The Opelousas courier., 1884-05-31
A HAsHEEsH .EATER,s VISIONS.
Peculiar Sensations Under the Nm.
fluemce of q Powerful Narcotic

Fectakaar sensations Under the Hna
fluence of a Powerful Narcotic.
A writer in Temple Btg describes his
sensations while under the influence oil
hasheesh, the powerful drug made from q
variety of the hemp plant and used extern.
sively in Oriental cou itricsS4 an intoxi
cant. He says:
[ swallowed six grains, dissolved in a
spoonful of brandy. My pulse at the
time was beating steadily at the rate OF
sixty-two strokes a minute, and I had
eaten nothing for five hours. Half ar
hour later / dined; and afterward, fore
going my cup of coffee, / settled myself
into q comfortable arm. chair by the fire
side and lighted a cigar. l was moi
drowsy, but felt lazy and disinclined tc
move; and this tendency was speedily in.
creased by IN agreeable sensation Of
warmth that pervaded my whole body.
A friend who was with me informed me,
however, that my actual temperature was
normal, and that my pulse was but very
slightly accelerated. Presently a curious
torpor began to take possession of my ex-
tremities. My feet and hands successive
ly ."went to sleep" for a few moments,
and when they awoke again tingled as II
they had been frost bitten and were rap.
idly regaining their normal condition.
The frequent recurrence of these sensac
lions concentrated my attention upon my
self, and little by little l fell into com
plete silence and lay back into my chair.
Although | did not lose consciousness fol
more than three or four seconds at a time,
consecutive thought now became irksome,
if not impossible, and | in%voluntarily sur.
rendered myself to the dreaminess that
now came over me-.
It is tabled by Gontram the Good, oil
Burgundy, that his soul while he slept,
once left his body and penetrated into
the bowels of Mount Tresor, where it be.
help a magnificent vision of hidden
wealth. My mind, too, seemed to quit
my body and travel into a fairy land. 1t
visited the strand of a calm and moonlit
sea, in whose waters beautiful women
bathed, laughing. Thence it was trans,
ported to the sward of a forest glade full
Of the music of birds that fitted hithel
and thither. Again, with equal sudden
ness, it was carried upward through the
crisp air of the night to a mountain
peak, whence all around was visible II
the starlight. and l felt myself alone in
a world of ice fields and ayalanches. But
no vision lasted for long. 1t changed
with the rapidity Of the pattern in the
revolving kaleidoscope; and SO entranced
was | by what l seemed to behold
that my friend had to raise his voice
ere he could temporarily arouse me
to a sense of reality. When
ever he shouted into M car / answered
languidly; but, even as | replied-these
| details my companion furnishes-my at
tention wandered off, and my half-1n-
ished sentence ended in irrelevant or In
| coherent nonsense. had not the strength
Of will to tear myself away from my
| dreaming. And no wonder, seeing whaf
| dreams were mine! | seemed to be al
much at home in water and air as Oh
| the earth. After flying through space
toward a star, and noticing as | ap
preached it its increasing magnitude ano
brightness [ fell seward, and plunglne
beneath the waves, found myself in 1
glorious cavern, through whose ros.
vault echoed the tones of an organ. l
must have been at this time that | stag
gered to the piano which stood in thu
corner of the room. Under ordinary cir
cumstances I am a poor player, yet 1hav'
a good ear and improvise with tolerabl
facility. NV friend, therefore, expected
to hear what he-nad often heard befor
from me-a trivial air, perhaps, and som
vulgar variations upon it; and b
was accordingly astonished when | begal
a wild melody like some of the qualn
creations of Saint-Saens, and played j
ESQ my friend says with b%rilliancy. Fo
myself, / remember nothing of my pei
Torrance. MY adventure with the plan
seems to have turned the current OF m
ideas. I was led back to my chair b
the fire, and t~henceforward my visions
instead of being sublime, became ridie
uIous. / imagined that everythin
around me was animated. The cfoc
smiled, the chairs moved, the Goals !
the CRATE were little giggling inns le
I felt perfectly at case and watched N
transformations without any sensation
Of surprise, much less of horror. And
in addition to my real surroundings, a
of which assumed grotesque form:
n~umberlcss IMAGINARY creatures came bs
fore my eyes, men and women MOI
comically exaggerated in feature an
manner than any Of the lnVer
tions of mortal ca~ricaturists an
manv a strange beast beside
Then succeeded the third stage of til
influence of tho hasheesh. Numbne:
seemed to steal over me. ! imagine
that nv lees turned to lead, and the idt
grew until / became wholly metallic
living machine, an engine through who's
valves the steam Kissed and whistles
threatening the total disruption of Il
whole affair. While in this state Icoul
not move, and yet when my frIen
aroused me I could still give broken an
wandering replies to his questions. Eve
this qualified measure OF consclousne
deserted me in time, however, and
went to sleep. An hour later or abol
four and one-half hours after havlr
swallowed the hasheesh, / aWoke daze
and dreamy; but a draught of cold watt
Immediately brought me e. myself, and
ten minutes more the influence OF Il
drug had entirely eVaporated. What
more, 1 had a furious appetite, and
midnight I ate a great supper. had !
headache, no lassitude and no nervou
ness: and when, in the small hours,
turned into bed, 4 slept soundIy, dreal
lessly and naturally, and rose next NOR
!, ing none the worse for my experiment.
Round and Square Rooms.
Man il the only animal that builds