REPORT BY BDE.-SURGN.-LIEUT.-COL. D. D. CUNNINGHAM, F.R.S., C.I.E.
193
period one hundred and eighty one inhalations were administered. During the greater part
of the period the administrations were repeated almost daily save on Sundays, but during
March they were repeated only on alternate days, and during April and May only at irre-
gular intervals owing to the fact that at that time the animal was suffering from a mild but
prolonged attack of dysentery.
During the earlier part of the course of the experiment the animal apparently disliked the
treatment as he violently resisted introduction into the inhalation-chamber, was restless
when the smoke began to enter it, and not unfrequently attempted to prevent its entrance by
plugging the orifice of the supply-tube. As time went on, however, and the experience lost
its strangeness, his objections gradually diminished and were ultimately replaced by a positive
desire for the treatment. He then readily entered the chamber, resisted any attempts to re-
move him from it before he had had a full dose, was restless and uneasy on days on which the
treatment was omitted, and on two occasions on which he managed to make his escape from
his cage, showed an evident desire to enter the chamber on his own account.
The symptoms attending the process of inhalation were not invariably of precisely
uniform character. As a rule they came on quietly and insensibly and consisted in steadily
increasing drowsiness, leading on to quiet sleep. During the course of exposure the conjunctivæ
and eyelids frequently became considerably congested, but this may, of course, have been
merely dependent on direct irritation incident on their contact with the smoke. When re-
moved from the chamber ere profound sleep had supervened the animal was evidently intoxi-
cated. In many cases he was incapable of sitting up without supporting himself by means
of grasping the bars of his cage, and, when less profoundly affected, being very unsteady on
his legs. On being introduced into his cage, he not unfrequently either at once or after
a short delay lay down and slept quietly for some time. On awaking from such sleep, as well
as in those cases where sleep did not intervene, he almost invariably showed symptoms which
appeared to indicate that he was for some time the subject of optical delusions. He gazed
about attentively in directions in which nothing which seemed likely to excite his curiosity was
present, and carefully scrutinised the floor of his cage for objects which did not exist. Such symp-
toms continued to persist for a considerable time after all other indications of intoxication had
disappeared, continuing to manifest themselves in greater or less degree during the entire course
of the latter portion of any day on which the treatment had been administered in the morning.
On a certain number of occasions, however, the symptoms did not follow this normal
course. On these the onset of signs of drowsiness was greatly delayed and had hardly begun
to show itself ere the animal was suddenly seized with violent general convulsions and imme-
diately thereafter became profoundly unconscious. The symptoms on the recovery of con-
sciousness in no way differed from those in cases where the earlier ones had followed the normal
course. No satisfactory explanation of the occurrence of such exceptional phenomena could
be arrived at, and it must remain uncertain whether they are to be regarded as the consequence
of certain temporary subjective peculiarities on the part of the animal or of variations in the
quality of the drug.
In no instance was there any appreciable indication of the development of any cerebral
excitement either during the administration of the drug or after intoxication had been fully
established.
The normal symptoms were those of simple drowsiness and loss of will-power accom-
panied by optical delusions-those characterising the exceptional cases of temporary abnormal
activity of the spinal cord and basal ganglia which may very probably have been dependent
on diminution in the inhibitory power of the higher cerebral centres.
The general health of the animal remained excellent during the entire course of the ex-
periment save for a period during the months of April and May, in which he suffered from
dysenteric symptoms. The occurrence of these, however, cannot be in any way definitely
ascribed to the use of the drug as they are of frequent occurrence among monkeys in confine-
ment apart from any special treatment. The only permanent appreciable effect resulting from
the treatment manifested itself in the form of a very considerable diminution in appetite for
food, which set in shortly after the initiation of the experiment and thereafter remained per-
sistent throughout its entire course.
At the desire of the Hemp Drugs Commission the experiment was brought to a close on
the day following my return to Calcutta on the 12th of July 1894. Death was induced by
means of prolonged administration of chloroform, and a post-mortem examination was con-
ducted immediately it had occurred. The results of this were as follow in so far as mere
casual naked-eye-inspection goes, for, as I have already pointed out, the detailed histological
examination of the condition of the various organs and tissues is a matter not of a few hours'
but of many weeks' work, so that it has been impossible for me to carry it out and at the same
time to meet the wish of the Commission for the immediate submission of a report. Specimens
of all the more important organs have, however, been carefully preserved and will form the
subject of detailed histological examination hereafter.
Results of post-mortem examination of the animal.—The
body weighed 13 lb. 7 oz., indicat-
ing a loss in weight of 2 lb. 9 oz. during the eight months of treatment. This, or at all events,
the whole of this loss, is certainly not fairly creditable to the treatment, seeing that for a
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