Of the ordinary physical effects of hashish, the first is a feeling of slight compression of the temporal bones and upper parts of the head. The respiration is gentle, the pulse is increased, and a gentle heat is felt all over the surface of the body. There is a sense of weight about the fore part of the arms, and an occasional slight involuntary motion, as if to seek relief from it. There is a feeling of discomfort about the extremities, creating a feeling of uneasiness, and if the dose has been too large the usual symptoms of poisoning by Indian hemp show themselves. Flushes of heat seem to ascend, to the head, even to the brain, which create considerable alarm. Singing in the ears is complained of; then comes on a state of anxiety, almost of anguish, with a sense of constriction about the chest. The individual fancies he hears the beating of his heart with unaccustomed loudness; but throughout the whole period it is the nervous system that is affected, and in this way the drug differs materially from opium whose action on the muscular and digestive systems is most marked. It is somewhat remarkable that Indian hemp fails to produce the same intoxicating effects in this country that it does in warmer climates, and whether this is due to the loss of some volatile principle or difference in temperature it is not yet determined. But would-be experimentalists in the effects of hashish would do well to remember that it may not be indulged in with impunity, and most authorities agree that the brain becomes eventually disordered with frequent indulgence in the drug even in India. It further becomes weakened and incapable of separating the true from the false; frequent intoxication leads to a condition of delirium, and usually of a dangerous nature; the moral nature becomes numbed, and the victim at last becomes unfit to pursue his ordinary avocation. It is stated by those who have had considerable experience in its use, that even during the dream of joy there is a consciousness that all is illusion; there is at no period a belief that anything that dances before the senses or plays upon the imagination is real, and that when the mind recovers its equilibrium it knows that all is but a phantasm. CHAPTER XVIII TOBACCO LORE