Case CXLII

This physician relates the following: An English ambassador, recently sent to India, was conducted, on his arrival at the palace of the sovereign, through a suite of decorated apartments, filled with richly dressed officials, into a small room, the ornaments and furniture of which infinitely surpassed in splendor those which he had already seen.

He was left alone. Shortly afterwards, two men of distinguished appearance entered; they preceded a litter borne by slaves, and covered with silks and cashmeres of immense value. On this couch a human form was extended, which might have been taken for a corpse, had not the head moved at each step of the bearers; two officers held a little tray of gold filagree, on which was a cup and phial filled with a bluish liquid.

The ambassador, believing himself to be the involuntary witness of some dismal ceremony, moved to retire; but he was quickly undeceived by seeing the officers raise the apparently inanimate head, and thrust the tongue back into the mouth, from which it protruded, having placed thereon a certain quantity of black liquid; then closing the jaws, gently rubbed the throat to make it descend. When this operation had been repeated five or six times, the figure opened and closed its eyes voluntarily; it then swallowed a large dose of liquid, and in less than an hour an animated being was seated on the couch, having recovered color, and, in some measure, speech. He then addressed himself in Persian to the envoye, and inquired the motives of his visit. In two hours more, this extraordinary person was entirely active, with his mind capable of undertaking the most difficult affairs. The English ambassador took the liberty of making some inquiries on the scene which he had witnessed. "Sir," he replied, "I ama confirmed opium-eater; it is by degrees that I have fallen into this deplorable excess. Three parts of the day I pass in the state of stupor in which you saw me. Incapable of moving or speaking, I am, nevertheless, conscious, and the time passes in delightful visions; but I should never awake, had I not zealous and affectionate attendants, who watch over me with a religious care. So soon as they find, by the state of my pulse, that the pulsation of my heart is about to cease, they make me swallow opium, and revive me in the manner you witnessed. For the last four hours I have swallowed several ounces; and in a little time I shall fall into my habitual torpor."*

Dr. Botta, formerly our schoolmate, now consul in Jerusalem, to whom the discovery of Nineveh is due. See also a Treatise by Mr. Leo.

The effects of opium on the brain have been noticed in particular cases, sometimes even on the first dose.

Case CXLIII

"I attended," says Abercrombie, "a sick person affected with a severe local disease, which required the use of powerful opiates. The remedy did not always succeed in procuring repose to the patient. During one restless night, he was astonished to see a long procession of personages pass in review before him, whose appearance and costume were in accordance with an event which had, a short time before, been the theme of conversation throughout Edinburgh. The figures succeeded each other with all the animation and regularity of a scene in a theatre; he heard their conversations, and the long discourses which they held relative to the circumstances, some of which were in rhyme. On the following day, he repeated considerable passages of these poetical compositions. He was completely awake, and knew that what he saw was an illusion. He remarked that the vision all vanished when he opened his eyes, but returned as soon as he closed them."†

Some years since, attention was drawn to a substance, of which great use is made in the East, called Haschisch. This composition, which is a distillation of the pistils of the hemp, and on which M. Aubert Roche published an interesting paper, appears, according to the researches of Messrs. Lenglds, Mi-chand, and De Sacy, to have played a very important part in the Middle Ages. In fact, it is almost certain that the Old Man of the Mountain made use of this preparation to plunge his slides into a sea of delight.*

* Pocqucville, Voyage en Morea. Bibliotheque Universelle de Geneve, 1841. Neuf Annees a Constantinople, par Brayer, 1836, 2 vols. 8vo. † Abercrombie, op. cit. p. 389.

Observations, made of cases both in Egypt and in France, support this opinion. In 1840 I attended, in conjunction with several other physicians, a case, the results of which were referred to the Gazette Midicale. We had no doubt that haschisch formed the chief element of the liquid given to the experimenters, even if it was not haschisch alone, without any admixture. I will subjoin my notice of the meeting.

About two years since, I published, in a number of the Journal des Debats, some details on the composition of haschisch, a drug of general use in the East, and which had produced such remarkable effects on three young merchants of Marseilles. The case, which excited much curiosity at the time, was, like many others, forgotten, when I received from M. A. de G., who is well known as the translator of Pliny, in the fine edition of Latin Classics, by M. Panckoucke, an invitation to be present at some experiments produced by the taking of a substance, which occasioned, it was said, similar phenomena to those which had been noticed in the adepts of the Old Man of the Mountain.

On my arrival, the meeting consisted of about thirty persons, amongst whom I will name Messrs. Esquirol, Ferrus, Cottereau, Bussy, Professor of the School of Pharmacy, General Remond, and M. Destourbet. The remainder of the party were literary men, savants, and artists; consequently, we had assembled every element for close observation, and there was every certainty that the experiment would be strictly carried out.