The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1852-04-17

IAo ~ oonoo q unnna1n. a--@
In the East, opium and it, cognats psepara-
tons, are used for the pusposs Of Intoxicating.
Among those, ID a material extracted from IN
dian hemp, and called by the Orisntals hasbish
or hatchish. In India and upper EQypt. the IN
habitants are very much addicted TO its use
and if the accounts Of IL effects be not exsp
gerated, it is strange that II has not cone more
into use among the western nations
The subject of late has been considerably in.
esligated in France. with the object of sscer.
tanning how it may be adapted to remedial uses !:
aud French authors have published memoirs on
it. In the Monte Christie Of Dumas, it plays an
important part. M. Virey has attempted to
prove that II is the Nepenthe Of Homer; other
writer's 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. Laplace, a druggist, on
himself, in order he says, to discover il L could
not be applied to medicinal purposes. lie and
friend each took six grains of it, and their SEN
sations thus descrbed:
"Belng OF u sanguine temperament, l was the
first to feel the effect of the halchish. There
was grent weight about the head then follow
ed Irresistible bursts of laughter, during which,
however, was perfectly conscious of all that |
was doing or felt and thought was astonish.
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 II flash.
"Ths 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 deep, calu,
sleep, which Terminated this singular fit or mem
tai ballucination. In truth, i: il impossible for
me to describe the sensations which 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.
lie first felt the most extreme terror, undefina.
bic 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 its effect ia tame
compared to the following abstract Of an ac-
count written by Theodore Gauter. He is de-
scriblng in it not an imaginary scene, but the
| result of his own sensations.
"lhe Orentalists" says he, shave, in conse-
quence OF the Introduction of wine sought that
species OF excitement which the western nations
derive from alcoholic drinks The love of the
idea IL so dear to man, that he attempts, as far
az le can, to relax the ties which bind the BODY
to the soul; and as the means of being in an
ecslatlc state are not in the power of all, one
person drinks for gaiety, another smokes for
forgetfulness, a third devours momcntarv mad.
ness-one under the form of wine, the others
under that OF tobacco and hashish."
tie then proceeds to say that few minutes
after swallowing some of the preparation, a sud-
den and overwhelming sensation took posses
sion Of him. It 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 rapiditv.
Around him were sparklings of precious stones
of all colors, changes externally produced.
like the play Of the Kaleidoscope. He every
now and then saw friends who were around him
dishgured-half.men, afplants, some with
wings OF the ostrich, which they were constant.
~ shaking. 80 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,
which the hashish transposed into Spanish.
After few minutes he recovered his habitual
caImness, without any bad effect, and without
headache, and only astonshed at what had
passed. Half an hour had scarcely ELAPSED
before ne fell again under the Influence of the
drug. ON this occasion the vision was more
complicated and more extraordinary. In the
air there were millions of butterflies, .confusediv
luminous, shaking their wing like fans.-Gi-
gantic flowers with chalices of crystal, large
peonies upon beds of gold and silver, rose and
surrounded him with cracking sounds that
accompanies the explosion in the air offireworks.
Ills herring acquired new power; it was en-
ormouslv developed. He heard the noise of
colors. Green, red, blue, yellow sounds reached
him IN the waves. glass thrown down. the
cracking OF sofa, word pronounced low, vi
orated and rolled within him like peals of thun.
der. lis 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 fleeting.
silvery voice; and every object touched gave q
note like the harmonca or the moap barp Ha
swan IN an ocean of sound. where a ,ated. like
isles or light, some of the airs Of "Incia de
Lammermoor," and the Barber of Seville"
never did similar bliss overwhelm him with its
waves; ne was lost in wilderness of sweets
he was not himself; he was relieved from con.
seriousness, that feeling which always pervades
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 that IL had
only lasted a quarter of an hour.