The Seven Sisters of Sleep: Popular History of the Seven Prevailing Narcotics of the WorldCooke, M. C. (Mordecai Cubitt)
History
The Seven Sisters of Sleep: Popular History of the Seven Prevailing Narcotics of the World
Cooke, M. C. (Mordecai Cubitt)
Drug abuse; Narcotics; Psychotropic drugs; Psychotropic plants; Tobacco use
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.
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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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