The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1893-09-14
j H / I d SMOKERS < 5
A NARCOTIC IN INDIA THAT HAS Pc
CULlAR EFFECTS.

Tho Use OF u Vegetable Among Savage
African People Transformed Their Ma
turcs-Hasheesh Makes Some People
Peaceful and Others Drunk.
Alcohol, opium and cocaine gre the
cause of endless woe to humanity.
What if something could be found
which could be substituted for these
poisons and at the same time have
pleasing and beneficial influence on
man, and instead of making him wild
would quiet him as did the Tyre of Or
pheus? The African traveller, Wiss-
mann, describes in detail the cultiva-
ton and use Of the "riambo" among the
former cannibai inhabitants of Lubuku,
by which their customs and manners
were made SO mild that it was even for
hidden by them to shed the blood Of an
finals. This people, who before had
been aggressive leaders in wars, are now
living in peace. Villages which hereto
fore had been engaged in bitter feuds
became friendly. Laws and customs of
the most peaceful kind were introduced,
with the result that the country into
which strangers had never before ven
tured was open to oil.
This peaceful disposition, as also this
antagonism to the shedding of the blood
of animals, points to characteristic fea-
ture Of an old oriental people. These
are the Indians. The same herb which
made the cannibals of Lubuku the
friends of men, and which they call
"bashilange," has been known to the In
dams for centuries as an intoxicant. It
is the Indian hemp. In the east the in
toxicant extract is made out of tho bios
SONS and out of the whole plant. Gen
orally it is called "hasheesh," which sig
nifies merely hemp. 1t is chewed like
tobacco, OF smoked as such, or the juice,
called "damamesk," is used with sugar
and almonds or whisky.
In moderate amounts the Indian hemp
and its preparations have mild effect
on the nervous system and produce a
pleasant state Of feeling. at any rate
among the orientals. Larger quantities
produce intoxication. In the east the
number of those who use the hasheesh is
computed at between 20O,0OO,0OO and
3O0,0O0,0O0. Physicians are not all agreed
as to the effect Of the drug, some claim
ing that it produces nausea, heart beat
ing, dryness in the throat. When fully
efficient, it produces the feeling of pleased
intoxication and the most agreeable and
pleasurable thoughts. Thereupon fol-
lows sleep, deep and dreamless, and on
the following morning the pleasant VS.
ions are still real and present. That
opium or alcohol eventually destroys
those who use it to excess goes without
saying. On the other hand, the effect of
the hemp chewing on the negro is won
derfully quieting.
Wlssmann mentions several African
people among whom hemp smoking has
been firmly introduced as habit, espe-
cially the Waniamesi. He says he is
convinced that the effect of this hemp on
the negro is to make him milder and
more gentle and to make him more ac-
cessible to the influences of civilization.
although it does have to q certain extent
an evil influence on the body, which in
fuence. however, is generally exagger-
ated. Most remarkable is the manner
in which Judgment of God'' is secured
by the hemp smokers. Those that are
accused continue the smoking of hemp
a confession. On the other hand, the
thieves of India use this hemp for the
purpose of pursuing their work. They
secretly make hole in the house and
fill it with fumes of hemp smoke. This
has its effect on the people of the house,
and when the thieves enter they find
them in the most agreeable humor, i'll
capable of understanding what is going
on and even welcoming the marauders
with the most pleasant words and ges-
lures. These statements are from the
travels of Won Bibra.
Then the hasheesh smokers frequently
get into q state much resembling hyr.
notism, in which it is possible to place
the members Of the body in any posi-
ton and to treat the body as though it
were all made of joints. The similarity
between hypnotism and the effects Of
hasheesh smoking is so great that DR.. Won
Schrenk-N otzig of Munich made special
investigation Of this subject. 1t is well
known that when person is hypnotized
a single word or threatening action suf-
fees to throw the subject into spasms of
rage. The authority just mentioned has
discovered that in q similar way n per-
son under the influence of hasheesh can
be affected. He even discovered that
persons who do not submit to ordinary
hypnotism can be put into this state
through the chewing or smoking of hash
eesh. The faculty most influenced by this
narcotic is the imagination. The imme.
date present is idealized into the most
beautiful and fantastic forms. Hearing
is made finer, and the finest strains Of
music affect as they never did before
Lelpsic Daheim.