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and when made into a paste, are drunk. The decoction is always mixed with
some reputed digestive—dill, pepper or such like. This points to one of the
great drawbacks of hemp preparations taken internally as compared with smoking
them—the difficulty experienced in their digestion. In small doses, such as
are required to make a refreshing drink, the spices probably amply fulfil
the purpose they are taken to serve. When large doses are taken they are not
effective, and chronic indigestion with its disagreeable consequences is the chief,
one might almost say only, evil effect even to the siddhi-tippler. That, however,
as we shall see, is serious enough.
I have been unable to find more than a few instances of people who use
siddhi i n t h i s w a y ; I t h i n k t h a t p e r h a p s c a s e s a r e n o t u n c o m m o n ; b u t t h e i l l - r e p u t e
that attaches to the custom, especially in Bengal, naturally leads to denial. Cases
of people taking it to some excess are fairly common, and no denial is made by
such. To begin with, they are often up-country men to whom the public
opinion of the Lower Provinces does not vigorously appeal; besides, the effects
of an overdose are not so easily concealed.
But, if uncommon in Bengal, there is reason to believe that in other pro-
vinces it is still prevalent, and. that it not only does no harm, but in many
cases of slight ailment is of the greatest benefit, partly as a tonic and stimulant,
partly as a specific medicine.
Siddhi alone is thus used—gánjá never ; the few, and there are very few,
cases in which gánjá is drunk occur among the dissolute, who take the substance
in order to become intoxicated.
Charas, however, is frequently used in this way ; a very common fashion of
using it, already alluded to and familiar, I am told, to those who have travelled
in the North-Western Himalaya, is for a person to rub the flowering head of a
female plant between the palms of the hands, just as if he were collecting
charas in the ordinary manner, then to fill the palms of the hands several
times with water and drink this off. Very little charas can thus be drunk ; it has
already had to be mentioned how difficult it is to remove the resin from one's
hands; still enough seems to be obtained to refresh them when at work or on a
march; at any rate, they think it worth their while to do this. But when charas
is used as a substance taken internally, a very small dose indeed suffices to pro-
duce the full physiological effects of hemp.
CHAPTER VIII—THE ABUSE OF HEMP.
Having now considered the use of the hemp-narcotic, it remains to discuss
the abuses of the substance. This is the more necessary because from anything
that can be gathered to the contrary, treatises on the subject indicate that, instead
of forming but an infinitesimal part of its employment, these abuses constitute
the hemp-habit. A greater mistake would not be made if, in discussing alcohol
and its use, the statement were advanced that the chief object in drinking wine
is to produce gross intoxication and to deliberately induce delirium tremens.
By the abuse of hemp is meant its employment so as to cause intoxication
of any kind, and whether this intoxication be under the control or beyond the
control of the subject.
Taken as siddhi a very usual object is to produce a mild pleasurable intoxi-
cation; this was doubtless under ordinary circumstances the motive for its
consumption in the dissolute camps of the Princes of India, when Europeans
first held intercourse with the country. The principal representatives of the
class who take it for this purpose now are the idlers of bazars in large
towns and the ne'er-do-wells of smaller towns and villages; the criminal
classes to some extent use it also in this fashion, as doubtless, on ordinary oc-
casions, do most of those who employ it at intervals in larger doses for specific
purposes. A quite respectable class among whom this particular mode of using
siddhi largely prevails is that which includes the durwans of Government and
Commercial establishments in Calcutta. It is easily seen why such a custom,
indicating, as all habitual intoxication must indicate, a certain relaxation of
m o r a l f i b r e , s h o u l d e x i s t i n s u c h a c o m m u n i t y . L i v i n g , a s t h e y d o , s t r a n g e r s
among a people from whom, owing to racial and historical considerations, they