The weekly herald. [volume] (Cleveland, Tenn.) 1876-1888, 1878-05-23

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been acquainted with hIsheesh in one
form or another from the earliest times
Herodotus, speaking of the Scythians
refers unmistakably to its use; "They
take the seeds of this hemp, and placing
1t beneath woolen tleeccs they throw
upon it red-hot stones, when immedi.
ately a perfumed vapor i.scends strOng, I
than from any Grecian stove. This to
the Scythians is in the place of a bath
and it excites from them cries of exulta-
tion." The Egyptians also had know.
ledge of it, and Pliny mentions it as
adverse to virile power. In the "Arab-
ian Nights" it goes under the name OF
being-the modern bhang' 1t was ac.
cidentally rediscovered by the Arabs in
the year 65S of the Hegira, Sheik
Haider, hermit, was the discoverer
hence, the Arabic poets call the hasheesh
the cup Of Haider. The Arabians, how
ever, soon perceived its injurious effects,
and a law, was at one time made against
hasheesh, the punishment being extrac-
tion Of the hasheesh heaters teeth. DR..
Homberger, who was a physician for
thirty-tive years at the Court of Lahore,
says that the great fondness of the peo-
pie for drink prepared from hasheesh
induced the king to make gratuitous
distribution of it. Depots were estab-
lished called seid 0a,Vah, where the peo-
pie came in crowds for the beverage.
The doctor found that inebriation began
In about half an hour after the imbibi-
tion of the fluid, and lasted from three
to four hours, producing an agreeable
exhilaration of the spirits and leaving
none of those depressing effects which
result from the use of intoxicating
drinks.
The chief popularity of the hasheesh
vision is its immense exaggeration of
time and space. Moments appear to be
thousands of years. Narrowly circum-
scribed views seem to run out into Wis
tas embracing not only this earth but
the entire vastness of the universe. M.
Moreau found everything appearing to
his eyes "as it does on looking through
the wrong end of tel, scope" Bayard
Taylor says, "the fulness of my rapture
expanded the sense of time; and though
the whole vision was probably not more
than five minutes in passing, years,
seemed to have elapsed" A French
man, an habitual swallower of narcotic,
states that one evening in traversing
the passage of the opera under its infu-
ence, "the time occupied in taking a
few steps seemed to be hours, and the
passage interminable." The intensity
ing of sounds is another peculiar phe-
nomenOn of the hasheesh condition.
An amateur relates that "the ticking of
my watch sounded louder than that of
the kitchen clock" while another re-
cords that the beating of his heart re-
sounded in his ears like the blows of a
vast hammer.
The experiences of the French savant,
M. Berthault, are curious. Having
swallowed large dose, and while yet
under its effect, band began playing
beneath his windows. He says he had
never known what music was before
then. He became able to distinguish
the part taken by each instrument. The
elements of the harmonles heard by him
assumed the form Of ribbons of a thou
sand changing colors, ntertwisting,
weaving and knotting themselves In a
most caprieioUs manner. After while
the ribbons changed, and each note be-
came flower, and the flowers formed
wreaths and garlands In VIII ch the har-
mony Of color represented the harmony
of sound. The flowers yielded to pre-
cions stones, which rose in fountains,
fell in cascades and streamed away in
all directions. The band now played a
waltz, and M. Berthault had reaiza-
ton OF Colerldge's "Kubla Kahn" A
multitude of gorgeously decorated and
illuminated saloons appeared, and all
gradually merged into one surnounted
by an enormous dome built Of colored
crystals and supported by thousand
columns. This dome dissolved and a
still more glorious one replaced it. A
series of domes then arose, each more
gorgeous than its predecessor, while at
the same time an innumerable Assem- =.
blage executed frantic waltz, rolling
itself like serpent from hall to hall.
Large doses of hasheesh frequently
cause halucinations of the most fantas-
tic and gorgeous kind.