THE INTELLECTUAL OBSERVER.

“UNDER the name of Haschisch is indicated the intoxicating preparations made from a species of hemp which bears the appellation of Cannabis Indica. The tops of the plants in flower, gathered before the maturity of the seeds, are employed in its production, but the details of the process are not known. It is prepared in two distinct forms – an extract shaped into slender cylinders more or less long, and thin tablets containing sugar, which have an agreeable and peculiar flavour. From the extract an alcoholic tincture is obtained, also pastilles sucrées, and several other preparations, in which fatty and aromatic substances enter. Sometimes the haschisch is smoked with tobacco, or it is mixed with coffee, tea, or other drinks.

“Haschisch is remarkable for a special action upon the human economy, which must not be confounded with that occasioned by alcoholic fluids, or by opium, and the general run of narcotics.

“Being desirous of testing its action on my own person, I seized, without hesitation, a favourable opportunity offered by one of my friends, who brought from the East a certain quantity of haschisch under the form of extract and pâte sucrée. I took two or three grammes of this paste and with great indifference and doubt as to the marvellous effects it was alleged to produce. It was in the spring of 1854, about nine o’clock in the morning, and soon afterwards I repaired to the chemical laboratory of the College of France, and set to work as usual. In about a quarter of an hour I felt a peculiar movement in the extremities, which propagated itself towards the interior of the body. I felt as if something entered at the tips of my fingers and moved progressively, and without interruption, to my brain, without, however, producing the slightest derangement of the intellectual faculties, or the faintest impression of pain. I can only compare this sensation to that produced by nettles on the skin, or that occasioned by a great number of ants moving over the body, or that of a gentle titillation of the sole of the foot, or other delicate part of the skin. But all these comparisons are only approximations, and cannot convey a true idea of the effect produced by haschisch during the first period of its action. The movement I wish to describe has the peculiarity of being progressive, without intermittence, and without any pain.

“In this first period of the operation of haschisch I felt that I was in an abnormal state, and was contented. Nevertheless, I desired to continue the work I had begun, but was unable to do so, as my hands, affected by a peculiar nervous excitement, refused to execute any movements that required delicacy or steadiness. I therefore determined to return home, but I had scarcely opened the doors of the grand court of the college than I beheld the houses as if they had been removed to a distance, while the voices that reached me were as weak as if they came from a remote place. All distances seemed very great, and I felt as if raised from the ground and walking through the air, whilst the persons in the streets touched the ground with their feet, as if they were my inferiors, and incapable of mounting above it as I had done. As I was hastening home the distances seemed to grow without end, and I thought I should never arrive. In the meantime I reasoned with myself and said, ‘This is curious. The action of haschisch augments distances, weakens the voice, creates a sense of superiority over others, and the person under its influence believes himself lifted from the ground and walking in the air.’ At length I reached the house, and at the place where my key was, I found and took possession of two letters bearing my address. The portress, who saw me return sooner than usual, said to her husband, ‘M. Luca’s rooms are not ready;’ and when she heard me speak, she exclaimed, ‘His voice has changed;’ to which I hastened to reply, ‘It is the effect of haschisch.’ I proceeded to my lodging, opened the door, entered, and shut it, but left the key outside. My first desire was to open the two letters and read them, but the nervous movement which I have mentioned hindered me, and with all my efforts I only succeeded in passing them between my fingers and turning them about for two or three minutes. At last, seized with a supreme disdain for vulgar things, I flung the letters on the ground as if unworthy of my thoughts.

“A crowd of ideas came into my mind, and grew clear and precise; the nervous movement became more sensible, an agreeable feeling came over me, and I determined to go to bed, having taken off my clothes. I had scarcely got into bed before the clothes seemed to remove themselves to a certain distance from my body, as a sign of respect; and thus, without contact with them, I found myself in an atmosphere of pleasure and content. I saw at that moment, to my great satisfaction, all the events of my life pass before me; but my ideas changed so rapidly that I would not dwell upon a single one. At this time I said, ‘If this state could last for ever, the dreams of poets would be realized, we should be all content, we should have nothing to desire, and we might pass our time in joyful contemplation!’ The distinctness of my ideas was not diminished throughout this period of the action, and my mind sought to corroborate them by proofs, and to know them more completely. In fact, while I found myself in bed under this influence, I had my doubts, and said, ‘You believe you are at home, and perhaps you are at work in the laboratory;’ but this doubt passed off like lightning, as a thousand reasons occurred to convince me that I was really at home, and nowhere else, for I could get out of bed and walk – which I did; I could go back to bed – which I did also, having first examined my clothes, looked at the two letters on the floor, and noticed that the door was shut and the key outside. As soon as I got into bed the second time the clothes again removed themselves to a distance, and the same agreeable atmosphere surrounded me once more.

“This action lasted about four hours, and towards its close ideas succeeded with less rapidity, the distances diminished, and the bed-clothes respectfully approached me, the nervous movement disappeared, and all things gradually assumed their natural aspect, except that my lips were less moist than usual.”