The southern press., 1852-04-17
From Tie Mcbii. Trttuas.
The Ind uenco OF HashIsh.

Anc iuuuCuCo o. Hasnlshs
In the East, opium and its cognate prepara.
tons, are used for the purpose Of Intoxicating
Among these, is material extracted from m.
dian hemp, and called by the Orientals hasbish
or hatchisb In India and upper Egypt, the in
habtants are very much addicted to its use !;
and it the accounts of its effects be not exap.
gerated, it is strange that it has not come more
into use among the western nations.
The subject of late has been considerable in
vestigated in France, with the object of ascer.
tanning how it may be adapted to remedial uses |.
and French authors have published memoirs on
it. In the Monte Christie of Dumas, ii PLAYS an
important part. M. Virey has attempted To
prove that il is the Nepenthe of Homer; other
writers think the charms used by the Assassins
of the East are produced by it,
Recently, in New Orleans, and experiment
with it was made by B. Lapace, a druggist, on
himself, in order, he says, to discover Il Il could
not be applied to medicinal purposes. He and
friend each took six grains of it, and their SEN
sations are thus described:
! "Being ofa sangnine temperament, | was the
first to feel the effect of the halchish. There
was great weight about the head then follow
ed irresistible bursts Of laughter, during wlAch,
however, was perfectly conscious of all that
was doing, or felt and thought. was astonsh.
ed by the crowd Of novel and brilliant ideas and
fancies that rushed through my brain, returning
over and over again. Imagination and percep
ton were developed to their greatest extent.
All the principal incidents of my life passed
before me like flash
"This condition of mind lasted two hours
Dreams and reveries of the most pleasing ma
ture followed this extraordinary tension Of the
intellectual faculties Then came a deep. calm
sleep, which terminated this singular cit or men
tai haucination. IN truth. it is impossible for
me to describe the sensations which I expert
enced during the excitement. They were, no "
ever, of the most delicious nature.
"My companion, Mr.. c. was not affected
by the dose he took until three hours afterwards.
He first felt the most extreme terror, undefina.
BILE and without an object, which was followed
| by immediate laughter.
| "Since the first experiment we have made
| others, with the same results"
This description, however, of it's effect is tame
compared to the following abstract of an &C.
count written by Theodore Gautier He is de.
scriblng in it not an imaginary scene, but the
result ofhis own sensations.
3The Orientalists," says he, shave, in conse.
quence OF the Introduction of wine, sought that
| species of excitement wh,ch the western nations
derive from alcoholic drinks The love of the
| ideal is so dear to man, that he attempts, as far
rs he can, to relax the ties which bind the BODY
TO the soul; and as the means of being in an
| ecstatlc state are not in the power of all, one
| person drinks for gaiety, another smokes for
forgetfulness, third devours momentary mad.
ness-one under the form of wine. the others
under that Of tobacco and hashish."
lie then proceeds to say that few minutes
after swallowing some of the preparation, a sud.
den and overwhelming sensation took possess
sion OF him. II appeared to him that his body
was dissolved, that he had become transparent.
lie clearly saw in his chest the hashsh which he
had swallowed, under the form of an emerald,
from which thousand little sparks issued. His
eyelashes were heightened out indefinitely, and
rolled like threads of gold around ivory balls.
which turned with an inconceivable rapidity.
Around him were sparklings of precious stones
of all colors, chances eternally produced,
like the play of the kaleidoscope. He eyery
now and then saw friends who were around him
Observation-Disclosures half plants, some with
wings of the ostrich, which they were constant
~ shaking 30 strange were these, that he burst
into hts OF laughter; and to Join in the ap-
parent righteousness of the affair, he began
throwing the cushions in the air, catching and
turning them with the rapidity of an Indian Jug
gler. One gentleman spoke to him in Italian,
After few minutes he recovered his habjtual
calmness, without any bad effect. and without
headache, and only astonished at what had
passed. Half an hour had scarcely elapsed
before he fell again under the Influence of the
drug 0n this occasion the vision was more
complicated and more extraordinary. In the
air there were millions Of butterflies confusedly
luminous, shaking their wing like fans.-Gi.
gdnhc flowers with chalices Of crystal, large
peonles upon beds Of gold and silver, rose and
surrounded him with cracking sounds that
acrompaniet the explosion in the air of fireworks
| Ills hearing acquired new power; Il was en-
ormouslv developed. He heard the noise of
colors. Green, red, blue, yellow sounds reached
him in the waves. A glass thrown down. the
cracking Of sofa, word pronounced low. vi
brated and rolled within him like peals Of thun.
der. His own voice sounded so loud that he
feared TO speak, lest he should knock down the
walls, or explode like rocket More than five
hundred clocks struck the hour with fleetinp.
silvery voice; and every object touched gave a
note like the harmonica or the eolian harp He
swan IN an ocean Of sound, where hoated, like
isles oil light some Of the airs Of Lucia de-
Lammermoor," and the Barber of Seville,
never did similar bliss overwhelm him with its
waves; he was lost in n wilderness of sweets.
he was not himself; he was relieved from con
seriousness, that feeling which always peryades
the mind; and for the first time he compre.
hended what might be the state of existence Of
elementary beings, Of angels, Of souls separated
from the body. All his system seemed infected
with the fantastic coloring in which he was
plunged. Sounds, perfume, light reached him
only by minute rays, in the midst Of which he
heard magic currents whistling along. Accord.
ing to his calculation, this state lasted about
three hundred years for the sensations were so
numerous and SO hurried, one upon the other.
that real appreciation Of time was impossible.
The paroxysm over, he was aware thai Il had