In India there is a native plant, which, after it has flowered, is dried and sold in the bazaars of Calcutta, for smoking. The Hindoos call it “ganpah,” and they give the name of “bang” or “subjee” to the large leaves and capsules which they use for the same purpose. The plant is a species of hemp; the smoking of which is considered so delightful, according to Dr. Thomson, as to have been denominated by such epithets as “Assuager of sorrow,” “Increaser of pleasure,” “Cementer of friendship,” “Laughter-mover,” and others of the same kind. On the same authority it is stated, that in Nepaul, the resin only is used; in some places it is collected by native coolies, walking through the fields of hemp at the time the plants give forth the resin, which, adhering to the skin, is scraped off from it, and kneaded into balls. It is taken in doses, from a grain to two grains, and causes a delightful delirium. When repeated, however, it is followed by catalepsy, or that state of insensibility which allows the body to be moulded into any form like a Dutch-jointed doll, the limbs remaining in the position in which they were placed, though contrary to the law of gravity, and continuing so for many hours. We are well acquainted with various means of acting in an extraordinary manner on the human frame. The writer, in common with multitudes, has witnessed, for example, the operation of nitrous oxide, often called “the laughing-gas.” It acts, however, very differently on different persons; some laugh immoderately, others become depressed, others assume the airs of vanity and importance which accord with their most cherished dispositions; and some can only be forcibly restrained from deeds of great violence. It is certainly a most singular sight to see a person laughing most boisterously, or strutting with all the hauteur of a newly-made potentate, suddenly subside as the action of the gas ceases, into a very unobtrusive individual. We may now briefly allude to one of the most extraordinary applications of the present times. The late sir Humphry Davy made many experiments on the effects of various gases on the human lungs. He found, in his own person, that the inhalation of nitrous oxide removed head-ache, and greatly assuaged the pain of cutting a wisdom-tooth. In his works, edited by Dr. John Davy, is the following passage:-- “As nitrous oxide, in its extensive operation, appears capable of destroying physical pain, it may probably be used with advantage during surgical operations in which no great effusion of blood takes place.” Here is the germ of the recent application of ether.