168
four years. They said they had tried to stop him,
but he went out and smoked. He smoked with
bairagis. He was a cultivator. They said he had
been mad two months continuously. I gave him
some medicine. He was not brought again. I
repeatedly made inquiry and have heard he is in
the same state. He was under my observation
for two or three hours. His relations told me
that his insanity was due to ganja, and I found
his conjunctivæ red. I did not notice the pupils.
The man himself said he smoked. Again he
denied it. I was told by his friends that he
smoked five or six times in the day and two at
night. His other habits were all right. He was a
religious man; therefore he did not use liquor.
His friends said so. His moral habits were not
vicious. I inquired about whether his family
drank, etc. But only one took opium. I made no
inquiry about his family except whether they
smoked. That was all I asked. Being reminded,
I state that I also inquired about insanity and
found no case of insanity in the family. I did
not examine into the matter of dhatura. But I
have been told that bairagis pretty often do use
dhatura with ganja. I have seen two fakirs smok-
ing it in a temple also. It did not occur to
me to ask about this. The smoking of dhatura
may produce effects, but the symptoms are quite
different from those of ganja. I refer to smok-
ing as well as taking internally. I saw two
cases of smoking dhatura in my third year as
a student. There were dilatation of pupils,
attempting to catch imaginary objects, muscular
exhaustion, great thirst, tendency to talk too much,
and some symptoms of mania (unconnected talk).
In Bhimji Pepji's case I am not sure whether I
examined the pupils. I am not prepared to say
that they were not dilated. His talk was incohe-
rent. He was violent.
In Naina Ghela's case, the man was brought to
the dispensary by his brothers. He was about
twenty-eight or thirty. He was mad, silly. He
lay down by the temple and beat the drum. I
have seen him since more than once at the temple.
I had never seen him before. His brothers told
me he had been smoking for seven or eight years,
and had been in this condition for a year and a
half. I never noticed him till he came to the dis-
pensary. He only came once to the dispensary.
His brother came twice more for medicine and
then ceased coming. I have seen the man several
times since. He is in the same state.
He acquired the habit of smoking from his
companions. They were low caste cultivators or
coolies and mean servants. He was himself a
cultivator. I did not inquire when he began to
attend the temple. He does not cultivate now.
He eats ganja and beats the temple drum when
the time comes. I inquired about his family his-
tory and heard there was no one addicted to vice.
He alone took to ganja. No one else was insane
in his family. He may have taken liquor; some
of his companions took bhang or ghota, but not
alcohol. I do not know whether the men were
vicious. I did not ask about this man's habits in
that respect. I never saw this man violent.
The friends told me the cause of insanity was
ganja. I believed them. It was natural for me
to do so when several people told me. Although
I believed them as to the cause, and although as
belonging to a religious family he would not take
liquor, yet I asked about liquor and opium. I
made a very careful inquiry. His friends told me
he took ganja and bhang, but no liquor or opium.
I do not remember that I made any further in-
quiry as to cause. I believed in my mind that the
cause was ganja. I asked also about family
insanity. I made no full inquiry at the time ;
but I made inquiry on receiving these questions.
I do not think these symptoms would be due to
alcohol. They could not, I think, be caused by
alcohol. But it was natural for me to ask about
liquor. The symptoms might have been caused
by dhatura. I do not know about the pupils.
There was no attempt at catching imaginary ob-
jects. The dhatura patient could not walk: this
man could. This man had thirst and tendency to
talk. The general type of insanity was dementia:
in the dhatura cases I had symptoms of mania.
The type of hemp drug insanity is usually
dementia, with generally the same symptoms.
Violence, unconnected ideas, no recollection, con-
gestion of the conjunctiva, dryness of tongue and
throat. If I found these symptoms with a his-
tory of the use of hemp drugs, I should ascribe
the insanity to hemp drugs.
I state that the type of hemp drug insanity is
dementia from the study of Bhimji Pepji and
Naina Ghela's cases, and also others which have
come under my notice, but which I cannot detail.
There is a tendency to rapid recovery. I devoted
more time to inquiring as to cause than to trying
to cure the men, because the people (though they
came once) were superstitious and against English
treatment.
87. Evidence of HOSPITAL ASSISTANT PHIROZSILAW D. COOPER, Parsi, in charge
Dispensary, Ilao.
1. I am a medical officer in charge Ilao Dispen-
sary for the last fourteen years, treating on an aver-
age 4,000 to 5,000 patients a year. The following
facts are gathered from personal experience of
hemp consumers.
2. Bhang is known in my district under three
different names, namely, bhang, sabzi, and maya,
the names Patti and siddhi being quite unknown.
Bhang is the name applied to leaves and seed cap-
sules of female cultivated hemp plant.
The definitions of charas and ganja can be ac-
cepted for my district, and the same designations
are current in my district. Ganja is also known
here as " mal. " Charas is not generally used
here. Flat ganja is the most common variety
known ; round ganja is quite unknown, while
broken ganja is occasionally used, and is known as
chur.
19. Yes, only for smoking.
23. No, never.
2 8 . ( a ) B h a n g , o n e p i c e .
Ganja, one pice.
( b )
Bhang, three pice.
Ganja, two annals.
Chards is not used.
1. (a ) Bhang is ordinarily mixed with poppy
seeds, black pepper, ginger dry, sugar or treacle,
almonds, pistachios, fennel, rose water, and water,