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
Britain are stated to have been made from a walnut-shell and a straw.
Dr. Royle describes a very primitive kind of clay pipe used by some of
the natives of India—it is presumed only in cases of necessity. “The
amateur makes two holes, one longer than the other, with a piece of
stick in a clay soil, inclining the stick so that they may meet; into
the shorter hole he places the tobacco, and applies his mouth to the
other, and thus, as he lies upon the ground, luxuriates in the fumes of
the narcotic herb.”
Turkish pipe-bowls, or Lules, are composed of the red clay of Nish,
mixed with the white earth of the Roustchouck. They are very graceful
in form, and are in some cases ornamented with gilding. The “regular
Turk” prefers a fresh bowl daily; therefore the plain ones are resorted
to on the score of economy. In Turkey and some other parts of the
Orient, it is not unusual to compute distances, or rather the duration
of a journey, by the numbers of pipes which might be smoked in the time
necessary to accomplish it.
The pipe of the German is, almost universally, the Meerschaum, that
pipe of fame so coveted by the Northern smoker. These articles are
composed of a kind of magnesian earth, known to the Tartars of the
Crimea as _keff-til_. Pallas erroneously supposed that this kind of
earth was so denominated from Caffa, and therefore the name signified
“Caffa earth.” From “Meninski’s Oriental Dictionary” it would appear to
be a derivation of two Turkish words which signify “foam” or “froth”
of the “earth.” The French name, _écume de mer_, or “scum of the sea,”
and the Germans’ “sea foam,” have doubtless an intimate relationship
with this same “keff til” of the Crimean Tartars.
Meerschaum earth is met with in various localities in Spain, Greece,
Crimea, and Moravia. The greatest quantity is derived from Asia Minor,
it being dug principally in the peninsula of Natolia, near the town of
Coniah. Before the capture of the Crimea, this earth is stated to have
formed a considerable article of commerce with Constantinople, where it
was used in the public baths to cleanse the hair of women. The first
rude shape was formerly given to the pipe-bowls on the spot where the
mineral was dug, by pressure in a mould; and these rude bowls were
more elegantly carved and finished at Pesth and Vienna. At the present
time, the greater part of the meerschaum is exported in the shape of
irregular blocks; these undergo a careful manipulation, after having
been soaked in a preparation of wax and oil. After being finished, and
sold at the German fairs, some of them have acquired such an exquisite
tint through smoking, in the estimation of connoisseurs, that they have
realized from £40 to £50.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account