“Bright Helen mixed a mirth-inspiring bowl, Tempered with drugs of sovereign use, to assuage
The boiling bosom of tumultuous rage;
To clear the cloudy front of wrinkled care,
And dry the tearful sluices of despair.”
Pope’s Homer.
The influence of climate in modifying the characters of plants is a circumstance known to all botanical students. The same plant, in temperate regions and under the tropics, exhibits different properties, or, we should rather say, in one instance developes more highly certain properties which in the other lie nearly dormant. The newly-introduced sorghum, from which we have been promised an unfailing supply of excellent sugar, fails in the North of France to reach that degree of maturity, or to develope in such manner its saccharine secretions as to be available for the manufacture of a crystallizable sugar. The sweet floating grass (Glyceria fluitans) in Poland and Russia supplies farinaceous seeds, which, under the name of manna croup, are consumed as food; but no seeds at all available for that purpose are produced at home from the same plant, although it grows213 freely. The flavour of the onion, as grown in Egypt, is, we are assured, far milder, and vastly different from the bulbs cultivated in Britain. The odour of violets and other flowers grown for perfumery and other purposes at Nice, have a scent more rich and delicious than when grown in English soil, subject to our variable climate. But the most extraordinary effect of all, produced by these influences upon plants, occurs in the case of hemp, which in Europe developes its fibrous qualities to such an extent as to produce a material for cordage hitherto unsurpassed; but in India, while deficient in this respect, developes narcotic secretions to such an extent as to occupy a prominent position among the chief narcotics of the world.
 
It was for some time supposed that the Indian or narcotic hemp was a different species to that which is cultivated for textile purposes; and even now it is often characterised by a different specific name, which would seem to assume that the species are distinct. This, however, the most celebrated of our botanists deny. The difference is declared to be, not one of species, but of climate, and of climate only. The native home of the hemp plant is assigned by Dr. Lindley to Persia and the hills in the North of India, whence it has been introduced into other countries. Burnett says, “Hemp seed is nutritious and not narcotic; it has the very singular property of changing the plumage of bullfinches and goldfinches from red and yellow to black, if they are fed on it for too long a time or in too large a quantity.” Never having tried the experiment, we have no ground for disputing or authority for verifying these remarks. If such, however, is the case, hemp seed possesses some property, if not narcotic, which canary and poppy seeds, we should presume, do not.
 
Johnny Englishman, with his usual genius for214 discovery and invention, has been discovered filling his pipe on board ship with oakum, when the stores of tobacco have been exhausted, but not being satisfied from his own experiments of the superiority of hemp, in that form, to his brother Jonathan’s tobacco, he therefore adheres to the latter. He considers hemp an excellent thing when twisted into a good hawser, but does not like it as “twist” in the masticatory acceptation of the term; nor does he at all admire the twist of Ben Battle, when
 
“Round his melancholy neck
A rope he did entwine,
And for his second time in life,
Enlisted in the line.
“One end he tied around a beam,
And then removed his pegs;
And as his legs were off, of course
He soon was off his legs.
“And there he hung till he was dead
As any nail in town;
For though distress had cut him up,
It could not cut him down.”
Hemp is one of those plants which adapts itself well to any climate: there is scarce a country in Europe where it cannot, or might not, be cultivated. From Poland and Russia in the North, to Italy in the South, the fibre is supplied to our markets. In North America it is grown for its fibre, and in South America for its narcotic properties. Throughout Africa, it may be found chiefly as an article for the pipe. In most of Asia it is known, and it has been cultivated in Australia. Thus, in its distribution, it may now be considered as almost universal.
 
Twenty-five centuries ago, Herodotus wrote of its cultivation by the Scythians:—215—“They have a sort of hemp growing in this country very like flax, except in thickness and height; in this respect the hemp is far superior—it grows both spontaneously and from cultivation, and from it the Thracians make garments very like linen, nor would any one who is not well skilled in such matters distinguish whether they are made of flax or hemp; but a person who has never seen this hemp, would think the garment was made of flax.” Then follows a description of the use of the hemp as a narcotic: “The Scythians, transported with the vapour, shout aloud.” Antiquity is in favour of this narcotic, and its use for that purpose before any other, except perhaps the poppy, was known, or at least of those now in use. The nepenthes of Homer has been supposed to have been this plant, or one of its products. The use of hemp had become so general amongst the Romans at the time of Pliny, that they commonly made ropes and cordage of it. The practice of chewing the leaves to produce intoxication existed in India in very early ages, whence it was carried to Persia, and before the middle of the thirteenth century, this custom was adopted in Egypt, but chiefly by persons of the lower orders.
 
The narcotic properties of hemp become concentrated in a resinous juice, which in certain seasons and in tropical countries exudes, and concretes on the leaves, slender stems, and flowers. This constitutes the base of all the hemp preparations, to which all the powers of the drug are attributable. In Central India, the hemp resin called churrus, is collected during the hot season in the following manner. Men clad in leathern dresses run through the hemp fields, brushing through the plants with all possible violence; the soft resin adheres to the leather, and is subsequently scraped off and kneaded into balls, which sell at from five to216 six rupees the seer, or about five or six shillings per pound. A still finer kind, the momeca or waxen churrus, is collected by the hand in Nepaul, and sells for nearly double the price of the ordinary kind. Dr. McKinnon says—“In Nepaul, the leathern attire is dispensed with, and the resin is collected on the skin of naked coolies.” In Persia the churrus is obtained by pressing the resinous plant on coarse cloths, and then scraping it from these and melting it in a pot with a little warm water. Mirza considers the churrus of Herat the most powerful of all the varieties of the drug. The hemp resin, when pure, is of a blackish grey colour, with a fragrant narcotic odour, and a slightly warm, bitterish, acrid taste.
 
The dried hemp plant which has flowered, and from which the resin has been removed, is called in India gunjeh. It sells at from twelve annas to a rupee the seer, or from ninepence to a shilling per pound, in the Calcutta bazaars. It is sold chiefly for smoking, in bundles two feet long and three inches in diameter, containing twenty-four plants. The colour is dusky green, the odour agreeably narcotic, the whole plant resinous and adhesive to the touch.
 
The larger leaves and capsules without the stalks, are called Bang, Subjee, or Sidhee in India, and have been brought into the London market under the name of Guaza. They are used for making an intoxicating drink, for smoking, and in the conserve called Majoon. Bang is cheaper than Gunjeh, and though less powerful, is sold at so low a price that for one halfpenny enough can be purchased to intoxicate an habituated person.
 
The Gunjeh consumed in Bengal comes chiefly from Mirzapore and Ghazeepur, being extensively cultivated near Gwalior and in Tirhoot. The natives cut the plant when in flower, allow it to217 dry for three days, and then lay it in bundles averaging two pounds each which are distributed to the licensed dealers. The best kinds are brought from Gwalior and Bhurtpore, and it is cultivated of good quality in gardens around Calcutta.
 
The Majoon or hemp confection, is a compound of sugar, butter, flour, milk, and bang. The mass is divided into small lozenge-shaped pieces; one dram will intoxicate a beginner, three drams one experienced in its use. The taste is sweet and odour agreeable. Most carnivorous animals will eat it greedily, and very soon become ludicrously drunk, but seldom suffering any worse consequences.
 
The confection called el mogen in use amongst the Moors appears to be similar to, if not identical with, the majoon of India.
 
The ancient Saracens and modern Arabs in some parts of Turkey and generally throughout Syria, use preparations of hemp still known by the name of haschisch or Hashash. M. Adolph Stuze, the court apothecary at Bucharest, thus describes the haschisch, by which general name all intoxicating drugs whose chief constituent is hemp, are well known all over the East. The tops and all the tender part of the hemp plant are collected after flowering, dried and kept for use. There are several methods of using it.
 
I. Boiled in fat, butter, or oil, with a little water; the filtered product is employed in all kinds of pastry.
 
II. Powdered for smoking. Five or ten grains of the powder are smoked from a common pipe with ordinary tobacco, probably the leaf of a species of Lobelia (Tombuki) possessing strong narcotic properties.
 
III. Formed with tragacanth mucilage into pastiles, which are placed upon a pipe and smoked in similar doses.
 
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IV. Made into an electuary with dates or figs and honey. This preparation is of a dark brown or almost black colour.
 
V. Another electuary is prepared of the same ingredients, with the addition of spices, cloves, cinnamon, pepper, amber, and musk. This preparation is used as an aphrodisiac.
 
The confection most in use among the Arabs is called Dawamese. This is mingled with other stimulating substances, so as to administer to the sensual gratifications, which appear to be the summum bonum of oriental existence.
 
The haschisch extract is about the consistence of syrup, and is of a dark greenish colour, with a narcotic odour, and a bitter, unpleasant taste.
 
A famous heretical sect among the Mahometans bore the name of Assassins, and settled in Persia in 1090. In Syria they possessed a large tract of land among the mountains of Lebanon. They assassinated Lewis of Bavaria in 1213, were conquered by the Tartars in 1257, and extirpated in 1272. Their chief assumed the title of “Ancient of the Mountain.” These men, some authorities inform us, were called Haschischins because the use of the haschish was common among them in the performance of certain rites, and that the ancient form has been corrupted into that now in use. M. de Sacy states that the word “assassin” has been derived from the Arabic name of hemp. It has also been declared, that during the wars of the Crusades, certain of the Saracen army while in a state of intoxication from the use of the drug, rushed madly into the Christian camp, committing great havoc, without themselves having any fear of death, and that these men were called Hashasheens, whence has arose our word “assassin.” The term “hashash,” says Mr. Lane, signifies “a smoker or an eater of hemp,” and is an appellation of219 obloquy; noisy and riotous people are often called “hashasheen,” which is the plural of that appellation, and the origin of our word “assassin.”
 
Benjamin of Tudela says, “In the vicinity of Lebanon reside the people called Assassins, who do not believe in the tenets of Mahommedanism, but in those of one whom they consider like unto the Prophet Kharmath. They fulfil whatever he commands them, whether it be a matter of life or death. He goes by the name of Sheikh-al-Hashishin, or, their old man, by whose command all the acts of these mountaineers are regulated. The Assassins are faithful to one another, by the command of their old man, and make themselves the dread of every one, because their devotion leads them gladly to risk their lives, and to kill even kings, when commanded.
 
In the centre of the Persian, as well as the Assyrian territory of the Assassins, that is to say, both at Alamut and Massiat, were situated, in a space surrounded by walls, splendid gardens—true eastern paradises—there were flower-beds, and thickets of fruit trees, intersected by canals; shady walks and verdant glades, where the sparkling stream bubbles at every step; bowers of roses and vineyards; luxurious halls, and porcelain kiosks, adorned with Persian carpets and Grecian stuffs, where drinking vessels of gold, silver, and crystal glittered on trays of the same costly materials; charming maidens and handsome boys, black-eyed and seductive as the houris and boys of Mahommed’s paradise, soft as the cushions on which they reposed, and intoxicating as the wine which they presented; the music of the harp was mingled with the songs of birds, and the melodious tones of the songstress harmonised with the murmur of the brooks—everything breathed pleasure, rapture, and sensuality.
 
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A youth who was deemed worthy, by his strength and resolution, to be initiated into the Assyrian service, was invited to the table and conversation of the grand master or grand prior; he was then intoxicated with henbane (haschish) and carried into the garden, which, on awakening, he believed to be paradise. Everything around him, the houris in particular, contributed to confirm his delusion. After he had experienced as much of the pleasures of paradise—which the prophet has promised to the blessed—as his strength would admit, after quaffing enervating delight from the eyes of the houris and intoxicating wine from the glittering goblets, he sank into the lethargy produced by debility and the opiate, on awakening from which, after a few hours, he again found himself by the side of his superior. The latter endeavoured to convince him that corporeally he had not left his side, but that spiritually he had been wrapped into paradise, and had then enjoyed a foretaste of the bliss which awaits the faithful, who devote their lives to the service of the faith and the obedience of their chief. Thus did these infatuated youths blindly dedicate themselves as the tools of murder, and eagerly sought an opportunity to sacrifice their terrestrial, in order to become the partakers of eternal life.
 
To this day, Constantinople and Cairo show what an incredible charm opium with henbane exerts on the drowsy indolence of the Turk and the fiery imagination of the Arab, and explains the fury with which those youths the enjoyment of these rich pastiles (haschish), and the confidence produced in them, that they are able to undertake anything or everything. From the use of these pastiles they were called Hashishin (herb-eaters,) which, in the mouths of Greeks and Crusaders, has been transformed into the word Assassin, and as221 synonymous with murder, has immortalized the history of the order in all the languages of Europe.23
 
This is the account given by Marco Polo, as repeated by Von Hammer in his “History of the Assassins.” To this let us further add M. Sylvestre de Sacy’s, fro............