck were swollen, his face blue, and his mouth
dry from the pressure on his lungs, uttering a
perfect Babel of automatic phrases in the shape
of prayers, denunciations, and threats ; frowning,
laughing, crying, and going through all the varied
gesticulations, and intonations almost in the same
breath in a perfect whirlwind of incoherence and
inco-ordination of ideas. Now he is quite sane.
Soba, No. 5, may be taken as an example of the
other extreme of the period of aphasia, or perhaps
a better diagnosis would be amnesia. When he
was admitted into the asylum, he could not speak
a word of any known language. On the 1st
October 1893, on his examination, it was found
that he could now speak Hindustani. But he
had no ideas of space or time. With difficulty he
said he came from Madanpur, and he knew how to
prepare ganja and smoke it; but beyond a few
automatic answers to every-day questions, his mind
is a complete blank. Perfect destruction of brain
tissue could not have more effectually removed all
traces of the education, ideas and language con-
structed by a life-time of human intercourse. He
may be said to be in the permanent position of the
mawali who has figuratively fallen " beside his
chair." It need scarcely be mentioned that
between these two extremes there is every grada-
tion depending upon the age, the physical, mental
and moral characteristics of the individual, and
the length of time and extent of indulgence in the
habit.
This parallelism kept for some time possession
of my mind until Makka, wife of Fazul, a young
woman about 18, was admitted on the 12th June
1893. The police took her husband away from
her, charged him with theft, and he was impri-
soned for 12 months. This so preyed upon her
mind that she lost her reason; and she was sent to
the lunatic asylum. On her admission she
behaved exactly like those suffering from insanity
from the excessive use of hemp drugs. No abso-
lute diagnostic feature could be shown from the
most careful examination of her symptoms as indi-
cating a difference between the two types of
insanity but the history of the cause. But it may
also assume the morose melancholic type as in
Metho, No. 6.
The indulgence in hemp drugs may be said
to be both temporary or permanent. Jehangir
alias Parashram may be cited as an example of
the permanent effect of the drug on the brain.
Mattadin, No. 8, and Bux Ali, No. 10, may be
shown as having suffered from its temporary ef-
fects. The symptoms may be re-induced after
liberation from restraint, as in the case of Metho,
No. 6, or Sarandas Anandas, who has been four
times in the asylum suffering from the effects of
hemp drugs.
There are no typical symptoms. Although
I have tried to draw a parellel between intoxica-
tion in the sane and insanity produced by hemp
drugs, I do not think there is a great difference
between intoxication produced by the latter and
wine or spirituous liquors drunk to excess. More-
over, anything which would injuriously affect the
grey matter of the convolutions of the brain in
a similar way (such as grief, loss of honour or pro-
perty, or fear; or ureemia, sapticeemia, etc.)
would, â priori, produce like results.
Insanes who have no recorded ganja history
confess to the use of the drug if they know what
they are talking about.
Persons deficient in self-control through weak-
ened intellect, no matter from what cause, espe-
cially if they have no friends to keep them
straight, as a rule, gravitate towards the company
of the idle and vicious, viz., the mawalis.
47. No.
48. The idle and the vicious gravitate towards
the society of mawalis, and they are the dregs
of society, the lowest classes in physical, mental,
and consequently in moral development; the
idea, therefore, that these people would have high-
ly developed offspring is incongruous. They pro-
pagate, on the contrary, recruits for our jails and
lunatic assylums—institutions which the evolution
of altruistic ideas has now rendered indispensable.
49. Yes ; I do not think that many Sindhis
(not mawali) use this drug to the degree of in-
toxication with this view. I am constantly being
asked by Sindhis for strengthening medicine; and
I have known Sindhis come long distances with
the view of obtaining medicine to rejuvenate their
sexual energies. The inference is that if bhang,
ganja and charas were used moderately for this
purpose, there is no general belief in its efficacy.
I have answered the latter question in discussing
question No. 46. There is no reliable data ; there
is only the popular idea, and that is, that it makes
one impotent.
50. Bhang is used by men as it is supposed to
have an aphrodisiac tendency, believing that it
both excites and prolongs the act. Ganja and
charas, on the other hand, is believed to excite,
but to shorten the act. But this is only the po-
pular idea. There is to my knowledge no scienti-
fic data on this subject.
56. They decrease the intensity of the drug,
prolong the duration, and render mellow its effect
both in moderation and in excess. Dhatura, etc.,
are never mixed with hemp drugs in this province
to any extent. But
sight must not be lost of the
fact that tobacco is all along smoked during the
preparation of the bhang; and that it is mixed
with both the ganja and charas, which are never,
as a rule, smoked without it.
57. Ganja and charas are neither eaten nor
drunk as far as I know.
In conclusion, it is a fact that more bhang is
consumed in Shikarpur, Sukkur, etc., than in
Hyderabad, and in the latter more than in Kara-
chi ; or, generally speaking, more in Upper than
in Lower Sind, which is a tacit declaration of the
fact that Upper being hotter than Lower Sind,
it is more largely used as a refreshing drink.
The name of the drink of which bhang is the
principal ingredient is called thadul, from thad
(cold). (See Abkari Report for Bombay Presi-
dency.)
Revised answer to Question 46 submitted
by DR. KEITH.
46. Does the habitual excessive use of any of
these drugs produce any noxious effects— physi-
cal, mental or moral ?
Always produces noxious effects—physical,
mental and moral, as reference to hemp drugs
cases admitted in 1892 will show.
Does it impair the constitution in any way ?
Yes.