DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14729#0216
i6o
THIRTY-FIVE YEARS IN THE EAST.
of butter, to which is added some water, and they are boiled
together until the water becomes entirely absorbed. Whilst
warm, it is pressed through a loosely woven linen, into
a vessel rilled with cold water ; and this butter, which is
of a green colour, may be washed again, either with pure
water or rose-water. They sometimes boil a certain quan-
tity of cleaned hemp herb in half water and half milk,
till half of it is evaporated ; it is then strained and curdled.
The butter is afterwards, in the usual manner, separated
from the coagulation, and contains the effective ( i. e,, the
resinous ) part of the herb. Five to ten grains of this com-
position is a sufficient dose. It can be flavoured with spices,
such as pepper, cinnamon, saffron, ginger, &c, and sweeten-
ed with sugar; and by means of isinglass or gum tragacanth,
it can also be converted into lozenges, which I used as boti'
bons at Lahore. It is true, I could administer them only to
Musselmen; the Sikhs and Hindoos being unwilling to take
any medicines prepared with liquids by European hands,
but invariably obtaining them from us in a dry state,
mixing them in their own vessels, and using water pro-
cured by themselves. This difficulty, however, was after-
wards removed, when the hospital was established ; for as
patients of every nation met with a liberal reception, the
Sikh government, aware of the religious restrictions in that
country, appointed a certain number of Hindoo attendants
by whom the remedies were prepared, and took care also
to provide me with some water from the river Ganges for
the preparation of the medicines. The intoxicating drug
called churrus, used for smoking, is prepared as follows :—
the fresh and ripe hemp plant is held over a mild fire to
soften it, and afterwards bruised in a mortar till it becomes
a compact mass. Another very curious method of obtaining
it is, by persons wearing leather breeches passing through
the hemp-fields, so that they come in contact with the hemp
plant, by which a quantity of the resinous substance attaches
itself to the leather garments and other parts of the body,
which they afterwards scrape off and collect. But the best
way is to gather the resinous parts.by rubbing the plant in
THIRTY-FIVE YEARS IN THE EAST.
of butter, to which is added some water, and they are boiled
together until the water becomes entirely absorbed. Whilst
warm, it is pressed through a loosely woven linen, into
a vessel rilled with cold water ; and this butter, which is
of a green colour, may be washed again, either with pure
water or rose-water. They sometimes boil a certain quan-
tity of cleaned hemp herb in half water and half milk,
till half of it is evaporated ; it is then strained and curdled.
The butter is afterwards, in the usual manner, separated
from the coagulation, and contains the effective ( i. e,, the
resinous ) part of the herb. Five to ten grains of this com-
position is a sufficient dose. It can be flavoured with spices,
such as pepper, cinnamon, saffron, ginger, &c, and sweeten-
ed with sugar; and by means of isinglass or gum tragacanth,
it can also be converted into lozenges, which I used as boti'
bons at Lahore. It is true, I could administer them only to
Musselmen; the Sikhs and Hindoos being unwilling to take
any medicines prepared with liquids by European hands,
but invariably obtaining them from us in a dry state,
mixing them in their own vessels, and using water pro-
cured by themselves. This difficulty, however, was after-
wards removed, when the hospital was established ; for as
patients of every nation met with a liberal reception, the
Sikh government, aware of the religious restrictions in that
country, appointed a certain number of Hindoo attendants
by whom the remedies were prepared, and took care also
to provide me with some water from the river Ganges for
the preparation of the medicines. The intoxicating drug
called churrus, used for smoking, is prepared as follows :—
the fresh and ripe hemp plant is held over a mild fire to
soften it, and afterwards bruised in a mortar till it becomes
a compact mass. Another very curious method of obtaining
it is, by persons wearing leather breeches passing through
the hemp-fields, so that they come in contact with the hemp
plant, by which a quantity of the resinous substance attaches
itself to the leather garments and other parts of the body,
which they afterwards scrape off and collect. But the best
way is to gather the resinous parts.by rubbing the plant in