The hemp was continued till the sixth dose, when he fell asleep and had some hours’ rest. Early the ensuing morning, however, Mr. Siddons, my assistant, was called up to him, and found him in a state of tumultuous agony and excitement; tortured by thirst he attempted to drink; but I will spare the reader the details of the horrors which ensued.
The hemp was again repeated; and again, by the third dose, the cheering alleviation of the previous day was witnessed. He ate a piece of sugar-cane, and again swallowed the juice; he partook freely of some moistened rice, and permitted a purgative enema to be administered; his pulse was nearly natural; the skin natural in every respect; his countenance was happy. On one subject only was he incoherent, and even here was manifested the powerful and peculiar influence of the narcotic. He spoke in raptures of the ladies of his zenana, and his anxiety to be with them. We ascertained, however, that he had no such establishment.
Four days thus passed away, the doses of hemp being continued. When he fell asleep, on waking the paroxysms returned, but were again almost immediately assuaged as at first. Meanwhile, purgative enemata were employed, and he partook freely of solid food, and once drank water without the least suffering. But about three, p.m., of the fifth day he sunk into a profound stupor, the breathing slightly stertorous; in this state he continued, and without further struggle death terminated his sufferings at four, a.m., on the 27th of November.
Reviewing the preceding summary of this interesting case, it seems evident that at least one advantage was gained from the use of the remedy—the awful malady was stripped of its horrors; if not less fatal than before, it was reduced to less than the scale of suffering which precedes death from most ordinary diseases. It must be remembered, too, that in this, the first case ever so treated, I possessed no data to guide me as to the dose or manner of administration of the drug. The remarkable cases of tetanus detailed in the sequel throw light on these important points, and will lead, in future cases, to the unhesitating administration of much larger quantities than at first I ventured to employ. I am not, however, rash enough to indulge the hope which involuntarily forces itself upon me, that we will ever from this narcotic derive an effectual remedy for even a solitary case of this disease; but next to cure, the physician will perhaps esteem the means which enable him “to strew the path to the tomb with flowers,” and to divest of its specific terrors the most dreadful malady to which mankind is exposed.
While the preceding case was under treatment, and exciting the utmost interest in the school, several pupils commenced experiments on themselves to ascertain the effects of the drug. In all, the state of the pulse was noted before taking a dose, and subsequently the effects were observed by two pupils of much intelligence. The result of several trials was, that in as small doses as a quarter of a grain the pulse was increased in fulness and frequency; the surface of the body glowed; the appetite became extraordinary; vivid ideas crowded the mind; unusual loquacity occurred; and, with scarcely any exception, great aphrodisia was experienced.
In one pupil, Dinonath Dhur, a retiring lad of excellent habits, ten drops of the tincture, equal to a quarter of a grain of the resin, induced in twenty minutes the most amusing effects I ever witnessed. A shout of laughter ushered in the symptoms, and a transitory state of cataleptic rigidity occurred for two or three minutes. Summoned to witness the effects, we found him enacting the part of a Rajah giving orders to his courtiers; he could recognise none of his fellow students or acquaintances; all to his mind seemed as altered as his own condition; he spoke of many years having passed since his student’s days; described his teachers and friends with a piquancy which a dramatist would envy; detailed the adventures of an imaginary series of years, his travels, his attainment of wealth and power; he entered on discussions on religious, scientific, and political topics, with astonishing eloquence, and disclosed an extent of knowledge, reading, and a ready apposite wit, which those who knew him best were altogether unprepared for. For three hours and upwards he maintained the character he at first assumed, and with a degree of ease and dignity perfectly becoming his high situation. A scene more interesting it would be difficult to imagine. It terminated nearly as suddenly as it commenced, and no headache, sickness, or other unpleasant symptom followed the innocent excess.
In the symptoms above described we are unavoidably led to trace a close resemblance to the effects produced by the reputed inspiration of the Delphic oracles; perhaps it would not be very erroneous to conclude that it was referable to the same kind of excitement.
Use in Cholera.
An epidemic cholera prevailing at this period, two of the students administered the tincture of hemp in several cases of that disease, and cures were daily reported by its alleged efficacy. Dr. Goodeve was thus led to try it in several cases, and his report was in the highest degree favorable. The diarrhœa was in every instance checked, and the stimulating effects of the drug clearly manifested. The durwan of the college, an athletic Rajpoot, was attacked, and came under my treatment after he had been ill seven hours; he was pulseless, cold, and in a state of imminent danger, the characteristic evacuations streaming from him without effort. Half a grain of the hemp resin was given, and in twenty minutes the pulse returned, the skin became warm, the purging ceased, and he fell asleep. In an hour he was cataleptic, and continued so for several hours. In the morning he was perfectly well and at his duty as usual.
It is but fair to state, however, that the character of the epidemic was not at the time malignant. I admit the cases to be inconclusive, but I conceive them to be promising, and that they deserve the due attention of the practitioner.