The following are notes shared, as a part of the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission Report of 1895, regarding the chemical, physiological and biological analyses of Indian cannabis varieties in the 19th century. Even though the analyses has errors due to the lack of knowledge at that time, such as that of cannabinoids being considered as alkaloids and errors of classification of types of cannabis processing as different varieties (e.g considering chur, flat and rolled ganja as different varieties), it does provide information on chemical differences between the various varieties of cannabis found in India as well as differences between the leaves, flowers and resin, or in other words, bhang, ganja and charas. The notes show important facts that have been confirmed by the latest science such as the descent of cannabis and hops from the same species, the solubility of cannabis in alcohol, various methods of extraction, etc. It also provides information on some of the varieties of ganja and charas available in 19th century India. Hopefully the information available here can serve as a baseline to kickstart extensive research, using modern tools and methodologies, into the varieties of cannabis in India, past and present, their chemical and biological analysis, and contribute to the protection, revival and propagation of these precious varieties, those that have not gone extinct through our folly, that is.

Chemical Analysis

REPORT BY MR. DAVID HOOPER, GOVERNMENT QUINOLOGIST, MADRAS, ON THE RESULTS OF ANALYSIS OF HEMP DRUGS.
I have the honor to forward the results of the analyses of samples of hemp drugs submitted for chemical examination by your Commission, together with those collected by myself and others in this presidency. This is the first time that a systematic examination of hemp drugs from different parts of India has been conducted. Previous investigators have contented themselves with searching in commercial samples for the active principle, without first satisfying themselves as to the variation in the composition of the plants grown in different districts and under different circumstances. The active principle of hemp is contained in, and intimately associated with, the resinous secretion which is found in the leaves of the plant, and which is formed in abundance in the flowering tops when the cultivated female plants are grown by themselves. The resins in this secretion are associated with one or more alkaloids, existing in small quantities and not possessing the peculiar physiological action of the drug. The chief object of the analysis was not to determine the alkaloid, as in examining tobacco for nicotine, but to separate the resinous matter in as pure a condition as possible, taking the precaution to free the sample from excess of seeds yielding fixed oil. Other objects sought for in the examination of Indian hemp were the following: determinations of extractives directly soluble in spirit and in water; determination of nitrogen; search for sugar, and estimation of that body when present; a proximate analysis, showing the amounts dissolved by ether, and subsequently by rectified spirit and water, and the crude fibre and ash contents; nature of the ash, solubility of ash in water with estimation of alkalinity, solubility in acid, amount of insoluble or sandy matter, analysis of ash of ganja and bhang; proportion of seeds in ganja and bhang; composition of the seeds; nature of the resinous extractive. The literature on the subject of the chemistry of ganja has been referred to and digested, and Dr. Prain's " Report on the cultivation and use of ganja" has been read with interest; but before offering any remarks I will first enumerate the samples of drugs received, describe the methods of their analysis and give the tables of results.

The samples of ganja.
In order to compare the composition of all the samples with those of acknowledged superiority, such as Bengal ganja, specimens were obtained through the Commissioner of Excise from Naogaon in Rajshahi district. The four kinds-large flat twig, small twig round and chur were typical specimens and were received in good condition. Surat, No. 1, was in matted heads with a fair amount of seeds. Surat ganja, No. 2, was in a loose dusty condition with many seeds and some stones. Besides these impurities, it gave a grass green coloured tincture, characteristic of bhang, and as leaves predominated it was placed among the bhang. The two kinds of Sind ganja came from Karachi; they were labelled " first kind known as Panvel ganja," "second kind or Sholapur ganja." The first specimen had a good odour and was broken up into smaller pieces than the second, which was in clean matted heads. The Commissioner of Excise, North-Western Provinces, sent some pieces of Baluchar and Pathar ganja used in Allahabad, but not grown in the provinces. These fragmentary samples did not admit of a full analysis being made. The North-Western Provinces supplied two illicit ganjas-one from Ghazipur, and the other from Basti. The latter was a small sample "obtained by a fakir from the border of the district or from the adjacent Nipal terai." It was rather seedy and dirty in appearance. The Ghazipur specimen was of a good green colour, but the leafy bracts were thin, and the tops were not agglutinated as in other samples. The Khandesh ganja had the Dhulia post mark on the parcel, and was representative. The Satara drug was labelled "ganja flower tops"; it was seedy, it contained a few insects and had only a poor odour. The Ahmednagar specimens were interesting in having a different commercial value attached to each. One was sold for Rs. 55, the second for Rs. 50, and the third for Rs. 48 for three Bengal maunds. The retail price of each was 12 annas per pound. There was not much difference in their appearance, except that perhaps there was more stalk in the third kind. The Nasik ganja was in matted heads with fair odour, and almost entirely free from seeds. The Solahpur sample was clean and had few seeds; its composition was different to the Solahpur ganja imported in Sind. The Bijapur ganja had a few seeds, a slight musty odour and a brownish-green colour. Of the two specimens from Nimar district, one was marked "cleaned ganja raised from local seed," and the other "cleaned ganja raised from Dhakalgaon seed." The Hyderabad drug was of a good colour and fresh. With reference to the Madras samples, the two kinds purchased in the Ootacamund bazar were called "Javaj" or "Javathu" and "country ganja." The first is considered the best kind, and from its name very probably came from the Javadi hills; the second kind came from Coimbatore. An authentic sample of ganja from Coimbatore was obtained with the view of comparing, it with the " country ganja." The Tanjore sample was sent by Dr. Mootoosawmy of that city, who stated that all the ganja was " imported from Chittore, Vellore and a mountainous village in the latter district called Kaleyimbody."* (* Kaniyambadi, North Arcot, a village not far from Vellore, where some of the dealers in Javadi ganja live.—(C. Benson)) Bangalore also appears to be supplied with ganja from Vellore. The sample from Madras city purchased by the Commission was said to have been imported from the Jawadis. It had a cummin-like odour. Mr. Benson, Deputy Director of Agriculture, obtained several specimens of Ganjam ganja which varied very much in colour, odour and proportion of seeds. My analysis was made on a mixture of the better kinds containing few seeds. I am also indebted to Mr. Benson for procuring for me sample of the ganja prepared in Daggupad in the Kistna district. The small leaves alone with the flowering tops were very numerous, linear, with revolute margins, and very brittle. The fruit was set, and the bracts were covered with brownish glandular hairs, and the whole was very fragrant of southernwood. This sample is remarkable in yielding the largest amount of resin of all the others, including the Naogaon ganjas.

The samples of bhang.
With the exception of the samples from Bhagalpur and Monghyr which were sent by the Collectors of those stations, all the others were forwarded by the Commission. They varied in odour and in amount of seeds and impurities. Some had entire leaves, in others they were broken up to a coarse powder. The bhangs from Bhagalpur and Monghyr had a marked peppermint odour, those from Bijapur and Sholapur had only a slight fragrance. The Khandesh sample was very much broken up and contained some seeds, while that from Amballa had its leaves twisted up like green-tea, and was remarkably free from seeds and foreign bodies. The samples from Surat and Hyderabad were much contaminated. In these cases the Surat bhang was powdered up and analysed just as it was received, and the Hyderabad mixture was sifted and the cleaned leaves only were used for analysis. The wild bhang from Assam had broad thin leaves, and a mousey odour. The leaves from the cultivated Rajshahi plants were lighter in colour, thicker, linear, with revolute margins, and a "herby" smell. The samples of wild hemp plants were allied to those of bhang, but being in smaller quantities they were analysed by a different process. From Basti, North-Western Provinces, three interesting specimens were submitted-a sample of bhang with staminate flowers, female hemp called the " ganja plant", and male hemp called the "bhangi plant." From Gonda two plants representative of the sexes were sent. One was said to be obtained from Ammarpur, 21 miles east of Gonda, and was bearing staminate flowers; the other was a female plant from the same village in which the young fruits were developing. The specimen of wild hemp plant from Jaunpur, North-Western Provinces, consisted of leaves without any flowers or seeds and was stated to be used as ganja for smoking; but nothing definitely was known about this. Bhang does not seem to be sold in South India as a commercial article, but the leaves of the wild plants grown near houses are used by the natives for smoking. A specimen of such a plant was obtained from Pykara, on these hills, and its analysis resembles very strongly that of the wild bhang from Assam.

The samples of charas.
In Amballa district, charas "mashak" sells for Re. 1-8-0 per seer. It has a dark olive-green colour, tough consistence and a peculiar fragrant aroma. The Amritsar, Delhi and Bombay drugs are very much like the above, although called by different names, such as "mashak", "bhara" and "dust", and sold at prices ranging from 12 annas to Re. 1-9-0 per seer. Gwalior charas occurred in black balls from the size of a pea to that of a nutmeg. The sample from the wild plants in the Kumaon terai were spindle-shaped and about 11/4 inch long. They contained seeds and much vegetable matter, and were very probably obtained by rolling ganja in the hand. The Himalayan charas from Kumaon cultivated plants was in the form of large balls made by massing about a dozen small balls together. The Himalayan charas made from cultivated plants in Gurhwal was in two forms-flat, square shaped pieces about 3/4 inch across, and round disc-shaped flattened pieces about 1 inch in diameter, with a hole in the middle by which they were strung together on a string. These had a heavy tobacco-like odour, and were black in colour. The Yarkand charas was a small hard cake weighing a few grains, sent in the samples of ganja and bhang from Allahabad. The Almora charas was a portion of a hard ball in which seeds and other vegetable debris were present. The two specimens from Nipal had the odour of musk. " A " was a sample of 1892 manufacture of good quality, and occurred in small rounded discs like Pontefract cakes. Sample "B" was two years old, and in cylindrical pieces, black and hard; it was called Shahjahani charas.

The methods of analysis.
The samples of ganja were broken up by hand, the stalks removed, and the loose seeds rejected, and the matted heads at the extremities of the smaller twigs were only taken. This "chur" was then powdered and made to pass through a sieve with 36 meshes to the linear inch, and the resulting powder was kept for use in a stoppered bottle. A tincture was made by macerating a weighed quantity of the powder for 48 hours with rectified spirit, percolating to exhaustion, and evaporating to dryness in a water-oven. The result would represent the amount of extract, the chief preparation of Indian hemp adopted by the pharmacopoeias. The infusion was prepared by allowing five grammes of the powder to stand in warm water for a few hours. If cold water is used for the extraction, it requires more than 24 hours for complete saturation, and before that time the extract shows signs of fermentation. One portion of the watery extract was evaporated to complete dryness, another portion was precipitated with solution of acetate of lead to separate the organic acid, and the third portion, if sugar was present, was used to titrate a measured volume of Fehling's copper test. The nitrogen was determined by combustion with soda-lime, and existed in the plant mostly as albuminoids, although some was yielded by the alkaloids, and in some cases by a soluble salt of ammonium. The proximate analysis of ganja and bhang was commenced with ether, which is the best solvent for the active resins, and dissolves very little extraneous matter. The subsequent action of rectified spirit (sp: gr: o. 83) removed a resin acid, alkaloids, and in some cases a saccharine body reducing Fehling's solution. By adding together the ether extract and the resin acid, the result equals the amount of washed resin obtained by the direct spirit extract. If the spirit extract in the proximate analysis is much over 2 per cent., it points to the presence of sugar; absolute alcohol, on the other hand, does not dissolve this sugar so easily. Dr. Prain used petroleum ether for the first solvent to act upon the drug, and the dried extract obtained by this liquid was returned as " fixed oil, etc." If this were the case, then all the extracts of Indian hemp would consist mostly of fixed oil, whereas the extracts from all ganjas consist, as I shall show presently, of resins with a small proportion of fixed oil. Petroleum ether is a good solvent of the resins, and is of no use in effecting a separation between them and the oil. The best method is to separate the seeds from the sample before the analysis, and so exclude the source of the oil. A misconception seems to have arisen from a statement made by Roux, a French Chemist, in 1887, that the ethereal extract is inert. If the ethereal extraction follows that of petroleum ether, then, perhaps, the product is inert, but direct exhaustion of the drug with ether certainly does not yield inert resins. Dr. Prain estimated, by an indirect method, the essential oil in some samples of ganja, and obtained some high results, over 6 per cent. in most cases. Indirect methods of estimating volatile oils give higher figures than by direct distillation, and are not to be depended upon. I have recently distilled one of the most fragrant ganjas, that from the Kistna district, and it yielded less than one per cent. of colourless essential oil, having the peculiar odour of the drug. The essential oil in the other samples has not been determined. The remaining analytical methods do not require any further explanation.

Analyses of samples of Ganja (free from moisture).
Direct spirit extract. Direct water extract. Organic acid. Nitrogen. Sugar. Ether extract. Spirit extract.
Water extract. Crude fibre. Total ash. Ash soluble in water. Ash soluble in acid. Ash insoluble.
Alkalinity of ash as KHO. (Moisture.)

Bengal.—

Naogaon "chur" 25.90 13.80 4.72 3.23 traces. 23.27 2.63 9.52 47.83 19.18 2.81 9.34 7.03 1.01 9.0;

"flat small twig" 23.84 14.53 5.59 3.39 traces. 20.90 2.32 12.52 50.93 16.20 1.94 9.81 4.05 .90 7.1;

"flat large twig" 22.66 13.18 5.30 3.48 traces. 19.84 1.88 11.44 50.15 17.57 3.43 8.68 5.46 .83 6.7;

"round" 21.80 14.42 5.01 3.46 traces. 19.52 1.82 10.99 52.02 18.72 3.91 9.08 5.73 1.08 9.2

North-Western Provinces.-

Ghazipur"illicit" 19.00 18.10 4.16 2.66 14.80 4.53 14.24 47.00 19.44 2.72 13.00 3.72 .77 10.0;

Sind.—
Karachi (from Sholapur) 2nd 22.51 10.33 3.82 2.33 21.14 1.45 9.55 48.24 21.86 1.67 11.79 8.40 .61 7.1;
(from Panvel) 1st 17.79 13.31 4.20 3.05 15.28 1.98 10.37 54.96 19.59 2.02 12.99 4.58 .92 8.4'

Bombay.—
Khandesh 19.43 14.36 4.48 2.42 17.90 1.88 12.52 49.93 18.89 2.80 11.61 4.48 .91 7.4;
Satara 19.60 16.58 5.92 2.68 17.67 1.65 11.75 54.88 17.67 2.19 10.10 5.38 1.07 8.9;
Ahmednagar, Rs. 55 19.06 14.15 4.96 2.80 17.23 1.37 11.32 54.90 20.94 2.45 11.81 6.68 .80 12.4;
Ahmednagar, Rs. 50 18.39 12.22 3.90 2.93 16.64 1.33 10.43 55.23 20.09 1.87 11.54 6.68 .84 11.6;
BR. 48 16.19 12.39 4.66 3.18 14.39 2.30 10 24 55.39 21.79 2.38 12.42 6.09 1.08 9.8;
Nasik 18.30 17.21 4.91 3.28 traces. 15.11 2.51 13.28 55.00 16.86 1.79 10.84 4.03 .61 8.2;
Surat 17.38 12.88 4.05 2.81 15.04 3.33 9.42 58.60 19.38 2.44 12.22 4.72 1.21 10.0;
Sholapur 16.14 13.31 4.20 3.05 14.46 1.89 11.20 57.09 19.65 2.83 11.96 4.86 1.23 8-4;
Bijapur 17.19 15.98 5.45 2.98 traces. 14.33 2.20 12.84 54.46 17.19 2.26 11.02 3.91 .91 9.2

Central Provinces.—
Nimar from Dhakalgaon seed 16.59 13.89 5.14 2.68 traces. 15.47 1.81 12.17 52.28 20.63 1.86 13.57 5.20 1.22 8.6;
Nimar from local seed 18.20 14.52 5.18 3.13 traces. 16.36 2.09 12.19 52.17 17.85 2.40 11.79 3.66 1.07 8.4;
Hyderabad 19.15 12.33 3.90 3.29 17.50 2.24 10.47 53.67 17.31 3.08 9.74 4.49 1.21 7.6;

Madras.—
Daggupad, Kistna District 31.00 24.17 4.97 2.67 4.31 25.13 7.6 13.18 38.86 14.97 1.75 11.04 2.18 1.07 8.5;
" " 28.58 20.71 5.35 2.26 22.22 5.23 14.49 41.24 16.82 2.20 11.93 2.69 .98 7.30;
Ootacamund " javathu " 26.15 21.42 4.77 2.72 5.42 21.68 9.73 10.88 47.45 14.33 2.44 9.16 2.73 1.14 9.8;
country ganja" 20.30 23.70 4.96 1.96 6.24 14.64 9.52 11.81 49.18 17.78 2.06 10.81 4.91 .94 9.7;
Ganjam 26.42 22.62 4.68 2.60 6.12 18.37 8.06 14.08 44.59 15.16 2.23 8.02 4.01 .93 10.3;
Bangalore 23.54 18.52 4.85 2.51 5.02 18.50 4.76 13.25 50.67 15.91 1.85 10.57 3.49 1.07 8.2;
Tanjore 24.10 18.83 4.82 2.69 6.58 17.37 8.90 11.39 44.93 20.66 1.77 10.36 8.53 .62 9.7;
Madras City 21.00 20.56 4.60 2.27 6.15 13.92 6.90 14.28 47.00 19.58 1.62 12.17 5.79 1.21 7.6;
Coimbatore 22.52 19.55 395 2.13 4.84 18.44 6.30 12.14 42.66 20.46 3.33 11.28 5.85 1.31 10.0;

Pathar ganja 15.84 14.69 4.42 2.80 17.48 2.62 11.37 3.49 .98 8.5;
Baluchar ganja 23.8 17.80 5.50 15.83 2.72 9.51 3.60 .90 8.2;
Khandesh 13.36 16.85 5.34 2.23 12.63 1.76 12.73 48.14 27.32 2.12 15.90 9.0 .86 5.7;
Hyderabad (cleaned) 13.36 10.43 3.61 2.80 12.22 1.51 8.32 52.00 28.40 3.20 16.90 8.30 1.12 12.8;
Amballa 12.54 19.48 7.37 3.12 10.37 2.64 15.25 46.10 27.84 2.53 15.41 9.90 1.23 9.1;
Sholapur 11.53 15.37 5.63 2.33 10.22 1.68 12.47 51.24 27.17 1.89 15.80 9.48 .80 7.6;
Bhagalpur 13.70 18.80 5.40 2.86 10.04 2.06 16.59 50.07 24.74 2.19 15.06 7.49 .94 8.6;
Bijapur 11.30 15.32 4.62 8.13 9.45 2.02 11.43 53.26 25.65 1.63 16.30 7.72 .76 8.0;
Monghyr 12.88 16.47 4.75 2.89 9.17 2.21 13.85 52.32 26.09 2.92 15.07 7.20 1.22 9.5;
Rajshahi (leaves from cultivated plants) 17.88 20.81 4.36 1.91 9.48 8.20 11.63 42.88 29.95 2.10 12.27 15.58 .99 72;
Assam (from wild plants) 16.73 22.00 5.72 3.17 8.34 6.56 14.33 50.67 20.10 2.83 13.15 4.12 1.34 6.5;
Surat (with impurities) 11.88 16.66 6.05 2.18 15.55 2.56 11.06 39.77 33.70 3.92 15.18 14.60 1.66 10.0;
Allahabad, North-Western Provinces 16.52 16.82 4.63 12.41 1.57 15.00 49.00 23.66 2.56 13.80 7.30 1.04 6.2

Analyses of wild hemp plants (free from moisture).
Spirit extract. Washed resins. Water extract. Crude fibre. Total ash. Ash soluble in water. Ash soluble in acid. Insoluble ash. (Moisture.)

Basti, North-Western Provinces, bhang with male flowers 9.60 8.00 13.10 54.96 23.94 11.4;
" " female hemp, called the "ganja plant" 13.20 11.54 11.11 56.49 20.86 2.50 13.98 4.36 9.9 ";
" " male hemp, called the "bhangi plant" 15.60 4.15 13.24 58.07 14.54 2.50 9.02 2.12 10.3;
Gonda " " female plant 16.51 14.85 13.42 51.96 19.77 3.32 11.08 5.37 12.5 ";
" " male plant, with male flowers 13.37 10.25 16.05 55.87 17.83 2.22 11.82 8.79 10.3;
Jaunpur " " wild plant, leaves only 13.08 10.68 15.85 49.58 23.89 2.70 13.93 7.26 9.2;
Pykara, Nilgiris, 6,000 feet, wild plant with leaves only 17.60 8.50 20.00 50.00 21.50

Analysis of Charas.
Resins. Vegetable matter. Soluble ash. Sand, etc. Water.

Mashak, Amballa 48.7 12.9 12.4 26.2 6.8;

Bhara, Amritsar 38.1 14.9 10.8 29.8 6.4;

Mashak, " 46.5 12.6 10.0 27.3 3.6;

Dust, Delhi 12 annas 42.4 17.9 9.8 25.9 4.0;

" " Re. 1-1-0 42.6 18.8 11.1 23.2 4.3;

Mashak, Delhi, Re.1-9-0 per seer 41.1 11.3 10.7 29.5 7.4;

Bombay 36.1 20.2 11.8 27.3 4.6;

Gwalior 43.3 27.7 8.2 17.7 3.1;

Kumaon (wild) 22.3 52.0 9.3 7.4 9.1;

" (cultivated) 34.2 46.4 9.0 3.0 7.5;

Gurhwal 41.9 37.0 7.9 5.5 7.7;

Yarkaad 40.0 18.2 23:9 11.4 6.5;

Almora 36.9 40.5 10.5 4.6 7.5;

Nipal 44.6 35.1 8.2 6.5 5.6;

"Shahjahani" 44.4 87.8 9.6 4.1 4.2

Seeds in ganja.
Samples of ganja contain variable amounts of seeds, or, properly speaking, fruits. A fresh sample of "sadai" ganja from Coimbatore contained a large number of ripe fruits, and as it was said to afford commercial ganja, I carefully dried some of it in the sun, and separated the seed from the other vegetable structures. The seeds weighed 53.5 per cent, of the dried sample, but if such a sample had been manufactured by being rolled or flattened out before it was dry, many of the seeds would have been lost. Some of the commercial samples of bhang contained much seed, notwithstanding the opinion that bhang is the produce of the male plant. The specimen of Hyderabad bhang, when cleaned, yielded 44 per cent, of seeds, with some stones and other impurities. In the case of a similarly impure specimen from Surat, the drug, after the larger stones had been "removed, was powdered up with the seeds and other impurities. The analysis of such a sample shows an increase in the ether extract due to the oil, and an increase in the mineral matter due to the sand, and is far from uniform with the other specimens. Twelve commercial samples of Ganjam ganja, very different in appearance, were found to contain from 5.1 to 38.7 per cent. of seeds, or an average of 20 per cent. As the seeds contain 25 per cent. of fixed oil, five parts of the ether extract obtained from an average sample of such ganja, without removing the seeds, would consist of oil. In preparing samples of ganja and bhang for analysis the, seeds that fell out in breaking up the drug were rejected altogether, and I do not think that, in the foregoing tables of analysis, more than a very small proportion of the resinous extract consisted of oil from the seeds.

Composition of the seeds.
The cleaned seeds, separated from the Hyderabad bhang were reduced to fine powder, and analysed with the following results Fixed oil 25.60 Spirit extract (sugar, etc.) 2.95 Gum, etc. 4.05 Albuminoids 22.50 Crude fibre 29.45 Ash 9.25 Moisture 6.20 100.00
"The most recent and complete analysis of hemp seeds has been published by S. Frankfurt (Landw Versuchs. Stat. 43.143.182 Journ. Chem. Soc., March 1894, p. 113). This examination, it must be pointed out, was made upon European seeds:— Proteids 18.63 Nuclein, &c. 3.36 Lecithin 0.68 Cholesterol 3.07 Glycerides and free fatty acids 30.92 Cane sugar and other coluble carbohydrates 2.50 Crude fibre 26.33 Soluble organic acids 0.63 Ash 5.55 Not determined 11.03 The extracts of the seeds do not reduce Fehlings solution without previous boiling with an acid; the sugars found in the hemp drugs were therefore not derived from the seeds.. The percentage of nitrogen (3.57) in the seeds is higher than that obtained in the ganjas and bhangs, a result which would be expected by any one having an acquaintance with vegetable physiology.

Sugar in hemp drugs.
The occurrence of sugar does not seem to have been noticed by other investigators. It was detected first in the samples sold in the local bazar at Ootacamund, and as it was absent from some Bombay samples, and appearing in traces in Bengal ganjas, adulteration was suspected. But as sugar occurred in all the Madras samples; and in pretty uniform quantity, and in the cultivated leaves from Rajshahi and the wild plants from Assam and the Nilgiris, it could not be considered anything else than a natural constituent. The nature of the sugar, besides being amorphous and allied to glucose in reducing potassio-cupric tartrate, was not investigated. An extract of ganja containing sugar, if prepared with rectified spirit, would after a time separate into two portions, a greenish-black resinous mass, and a brownish soft substance of a liquorice-like odour and sweetish taste; The presence of saccharine matter would not be desirable in a medicinal extract of Indian hemp as it would dilute the active resinous matter; on the other hand, if present, it could easily be removed by washing with water.

Organic acids in hemps.
There is no tancic acid in any of the hemp drugs. The acid removed from the aqueous solutions by means of lead acetate resembled citric acid more than anything else, but as a loss was experienced in separating this in a state of purity, other acids might have been removed in the mother-liquors.Oxalate of calcium was present in all the samples and accounted for the large quantity of calcium carbonate present in the ashes. The larger the amount of solid aqueous extract in the drug, the higher was the proportion of the organic acid; but this rule is interfered with when sugar occurs in the extract. The percentage of oxide of lead in the lead compound of the organic acid ranged from 55 to 61 per cent. The colouring matter. of the extract was also removed by load acetate, but another substance giving a transient purplish colour with ferric chloride was left in solution.

Nitrogen.
The percentage of nitrogen ranged from 1.96 to 3.48 in the ganjas, and from .91 to 3.17 in the samples of bhang. In the case of ganjas the high percentage of nitrogen is generally accompanied with a large percentage of resins, but there are some remarkable exceptions to this rule, The best of the Madras samples, judging from the yield of resins, do not contain so much nitrogen as some Bombay samples inferior is rosin contorss. The Ahmednagar sample of the best quality and richest in resin contains the lowest amount of nitrogen and vice versa. The two samples of Sind and those of Nimar him; the higher provontion of nitrogen associated with the lower proportion of resin. The Naogaou ganjas contained alkaloids and ammonia in the aqueous solution of their spirit extracts. Ammonia was not detected in. many of the other samples, and was absent altogether where the nitrogen was low. Ganja requires high cultivation, and no doubt is Naogaon and Daggupad, where the growth is well superintended, manure is largely used; Both the ganjas and bhangs contsiu more nitrogen than the average green fodder so extensively used. The crude fibre contained a considerable amount of nitrogen existing as insoluble albuminoid matter, as ammoniacal fumes were given off each time it was ignited.

The resins.
The best gauge, of the resinous contents of the samples is to observe the percentage of "ether extracts" in the foregoing tables; the direct spirit extracts contain, as I have pointed out, variable amounts of water-soluble matters in addition to the resins. The Kistna ganja is the best in Madras, and the Madras city sample from Javadi hills is the worst. The Naogaon ganjas, as a whole, are superior to the other supplies, with the exception of the Kistna sample; giving over 25 per cent, of resins. It is strange that in appearance as well as in composition the "first kind" of Sind ganja imported from Panvel should be inferior to the "second kind" imported from Sholapur. Another aspect of the ganja trade is the difference in the composition of samples said to come from the same place. The Sholapur ganja, sold its Sind contains 21.14. percent. of resins, while that from the district or town itself yields 14.46 per cent. The ganjas from Ootacamund, Bangalore, Tanjore, and Madras city come from the Javadi hill, yet they yield 21.68, 18.5, 17.37, and 13.92 per cent. of resins respectively. The "country ganja" imported from Coimbatore and used on these hills contains 14.64 per cent. of resins, but a sample obtained from near the town of Coimbatore gave 18.44 per cent. We may learn from the analyses of the samples from Nimar in the Central Provinces that, whether from local or imported seed, the ganjas grown in the same district and under the same circumstances yield similar products. With regard to the nature of the resinous extract of ganja, it is insoluble in water, but soluble in alcohol with a neutral reaction. A small amount of resin acid, about half per cent., was present in all the samples of ganja and bhang. A certain amount of the resins dissolves in warm potash solution (one per cent.); a still further quantity is dissolved by treatment with alcoholic potash, evaporating to dryness, and washing the insoluble resin. Ganjas treated in this manner give from 50 to 60 per cent. of purified resin, and bhangs from 40 to 50 per cent. It is thus shown that the resinous extract of the bhangs is not equal, weight for weight, to that of the ganjas, as it contains a smaller proportion of purified resin which has been proved to be active. The bhangs contain from 8.31 to 12.63 per cent. of resins, or an average of about 10 per cent. which is one-half the amount yielded by average samples of ganja. Charas, it will be seen, contains, on an average of fifteen samples, about 40 per cent. resinous extract, which is double the quantity afforded by ganja.

The ash of ganja and bhang.
The amount and composition of the ash of hemp drugs is more uniform than those of tobacco. The proportion of total ash of ganja is generally under 20 per cent. If it is over this proportion, a glance at the figures under "insoluble ash" will show that it is due to an excess of sandy residue. The soluble ash (alkaline salts) does not exceed 3.43, nor fall below 1.67 per cent. The ash soluble in dilute hydrochloric acid (lime salts, etc.) falls between 13.57 and 8.68 per cent. The sand (insoluble ash) is the most variable constituent, as it ranges from 8.53 per cent. in the Tanjore sample to 2.18 per cent. in the Kistna drug. The alkalinity of the ash shows much attachment for the figure 1. The proportion of total ash in the samples of bhang in every case exceeds 20 per cent., a result which is due to the larger amounts of lime salts, as well as sand, than are found in the specimen of ganja. In the analyses of wild hemp plants, the male plants appear to yield more ash than the female plants, but the latter more resin. The composition of the Basti "bhangi plant" is not in keeping with the above statement, and is abnormal in yielding so much extract to spirit and so small a quantity of ash. Following is an analysis of the ash of bhang from Bhagalpur:K2O CaO MgO Fe2O3 P2O5 SO3 Cl. SiO2 CO2 8.98 22.27 6.31 2.17 7.77 3.08 1.55 32.36 11.46 traces of manganese, undetermined, 4.06=100. The analysis of the ash of "chur" ganja from Naogaon gave the following figures:K2O CaO MgO Fe2O3 P205 SO3 CI. SiO2 CO2 10.42 21.66 5.46 3.21 7.67 2.31 0.96 36.00 7.33 traces of manganese, undetermined, 4.98=100. There is a great similarity in the composition of the ash of ganja and bhang. They are both fairly rich in calcium phosphate, and the ash from ganja contains more potash than that of the bhang.

Remarks on charas.
Charas has very seldom been examined chemically. Flückiger and Hanbury, in " Pharmacographia," second edition, page 550, report that charas yields from one quarter to one-third of its weight of an amorphous resin, and Dr. Prain in his report refers to samples yielding 75 and 78 per cent. of resin. It will be seen from the results of my analyses of North Indian samples that the average yield of resin is 40 per cent. The highest is 46.5 per cent. in "mashak" charas from Amritsar, and the lowest is 22.3 per cent. in a sample of charas made from wild plant grown in Kumaon. The latter sample has the composition of a good sample of ganja. The samples from Amballa, Amritsar, Delhi and Bombay are remarkably uniform in their composition and physical characters. They had a similar odour, consistence and colour, and all contained a large amount of sand. The Gwalior and Himalayan samples had portions of leaves and sometimes, seeds mixed with them, and left a quantity of vegetable residue after extraction with spirit, but there was not so much sand present. The Yarkand charas had some carbonate of calcium present, and the ash soluble in hydrochloric acid was consequently high. There was very little in the resin contents and appearance of the Delhi samples to determine their money value. The best quality had less resin and more sand than the other two kinds; it was more plastic and contained more water than they did. If alkaloids were the active principle of charas, then one would expect to find them in great abundance in this drug. But this is not so; some of the samples gave no indication of the presence of alkaloids, and the others only afforded traces. The amount of nitrogen is lower in charas than any other hemp drug. The Gwalior sample yielded 1.75 per cent. of nitrogen which apparently was derived from the vegetable matter, as the " mashak" of Amballa, which contained half the amount of insoluble vegetable matter, gave half the percentage of nitrogen (0.84 per cent).

Remarks on majum.
The confection of hemp known as majum is differently made in various parts of India. In the north it is made with white sugar, in the south it is made with brown sugar and mixed with so many spices and other ingredients that it is quite black. Allahabad majum was a whitish soft mass of peculiar ghee-like odour, and containing vegetable debris similar to that from ganja. It contained 4 per cent. of ghee and 1.3 per cent. of vegetable matter insoluble in water. There was no trace of alkaloid present. Benares majum was in cakes of the same colour and odour, and was nearly pure sugar. It contained 1.4 per cent. of fat, and 1 per cent. of leafy portions; no foreign seeds were discovered and no alkaloid could be detected. Bombay majum was in the form of yellow-coloured cakes flavoured with spice, and with very little ganja. It contained 4.9 per cent. of ghee soluble in ether, and 2.7 per cent. of brown vegetable matter referable to cloves, cassia and saffron. No alkaloid was present. Amballa majum was in opaque white masses with a slight greenish tinge and odour of ghee. It contained 7.3 per cent. of ghee soluble in ether, and no vegetable structures of a green colour as in other samples. No alkaloid was found. Hyderabad majum was in the form of square cakes covered on one side with silvered paper. One kind was white and contained 2.3 per cent. of ghee, the other was coloured yellow with saffron and contained only 1.2 per cent. No seeds or vegetable structures were observed. This had been doubtless strained through a cloth before being boiled down. With these samples came a mixture, wrapped up in a leaf, of powdered raisins and white sugar. When this was examined, several other substances were found, such as pieces of almonds, seeds of various kinds, stamens of some plant, some cereal grains and spice. The little black seeds were further examined microscopically and were found to consist of two kinds, one with three angles, probably from a polygonaceous plant, and the others were, in very small quantity, the seeds of dhatura. This is the only sample in which I have found dhatura seed present. Coimbatore, Ootacamund and Tanjore majums were black soft masses of a liquorice-like odour and sweet taste. An analysis was not attempted of either sample, but they were each broken down with water, and among the insoluble portion a search was made for dhatura seeds, nux vomica, etc., but without success. The amount of leafy organs, such as would come from the ganja, was in a very small proportion. In Ootacamund there is a black majum used for adults, and a white kind given to children, but as sold in the ganja-shop they are not very powerful preparations.

Physiological analysis

REPORT BY SURGEON-CAPTAIN J. F. EVANS, CHEMICAL EXAMINER TO THE GOVERNMENT OF BENGAL, REGARDING

Physiological Investigations concerning hemp drugs

I have the honour to submit herewith the report asked for in your letter No. 48, dated 18th August 1893, as amended by demi-official letter dated 1st November 1893, from Surgeon-Major Warden, to the Officiating Chemical Examiner to Government, Bengal, directing that the chemical analysis should be carried out by Mr. Hooper, Quinologist to the Government of Madras, and the physiological investigation in this laboratory.

Physiological Analysis Methodology

As directed in your letter above quoted, the first object of the physiological investigation was to ascertain the smallest dose of the alcoholic extract of the standard ganja which could be relied on to produce definite physiological effects. This having been learnt, the next part of the enquiry was to test the other samples by means of the knowledge thus acquired. Definite physiological action is understood to mean the production of such effects as are capable of clear recognition and definite description. In an investigation of this kind the drug must necessarily be administered to many animals of different weights; consequently if the results produced are to be of any comparative value, the doses given must always bear a proportion to the animal's weight. It became evident, as the enquiry proceeded, that the same proportional dose could not be relied on to produce absolutely similar symptoms in different animals even of the same species. In different animals, even of the same species, the symptoms varied, not only in character, but also in degree. Further, the occurrence of symptoms of one kind either masked the occurrence or prevented the development of those of another. Accordingly, the object aimed at was the discovery of the smallest proportional dose constantly attended by some definite physiological effect as opposed to marked physiological effect, and without desiring to produce effects of a constant type in every instance. The first duty was evidently to obtain by experiment some definite conception of the physiological action of the drug in small doses that may be termed minimal, and the need for this will become more apparent when the somewhat varying character of its action is described. The account of the physiological investigation is therefore naturally divided into

1. The description of the physiological action of the drug as tested by means of the alcoholic extract of the standard ganja in minimal doses. 2. Adoption of a certain quantity of this substance proportional to the body weight as a standard minimum dose. 3. The physiological testing of the other samples of ganja as compared with the standard ganja. Twenty-three administrations of the standard alcoholic extract were made before satisfactory minimum dose could be arrived at. One hundred and sixty-one administrations of the extract of the other hemp drugs were required in the work of testing their relative physiological properties. The animals utilised throughout were cats. The weights of the cats and of the required doses of the extracts were taken according to the Avoirdupois scale. The method of administration was as follows: The animal was first carefully weighed in a bag of known weight, and then the required dose calculated from its body weight. The dose of the alcoholic extract was weighed out in a tared capsule, dissolved in a little alcohol and made into an emulsion with starch, the spirit being subsequently driven off by heating the emulsion thus formed on the water-bath. The emulsion was introduced into the stomach by means of a syringe and a small œsophageal tube. Control experiments were made to test whether any portion of the effect produced might be due to alcohol retained in the emulsion. It will be seen from the record of the experiments that the amount of alcohol used produced no result when administered to cats. A limited number only of cats was obtainable, that is, of cats suitable for experiments of the kind required; for it was important that they should be fairly tame and docile, well nourished and, if females, not pregnant: pregnancy would interfere with the correct body weight. The same animals were in consequence repeatedly utilised, a sufficient interval being allowed to elapse between consecutive doses.

A. Specimens of hemp drugs sent for examination classified according to the locality whence derived
The following samples of hemp drugs were received from you from time to time:

Samples of ganja - Bengal-Nowgaon round ganja, season 1892-03 (standard), Ghazipur illicit ganja, Sholapur ganja, Khandesh ganja, Satara ganja No. 1, Satara ganja No. 2, Ahmednagar ganja No. 1, Ahmednagar ganja No. 2, Ahmednagar ganja No. 3, Bijapur ganja, Nimar District ganja - Dhakalgaon seed, Nimar District ganja - local seed, Kistna ganja, Bangalore ganja, Madras local market ganja.

Samples of charas - Amballa charas mashak No. 1, Amballa charas mashak No. 2, Amritsar charas bhara, Amritsar charas mashak, Delhi District charas - dust 2nd class, Delhi District charas - dust, Delhi District charas mashak, Bombay charas, Gwalior charas (made during process of ganja manufacture), Kumaon charas (wild), Kumaon charas (cultivated), Gurhwal charas No. 1, Gurhwal charas No. 2 (cultivated), Nipal charas A, Nipal charas B, Nipal charas (Shahjahani)

Samples of bhang - Khandesh bhang, Amballa bhang, Sholapur bhang, Bhagalpur bhang of 1893 (standard), Rajshahi bhang (cultivated), Assam bhang (wild), Satara bhang.

B. Specimens selected as standard hemp drugs

Bengal round ganja of the season 1892-93, which had been carefully packed in a perforated deal-box and brought down to Calcutta from Nowgaon by Surgeon-Captain Prain in May 1893, was selected as the "standard ganja" with which the samples received from you were to be compared. Bhagalpur imported siddhi of the season 1893, which was received from the Board of Revenue, Lower Provinces, Bengal, in April 1894, was utilised as the standard bhang with which the samples received from the Commission were to be compared.

C. Preparation and percentage yield of alcoholic extract

1. Alcoholic extracts of the eighteen specimens of hemp drugs were prepared as follows: The coarser stalks were removed, and the leaves, flowering stalks and finer stalks reduced in a mortar to a powder, which was passed through a sieve having fifty meshes to the inch. Twenty grammes of the fine powder thus prepared were macerated during a period exceeding one week in rectified spirit to form a tincture. One hundred cubic centimetres of the tincture evaporated over a water-bath to syrupy consistence, and subsequently dried in a hot oven till the weight became constant, gave the alcoholic extract.

RESULTS
2. The percentage yield of alcoholic extract obtained in the above manner was as follows:

TABLE NO. I.
Percentage yield of alcoholic extract. Dose of the alcoholic extract required to produce effects equal to those induced by the minimum dose of the extract of the standard ganja.

Results with samples of ganja.

1 Bengal-Nowgaon round ganja, season 1892-03 (standard). 21.675 1 120,000 Part of the body weight;

2 Ghazipur illicit ganja 14-80 1 70,000 Ditto;

3 Sholapur ganja 14.625 1 120,000 Ditto;

4 Khandesh ganja 18675 1 120,000 Ditto;

5 Satara ganja, No. 1 15.160 1 110,000 Ditto;

6 Satara ganja, No. 2 14.40 1 110,000 Ditto;

7 Ahmednagar ganja, No. 1 17.580 1 120,000 Ditto;

8 Ahmednagar ganja, No. 2 16.35 1 110,000 Ditto;

9 Ahmednagar ganja, No. 3 14.775 1 120,000 Ditto;

10 Bijapur ganja 15.075 1 120,000 Ditto;

11 Nimar District ganja, Dhakalgaon seed 16.725 1 120,000 Ditto;

12 Nimar District ganja, local seed 16.875 1 120,000 Ditto;

13 Kistna ganja 26.47 1 100,000 Ditto;

14 Bangalore ganja ... 22.3125 1 110,000 Ditto;

15 Madras local market ganja 20.10 1 100,000 Ditto.

Results with samples of bhang

16 Khandesh bhang 13.35 1 80,000 Ditto.

17 Amballa bhang ... 11.40 1 100,000 Ditto.

18 Sholapur bhang ... 9.825 1 60,000 Ditto.

19 Bhagalpur bhang of 1893 (standard) 7.87 1 5,000 Ditto.

20 Rajshahi bhang (cultivated) 1 20,000 Ditto.

21 Assam bhang (wild) 1 5,000 Ditto. Percentage yield not known, these extracts having been prepared by Mr. Hooper.

22 Satara bhang 10.6125 1 20,000 Ditto. Percentage yield not known, these extracts having been prepared by Mr. Hooper.

Results with samples of charas

23 Amballa charas, mashak No. 1 39.075 1 100,000 Ditto.

24 Amballa charas, mashak No. 2 38.85 1 10,000 Ditto.

25 Amritsar charas, bhara 35.6 1 90,000 Ditto.

26 Amritsar charas, mashak 44.55 1 120,000 Ditto.

27 Delhi District charas, dust, 2nd class 38.92 1 90,000 Ditto.

28 Delhi District charas, dust 39.00 1 10,000 Ditto.

29 Delhi District charas, mashak 41.62 1 100,000 Ditto.

30 Bombay charas 33.37 1 20,000 Ditto.

31 Gwalior charas (made during process of ganja manufacture). 35.3 1 5,000 Ditto.

32 Kumaon charas (wild) 18.45 1 10,000 Ditto.

33 Kumaon charas (cultivated) 33.75 1 5,000 Ditto.

34 Gurhwal charas, No. 1 32.10 1 100.000 Ditto.

35 Gurhwal charas, No. 2 (cultivated) 36.20 1 100,000 Ditto.

36 Nipal charas, A. 42.80 No effect produced by doses equal to 1/2,500 Nipal charas, B. 32.60 No effect produced by doses equal to 1/2,500 Nipal charas, B. 32.60 Part of the body weight of the animal. Nipal charas (Shahjahani) 36.80 Part of the body weight of the animal.

Samples NOS. 24, 25, 26,27, 28, 29, and 30 were of very soft consistence, and could not be reduced to a powder even after drying at 100°C. for some hours.

Biological Analysis

SUMMARY FINDINGS BY THE COMMISSION

Is the fibre plant identical with the narcotic plant?
20. The specific identity of the fibre-yielding and narcotic-yielding plants, point (b), and the points which follow, are important as involving the possibility that the restriction of the production of the narcotic by limiting the cultivation may affect a product and an industry which are above suspicion. On the question of identity there is now no difference of scientific opinion. The researches of Dr. Watt are thus summarized: "Cannabis indica has been reduced to Cannabis sativa, the Indian plant being viewed as but an Asiatic condition of that species......The reduction became the more necessary when it was fully understood that, according to climate and soil, the Indian plant varied in as marked a degree as it differed from the European............With Cannabis indica differing in so marked a degree according to the climate, soil, and mode of cultivation, it was rightly concluded that its separation from the hemp plant of Europe could not be maintained"; and he compares the hemp plant to the potato, the tobacco, and the poppy, all of which "seem to have the power of growing with equal luxuriance under almost any climatic condition, changing or modifying some important function as if to adapt themselves to the altered circumstances." Dr. Prain, after personal examination of the plant, has recorded his opinion in the following words: "There are no botanical characters to separate the Indian plant from Cannabis sativa, and they do not differ as regards the structure of stem, leaves, flowers, or fruit ............Hemp, therefore, as a fibre-yielding plant in no way differs from hemp as a narcotic-producing one." These are the most recent scientific views, and coming from Indian botanists they carry special authority. It may be noted that Dr. W. C. Mackenzie, in an article on Hashish in the "Chemist and Druggist" of 9th July 1893, mentions certain differences between the seeds of Cannabis indica and those of common hemp. In using the name Cannabis indica, and pointing out this difference, is indicated a belief that the two plants are distinct varieties.

Description of the hemp plant.
21. At pages 38-39 of his report Dr. Prain has described the hemp plant. There are only two points on which the Commission from their own observations and inquiries feel justified in correcting that description. Dr. Prain has omitted to notice the fact that the plant varies in the colour of its stem. The dark variety may be, and probably is, an accidental difference merely. But it will be found that the replies to the Commission's questions from Nepal and the memorandum from the Special Assistant Excise Commissioner in Mysore, Mr. McDonnell (para. IIIa), lay stress on the difference, and attribute to the darker variety stronger narcotic properties. The fact is also noticed by witnesses in different parts of India, and the Commission have themselves observed the variety of colour in the plants. And, secondly, in describing the male plant, Dr. Prain writes that there is no trace of even a rudimentary female flower. The Commission found at Khandwa hemp plants having the general appearance of males, but containing a few female flowers or seeds. These were quite distinct from the female plants with abnormal male flowers, which were also present in the Khandwa cultivation, and which are mentioned in Dr. Prain's description. The cultivators of Khandwa appeared also to recognize at least one variety of the pure male plant to which they gave a name of its own (Sheoria); but it has not been possible to detect any essential difference between it and the ordinary male plant, though specimens were forwarded to Dr. King. On this subject reference is invited to the description of the cultivation in the Central Provinces and Bombay.

Existence of races of the hemp plant yielding the different products.
22. The third point (c) is raised in Dr. Watt's letter (Vol. III Appendices). The function of the Commission is to test by the information they have collected the views therein expressed regarding the probable existence of races capable of yielding as a speciality the different products—fibre, ganja, charas, and bhang. The only differences recognized in the plant by the people are between the wild and the cultivated plant, the male and the female, and the varieties of the male and female plant already referred to. The inherent potentiality of the seed to develop a plant closely resembling the parents must be admitted, but there is no evidence of racial speciality or differentiation of the decided sort suggested by the examples quoted by Dr. Watt.

Does the fibre plant yield narcotics?
23. The question is capable of being handled more definitely in the forms in which points (d) and (e) are stated. First, it has to be seen whether the plant cultivated for fibre yields the narcotic. The evidence on this point is positive and unmistakable. The female plant cultivated for fibre in Kumaon yields a very considerable amount of charas, and its flower heads, after being handled to collect the charas, can be, and sometimes are, smoked as ganja. The fact that it is the female plant which yields the drug seems to be very strong evidence that the functional process by which the narcotic is secreted in the fibre plant is the same as that by which ganja is produced in the plant cultivated for that product. There is also a considerable body of evidence that the wild plant not only yields the narcotic as held in its leaves, but is also capable of yielding, and does yield to treatment during growth and manipulation on maturity, the products charas and ganja.

Does the narcotic plant yield fibre?
24. There is no evidence that the hemp plant is cultivated for fibre anywhere except at a considerable elevation on the Himalayas; and as regards point (e), Sind appears to be the only place where the plant cultivated for the narcotic yields fibre. There the object of the cultivation is bhang, and the extraction of the fibre is described as a process so difficult and laborious that very little of it is prepared. It may be noted that selected flower heads from the bhang cultivation of Sind are used as ganja (ghundi), though it is of inferior quality. The production of charas is not mentioned; but from the account of the cultivation for ganja in Bombay and Gwalior, it would appear that the production of that form of the drug (charas) depends on the quantity of resin secreted in the flower head and the economy of extracting it rather than on any quality inherent in the resin. Dr. Watt's impression that Cannabis is cultivated for hemp in the Godavari districts seems to arise out of the confusion which has always existed in Madras reports on the subject of the hemp drugs, and from which the subject is not yet quite clear in that Presidency. Other fibre plants, such as Crotalaria juncea and Hibiscus cannabinus, whose products go under the name of hemp, have been confounded with the true hemp. It is now definitely stated in paragraph 7 of the letter from the Board of Revenue, Madras, to the Commission, No. 1839, dated 1st May 1894, on the authority of the Deputy Director, Agricultural Branch of the Board of Revenue, that "Cannabis sativa is never grown in this Presidency for fibre." Attention may in this connection be drawn to pages 3 to 5 of Dr. Royle's work on the "Fibrous Plants of India." He explains the effect of the Indian method of cultivating hemp and flax, involving free exposure of the individual plants to light, heat, and air, in causing the fibre to become woody and brittle instead of flexible and strong. He contrasts the European method of cultivation by thick sowing, which, with a temperate climate inducing slow growth, conduces to height and suppleness in the plant and its fibres. He admits that the Indian climate with its comparatively short seasons, great alternations of dryness and of moisture, and considerable extremes of temperature is not the best suited to the production of good flax and hemp. But he suggests that it might be possible by modifications of culture and the selection of suitable sites to grow both these plants within the limits of India so as to yield useful fibre. In the Himalayas only are to be found climate and mode of cultivation of the hemp plant resembling those of Europe.

EXTRACT FROM MEMORANDUM REGARDING GANJA AND ITS PREPARATIONS IN MYSORE BY MR. J. G. MCDONNELL, SPECIAL ASSISTANT EXCISE COMMISSIONER IN MYSORE.
(1) Botany.
It is an annual, generally diœcious. Root, white, fusiform. Stem, three feet to six, or twelve or more feet high in Mysore, erect, simple when crowded, branched when growing apart, angular, pubescent. Leaves, on long weak petioles, opposite or alternate, digitate, scabrous, leaflets 5 to 7, narrow, lanceolate, sharply serrated. Stipules, subulate. Inflorescence, males, racemose; females, in spikes. Fruit, ovate, one-celled, with a solitary seed.

(2) Characteristics of Ganja.

The flowering tops of the female plant bearing the remains of flowers, the ripe fruit and seed, the whole forming with the resin exuded and moistened with dew an agglutinated spike—rather longer than broad—carefully picked off and dried. It is of a dusky green colour and a characteristic odour.

(3) Designations of Ganja, its products, and preparations.

The "Indian hemp" referred to in the Ganja Rules and by the Indian Hemp Commission is the Cannabis sativa, Linn. N. F. Urtricaceœ of the Pharmacopœia. Hindustani—Ganja; Canarese—Bangi-Soppu; Tamil— Ganja-Yela; Telugu—Bangi-Aku.

APPENDIX. Note by SURGEON-MAJOR RUSSELL, Civil Surgeon of Gauhati, on Ganja and Bhang. CANNABIS INDICA. Indian Hemp. Bhang, versus Ganja, wild plant. versus cultivated plant.
GENERAL NOTES DERIVED OTHERWISE THAN BY EXPERIMENT.
1. Difficulty of comparing relative strength— Ganja—Consists of the dried flowering tops (only) of the female plant, i.e., the small leaves (bracts) near the flowers, the flower, and fruit. These parts contain a brown resin in which the active principle seems to reside. The large leaves and stems are not used. Bhang.—Both mature plants and the young immature (i.e., not arrived at flowering stage) plants used. All parts of the plant, except large stems, used, not merely flowering tops of female plants.

2. Influence of maturity and flowering stage. Compare directions for gathering plants used in medicine. (a) General directions.—Herbs and leaves should be gathered after flowers have blown, and before fruit ripens. (Garrod—Materia Medica, 8th edition, 1880, page 179.) (b) Conii folia (Henbane)—Gathered when two-thirds flowers have expanded. (c) Aconiti folia—Leaves and flowering tops, gathered when about one-third of the flowers have expanded. (d) Hyoscyami folia (Hemlock)—Gathered when two-thirds of the flowers are expanded. (e) Belladonna folia—Gathered when fruit has begun to form.

Conclusion.
In comparing ganja and bhang their relative strength can only be determined by testing similar parts of the plants at a similar stage of their existence. During flowering—Plants innocuous at other times, may secrete poisonous properties : e.g., parsnip root (Petroselenum sativa) sometimes does this (Balfour, Botany, page 508).

3. NOTE.—Cultivated versus wild plants, generally.—Compare those used for active principles in medicine:— (a) Cultivated or wild indifferently, cœteris paribus. Belladonnœ folia.—Leaves from wild or cultivated used (Garrod—Materia Medica, page 319). Hyoscyami folia.— ditto ditto (idem). (b) Wild plant only used— Conii folia (Henbane.) in medicine. Digitalis folia (Fox glove.) (c) Cultivated plant, only used— Aconiti folia In medicine. Conclusion.—Little to be argued from general analogy.

4. NOTE.—ANALOGY OF HEMP AND HOP.

Cannabinacœ.—Natural order.—Hemp and Hop family. In the Hop the female strobili (flowering heads or cones) contain the active principle in a resin secreted round the scales. Leaves inactive. In cultivated Indian hemp (ganja) active principle chiefly in female flowering tops. These alone sold and used in medicine. Wild Indian hemp.—Analogy suggests a similar arrangement of active principle, and that leaves of immature plants should be almost innocuous.

REPORT BY DR. GEORGE WATT, M.B., C.M., C.I.E., &c., REPORTER ON ECONOMIC PRODUCTS TO THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA.
In reply to your letter No.1 969/181,d ated 23rd April, and your unofficial reminder to hand, I have the honour to say that I had not intended to contribute anything towards the present enquiry into the subject of Indian hemp, because I have little to add that would likely be of any great value further than what is contained in my previous publications on that subject. Indeed, what I might be induced to say as to the botany of Cannabis sativa might fairly well be characterised as pure speculation, since I have had no opportunity of personally confirming the impressions obtained from casual observation. Since, however, it seems to be the wish of the Government that I should offer some remarks, I may point out that while the forms of the plant met with in India are botanically only states of Cannabis sativa, I believe that, as with all other cultivated plants, there are recognisable races of that species. It would indeed be contrary to experience in other fields of study were it otherwise. The external differences between these forms are however very slight and such as the botanist is by universal usage permitted to disregard. In the herbarium they are indeed hardly distinguishable, though, from the cultivator's point of view, these slight differences may be indicative of widely dissimilar properties. Few botanists would venture to isolate aus, aman, boro, and rowa races of Oryza sativa; yet the rice cultivator of Bengal would have no difficulty in distinguishing these and many others; nor in fixing the period at which each should be sown and the nature of the soil on which its cultivation would be most successful. This, in my opinion, is an exactly parallel case, and I might mention many such to the wonderful problem of the production of so widely different products as bhang, ganja, charas, and hemp fibre from botanically one and the same plant. Some of the racial characteristics that exist may be mainly due to climate and soil; but it should not be forgotten that there are generally very potent influences in the production of races of cultivated plants. It would accordingly be most unwise to set on one side the possibility of differences, on the ground of these being mainly, or even exclusively, due to climatic and other such influences. I hold, therefore, that the study of the living plants on the part of a botanist might very possibly result in the isolation of the fibre-yielding plant of Cannabis sativa as possessing certain structural peculiarities more or less constantly associated with that physiological property, just as I believe that a similar isolation might be possible in the bhang, ganja, and charas-yielding states of the plant. 2. The practical bearings of this purely botanical contention might be very extensive and valuable. So far as I am aware, no botanist has as yet explained the formation of the narcotic in certain forms of Cannabis, and not (or practically not) in others. We may, in fact, be said to be ignorant of the precise use of that substance in the economy of the plant. Its discharge from the stems, leaves, flowers, and fruits seems to a large extent mechanical and to be dependent on some external disturbance, more especially an interruption to the sexual functions of the individual. It may indeed be said to be uncertain whether the formation of the narcotic should be regarded as an excretary substance normally deposited within receptacles, or be viewed, in its early stage at least, as a substance intimately connected with the metabolism of the plant, but which becomes a useless bye-product of life under certain conditions. But of course such excreta are only useless to plant life, in so far that they are not concerned in the further nutritive processes which accompany growth. This is important in its bearing on the probable chemical history of the narcotic. The solid and liquid contents of the laticiferous vessels, for example, of the poppy or of the India rubber plant are very different from the deposits found within glands. The former bear a distinct analogy to the blood in the veins of animals, while the latter might not inaptly be characterised as refuse matter. The contents of the laticiferous vessels may, however, be said to be of two chief kinds-(a) those which are constantly being used up in the growth of tissues, such as the proteids, carbo-hydrates, fats, and ferments; and (b) the secretions and excretions ultimately thrown down within these vessels or their vesicular modifications, such as the resins, gums, alkaloids, etc. Through the action of ferments many of the latter subsequently become available for the future growth of the plant, so that they are more properly stores of food than excreta. But the purely excretary matter stored up by plants in their variously formed receptacles may be here mentioned, such as granules of calcium oxulate; resins and ethereal oils combined usually into balsam, mucus, various kinds of gums; and lastly tannins (some tannins are, however, reserve-materials). These and such like are the excretary deposits, and they are made normally within individual cells dispersed through the tissue or into cells arranged in rows forming vesicles between the vascular bundles. Sometimes also the receptacles of secretion are intercellular spaces of various shapes and sizes filled by the discharges from the abutting cells A well-marked modification of this might be mentioned in the resin and gum passages which are formed by the separation of rows of cells, thus producing intercellular chambers of considerable length. A point of importance that may be here specially mentioned is the fact that excretary deposits of the nature here discussed are made from the very earliest period of individual life; in other words, anterior to the formation of even vascular tissue and consequently long before the stage at which flowers and fruits are formed. But there are further purely epidermal receptacles of secretion quite distinct from those discussed above. To this class belongs, according to the commonly accepted views, the deposits of the narcotic in the hemp plant. Epidermal receptacles are generally designated as glands, but in the vast majority of cases these contain only ethereal oils with resins dissolved in them. And there are two classes of glands—those located just below the epidermis and those above it; the latter are mostly hairs or stings. The viscid condition of the surface of many leaves is due to epidermal glands, and in some cases the fluid contents of such glands possess a characteristic odour peculiar to the species. The formation of glands and the nature of their contents are essentially different from the corresponding features detailed above regarding the laticiferous system and its excretary deposits, and this distinction is of vital importance. Glands originate from a single mother-cell which undergoes division until a rounded mass of tissue is produced, the cells of which are smaller than those of the closely-fitting surrounding tissue, and they contain a peculiar form of protoplasm. Later on the central cells of this special structure become absorbed, thus forming a cavity which contains the solution of the cells and their contents, the secretionary product of glands. It is thus doubtful how far the contents of glands can be called excretary deposits. They are more frequently specific secretions formed for a definite purpose in the life history of the plant. Such, while discussing the glands of the hop, "says the so-called Hashish arises similarly in the long-stalked many-celled capitate hairs of the female plant of the Indian hemp." But I suspect that in the plant as met with in India there is something more than this, and that microscopical investigations are likely to reveal special developments by which the resinous narcotic has assumed the character of an excretary discharge. At all events the formation of the narcotic is not, so far as my observation goes, confined to the female plant. But I have already qualified my opinions as those based on casual observation, and I need therefore only add that the above review of the most recently published theory of the deposition, permanently or temporarily, of various chemical substances within the tissues of plants has been given with the object of showing the possibility of there existing in Cannabis some structural modifications by which the narcotic is deposited within the leaves of one form (the bhang-yielding plant); appears on the surface of the female flowering-tops (especially if fecundation be prevented) of another, the ganja plant; and exudes from the surface of the leaves, stems and fruits of still a third—the charas plant. And I would even venture to go further and suggest that when the chemistry of the substance is fully worked out it will be found to vary quite as greatly in these three forms of Cannabis sativa as does the inspissated laticiferous fluid (opium) of the various cultivated races of Paparer somniferum. Such variation might account for the reputed different properties of bhang, ganja and charas. In concluding this section of my remarks, therefore, I would only add, by way of recapitulation, that if the narcotic of Indian hemp (as currently believed) be purely and simply a glandular secretion, it differs as widely from opium botanically as it does chemically. It must in that case be a substance unconnected with the metabolism of the growing plant, and its reputed formation in association with imperfect fecundity might be characterised as very possibly a pure hallucination of ignorant cultivators.

Letter from BRIGADE-SURGEON-LIEUTENANT-COLONEL GEORGE KING, M.B., L.L.D., F.R.S., C.I.E., Superintendent, Royal Botanic Garden, dated 18th June 1894, to the Secretary, Indian Hemp Drugs Commission. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter No. 455 forwarding, for the expression of my opinion on some of the matters touched on therein, a copy of a letter addressed to you by Dr. G. Watt, No. 422, dated 31st ultimo. 2. In the first paragraph of his letter Dr. Watt reminds the Commission that, as in the case of other cultivated plants, so in that of Cannabis sativa, there are races. The most notable of these races in Cannabis of course are the fibre-yielding race, found in Europe and in temperate parts of the Himalayas; and the narcotic-yielding race, found in the plains of India and other tropical parts of Asia. In addition to these well-marked races, I understand Dr. Watt to say that he believes that, by a prolonged and careful study of living plants of Cannabis, intermediate races might become recognisable. 3. In the second paragraph of his letter Dr. Watt expounds the methods and objects of the formation, within the tissues of living plants, of the substances which may be classified as (a) reserve materials, i.e., matters prepared by plants with the object of being consumed in the processes of growth. (Of this kind of product starch may be taken as a familiar example.) (b) Excretions, i.e., substances built up by the plant as bye-products, and containing matters which are really as much rejections from the food-stuffs of plants as are the matters rejected by animals at the conclusion of the process of digestion. These excreta of plants are not however actually voided, as is the case in animals; but are deposited in glands in various parts of the tissues. Familiar examples of these are gums, resins, and many of the vegetable alkaloids. Dr. Watt's own opinion as to whether the narcotic matter of Cannabis sativa is of the nature of a reserve-material, or an excretion, is contained in the last two sentences of the second paragraph of his letter. I may observe that, in the first chapter of his report on ganja, Dr. Prain gives his opinion in favour of its being of the nature of a reserve-material.