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The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 23

Section C.—Intoxicating or Stimulating Drugs, &c.

page 23

Section C.—Intoxicating or Stimulating Drugs, &c.,

384.Candeish opium, Palaver sormiferum, Candeish.
385.Provision opium, Papaver sormiferum, Benares.

This is the form in which opium is prepared in India for the Chinese markets.

386.Poppy trash, used for packing opium, &c., Benares.
387.Tobacco leaf, Nicotiana tabacum, Mysore.
388.Tobacco leaf, Nicotiana tabacum, Burmah.
389.Tobacco leaf, Nicotiana tabacum, Cuttack,
390.Tobacco leaf, Nicotiana tabacum, Akyab,
391.Bhang, Cannabis sativa, Madras.

The narcotic properties of hemp becomes 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 hem 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 to six rupees the seer, or about 5s. to 6s. 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. M'Kinnon 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.

392.Betel nuts, Areca catechu, Nuggur, Mysore.

The Areca palm, which supplies the betel nut, is known by the Malay name Pinang, whence also the name of the island Penang, which is now the chief emporium of the trade. There are various kinds in use, and the mode of preparation also differs. The three ingredients of the betel nut, as commonly used, are, the sliced nut, the leaf of the betel pepper in which the nut is rolled, and chunam or powdered lime, which is smeared over the leaf. Prof. Johnston calculated that they are chewed by at least fifty millions of the human race.

393.Betel nuts, Areca catechu, Travancore.
294.White gambier, Nauclea gambir, for masticating with betel, Singapore.