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THE SEVEN SISTERS OF SLEEP.
THE SEVEN SISTERS OF SLEEP.
POPULAR HISTORY OF THE SEVEN PREVAILING NARCOTICS OF THE WORLD. BY M. C. COOKE, DIRECTOR OF THE METROPOLITAN SCHOLASTIC MUSEUM. “‘How many are you, then?’ said I. ‘O Master, we are seven.’” Wordsworth. “To re-create for man, whate’er Was lost in Paradise.” Southey’s Thalaba. LONDON: JAMES BLACKWOOD, PATERNOSTER ROW. [ The right of Translation is reserved. ]...
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Dedication.
Dedication.
to all LOVERS of TOBACCO, in all parts of the world, juvenile and senile, masculine and feminine; and to all ABSTAINERS, voluntary and involuntary —— to all OPIOPHAGI, at home and abroad , whether experiencing the pleasures, or pains of the seductive drug —— to all HASCHISCHANS, east and west, in whatever form they choose to woo the spirit of dreams —— to all BUYEROS, malayan or chinese , whether their siri-boxes are full, or empty —— to all COQUEROS, white or swarthy, from the base to the summi
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PREFATORY PREMONITION.
PREFATORY PREMONITION.
“A certain miller was much annoyed by a goblin, who used to come and set his mill at work at night when there was no grain to be ground, greatly to the danger of the machinery, so he desired a person to watch. This person, however, always fell asleep, but once woke up from a nap time enough to see the mill in full operation, a blazing fire, and the goblin himself, a huge hairy being, sitting by the side thereof. ‘Fat’s yer name?’ said the Highlander. ‘Ourisk,’ said the unwelcome guest; ‘and what
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SEVEN SISTERS OF SLEEP.1
SEVEN SISTERS OF SLEEP.1
In all times Sleep has been a fertile theme with poets—one on which the best and worst has been written. All forms in heaven and in earth have submitted themselves to become similes; and columns of adjectives have done duty in the service since Edmund Spenser raised his House of Sleep, where No monarch has numbered so many odes in his praise, or had so many poet laureates “all for love.” These, though not so long, are quite as worthy as the one we heard when George III. was no longer king. Perha
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CHAPTER II. THE SISTERS OF OLD.
CHAPTER II. THE SISTERS OF OLD.
There is no reason to doubt that the ancients were, in a manner, acquainted with some of the narcotics known to us, although they did not indulge in them as stimulants or luxuries. The antiquarian, it is true, has failed to unearth the tobacco-box of Claudius, or the pipe of Nero—however much the latter may have been given to smoke. And no one has as yet discovered a snuff-box bearing the initials of Marc Antony, whence the taper fingers of Egypt’s queen drew a pinch of Princess’ Mixture or Tadd
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CHAPTER III. THE “WOND’ROUS WEED.
CHAPTER III. THE “WOND’ROUS WEED.
Amongst Mahometans, the following legend is said to be accepted as an account of the miraculous introduction of the “wond’rous weed” to the world. “Mahomet, passing the desert in winter, found a poor viper frozen on the ground; touched with compassion, he placed it in his sleeve, where the warmth and glow of the blessed body restored it to life. No sooner did the ungrateful reptile find its health restored, than it poked forth its head, and said— “‘Oh, Prophet, I am going to bite you.’ “‘Give me
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CHAPTER IV. THE CABINET OF CLOUDLAND.
CHAPTER IV. THE CABINET OF CLOUDLAND.
“Right,” said I to myself, as I lay down the volume of Hyperion, in which I had been glancing for repose. “I, too, have a friend, not yet a sexagenary bachelor, but a bachelor notwithstanding. He has one of those well oiled dispositions which turn upon the hinges of the world without creaking, except during east winds, and when there is no butter in the house. The hey-day of life is over with him; but his old age (begging his pardon) is sunny and chirping, and a merry heart still nestles in his
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CHAPTER V. PIPEOLOGY.
CHAPTER V. PIPEOLOGY.
“It was his constant companion and solace. Was he gay, he smoked—was he sad, he smoked—his pipe was never out of his mouth—it was a part of his physiognomy; without it his best friends would not know him. Take away his pipe—you might as well take away his nose.”—— Knickerbocker’s New York . Semele, in a death by fire, became a martyr to love. Thus Virginia suffers herself to be burnt for the good of the world. From the ashes of the old Phœnix the young Phœnix was born. From the smoke of the Hava
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CHAPTER VI. SNIFFING AND SNEESHIN.
CHAPTER VI. SNIFFING AND SNEESHIN.
“‘Tis most excellent,’ said the monk. ‘Then do me the favour,’ I replied, ‘to accept of the box and all; and when you take a pinch out of it, sometimes recollect that it was the peace-offering of a man who once used you unkindly, but not from the heart.’” Sterne’s Sentimental Journey . Everybody, of course, knows all about the Franciscan and his snuff-box, with which this chapter begins. Sterne narrates it in his happiest vein, and all who read it are somehow sure to remember it. Boxes are excha
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CHAPTER VII. QUID PRO QUO.
CHAPTER VII. QUID PRO QUO.
“A third party sprang up, headed by the descendants of Robert Chewit, the companion of the great Hudson. These discarded pipes altogether, and took to chewing tobacco; hence, they were called Quids .”—— Knickerbocker’s , New York . Any one who will take the trouble to read through the “Curiosities of Food,” will soon become convinced, from the examples which Mr. P. L. Simmonds has collected so assiduously from all parts of the world, that there is no accounting for tastes. What extraordinary thi
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CHAPTER VIII. A RACE OF PRETENDERS.
CHAPTER VIII. A RACE OF PRETENDERS.
“I grant your worship that he is a knave, sir; but yet, Heaven forbid, sir, but a knave should have some countenance at his friends’ request. An honest man, sir, is able to speak for himself, when a knave is not.”—— King Henry IV., part 2. It is the misfortune of kingdoms to be subject to rebellions, and of monarchs to behold the advent of pretenders, as it is the fate of gold to be imitated in baser metals, and bank notes to be forged. A rule is supposed to be strengthened by an exception, and
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CHAPTER IX. “MASH ALLAH!”—THE GIFT.
CHAPTER IX. “MASH ALLAH!”—THE GIFT.
That opium is the milky juice of the capsules of a species of poppy, evaporated by exposure to light and air, is a fact so well known, as scarce to require repetition. This species of poppy contains two well marked varieties, the black and the white , a circumstance noticed by Hippocrates long enough ago. The black variety derives its name from the colour of its seeds. The original home of the poppy is Asia and Egypt. But it is extensively cultivated for the sake of its juice in British India, P
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CHAPTER X. THE GATES OF PARADISE.
CHAPTER X. THE GATES OF PARADISE.
“Thou only givest these gifts to man; and thou hast the keys of Paradise, O just, subtle, and mighty opium.”—— Confessions of an Opium-Eater. According to the common opinion of the Arabs, there are seven heavens, one above another. The upper surface of each is believed to be nearly plane, and generally supposed to be circular, five hundred years’ journey in width. The first is described to be formed of emerald; the second of white silver; the third of large white pearls; the fourth of ruby; the
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CHAPTER XI. REVELS AND REVERIES.
CHAPTER XI. REVELS AND REVERIES.
The Mahometan legend of their prophet’s ascent into heaven, where he received instructions for the faith and conduct of his followers, is thus current amongst them. As Mahomet was reclining on the sacred stone in the temple of Mecca, Gabriel came to him, and opened his breast from the breastbone to the groin, and took out his heart, and washed it in a golden basin, full of the water of Faith, and then restored it to its place. Afterwards a white beast was brought to him, less than a mule, and la
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CHAPTER XII. PANDEMONIUM.
CHAPTER XII. PANDEMONIUM.
The night side of opium-eating and smoking must be seen, as well as the bright and sunny day, before we lavish upon it encomiums, such as some of its votaries have indulged in. There may be a paradise to which the Theriaki can rise, but there is also an abyss into which he may fall. Lord MacCartney informs us that the Javanese, under an extraordinary dose of opium, become frantic as well as desperate. They acquire an artificial courage; and when suffering from misfortune and disappointment, not
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CHAPTER XIII. OPIUM MORALS.
CHAPTER XIII. OPIUM MORALS.
Fal. No abuse, Hal. Poins. No abuse! Fal. No abuse, Ned, in the world; honest Ned, none. I dispraised him before the wicked, that the wicked might not fall in love with him; in which doing, I have done the part of a careful friend, and a true subject. No abuse, Hal; none, Ned, none;—no, boys, none.—— King Henry IV., part II. Scarce a flower that graces the earth, or a tree waving in the forests, has had its character assailed so mercilessly as the poppy. Not one of the simples or compounds of th
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CHAPTER XIV. FALSE PROPHETS.
CHAPTER XIV. FALSE PROPHETS.
Before describing any of the imitations of opium, or substitutes for it in any form, it will not be out of place to notice briefly the tinctures in popular use in which that drug forms a prominent ingredient. Laudanum is the spirituous infusion, and contains the active ingredients of a twelfth part of its weight of opium. Scotch paregoric elixir is a solution in ammoniated spirit, and is only one-fifth of the strength of laudanum, containing, therefore, one part in sixty of opium. English parego
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CHAPTER XV. NEPENTHES.
CHAPTER XV. NEPENTHES.
The influence of climate in modifying the characters of plants is a circumstance known to all botanical students. The same plant, in temperate regions and under the tropics, exhibits different properties, or, we should rather say, in one instance developes more highly certain properties which in the other lie nearly dormant. The newly-introduced sorghum, from which we have been promised an unfailing supply of excellent sugar, fails in the North of France to reach that degree of maturity, or to d
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CHAPTER XVI. GUNJA AT HOME.
CHAPTER XVI. GUNJA AT HOME.
“Oh, kind and blissful mockery, when the manacled felon, on his bed of straw, is transported to the home of his innocent boyhood, and the pining and forsaken fair, is happy with her fond and faithful lover—and the poor man hath abundance—and the dying man is in joyous health—and despair hath hope—and those that want are as though they wanted not—and they who weep are as though they wept not.—But the fashion of these things passeth away.” “At home” may mean, that quarter-day has passed with all i
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CHAPTER XVII. HUBBLE-BUBBLE.
CHAPTER XVII. HUBBLE-BUBBLE.
The Hubble-bubble proper is a smoking apparatus so contrived that the smoke, in its passage from the point of consumption to that of inhalation, shall pass through water, which performs the office of a cooler. The Hubble-bubble common consists of a cocoa-nut shell, with two holes perforated in one end, at about an inch apart, through the germinating eyes of the nut. Through these orifices the kernel is extracted, and a wooden or bamboo tube, about nine inches long, surmounted by a bowl, is passe
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CHAPTER XVIII. SIRI AND PINANG.
CHAPTER XVIII. SIRI AND PINANG.
The widely distributed race of Malays, occupy not only the Malayan Peninsula, and, though not exclusively, the islands of the Indian Archipelago, but has penetrated into Madagascar, and spreads itself through the islands of the Pacific from New Zealand, the Society, the Friendly Isles, and the Marquesas, to the distant Sandwich and Easter Isles. Whatever may have been the starting point, it is essentially a shore-dwelling race, peopling only islands, or such portions of the continent as border t
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CHAPTER XIX. UNDER THE PALMS.
CHAPTER XIX. UNDER THE PALMS.
“A wind blew warm from the east, and it lifted its arms hopelessly; and when the wind, love-laden with most subtle sweetness, lingered, loth to fly, the palm stood motionless upon its little green mound, and the flowers were so fresh and fair, and the leaves of the trees so deeply hued, and the native fruit so golden and glad upon the boughs, that the still warm garden air seemed only the silent, voluptuous sadness of the tree; and had I been a poet my heart would have melted in song for the pro
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CHAPTER XX. CHEWING THE COON.
CHAPTER XX. CHEWING THE COON.
“It ascends me into the brain, dries me there all the foolish, and dull, and crudy vapours which environ it; makes it apprehensive, quick, forgetive, full of nimble, fiery, and delectable shapes, which, delivered over to the voice (the tongue), which is the birth, becomes excellent wit.”—— Sir John Falstaff. “In Burmah,” says Howard Malcolm, “almost every one, male and female, chews the singular mixture called coon , and the lacquered or gilded box containing the ingredients is borne about on al
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CHAPTER XXI. OUR LADY OF YONGAS.
CHAPTER XXI. OUR LADY OF YONGAS.
To the Peruvian the province of Yongas de la Paz in the North-East of Bolivia is an El Dorado, because there grows in the greatest profusion and luxuriance his favorite Coca. We may look with delight towards the island of Ceylon, and, in imagination, snuff the fragrant breezes that have passed over the cinnamon groves and coffee plantations; or direct the gaze of our children across the map of the world to South-Eastern China, and inform them that from thence our good dames receive their tea; an
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CHAPTER XXII. WHITEWASH AND CLAY.
CHAPTER XXII. WHITEWASH AND CLAY.
“Alexander died. Alexander was buried. Alexander returneth into dust; the dust is earth: of earth we make loam. And why of that loam, whereto he was converted, might they not stop a beer barrel?”—— Hamlet. The fact, at one time doubted, but now established beyond dispute, that some tribes indulge in the habit of dirt-eating, is one which, from its singularity, claims notice. The Malayan uses lime as an ingredient in compounding his favourite masticatory, and the coquero of the Andes mixes it wit
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CHAPTER XXIII. PRECIOUS METALS.
CHAPTER XXIII. PRECIOUS METALS.
“The virtues of the noble metals are, moreover, of such a nature that they inspire respect even in those who do not seek these qualities in higher spheres, but ask after the common and every-day usefulness of a thing.”—— Von Kobell. Some consider those metals most precious which, like gold and silver, have earned that reputation by acting in the capacity of representatives of wealth, as the current coins of civilized nations. To some men these have been esteemed more precious than health, or eve
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CHAPTER XXIV. DATURA AND CO.
CHAPTER XXIV. DATURA AND CO.
The thorn-apple and nightshade are types of a class of narcotics, which, though not largely employed either for their intoxicating effects or their medicinal virtues, are, notwithstanding, extremely powerful in their effects, and, when used, exercise a wonderful influence upon the brain. The majority of them belong to that family of plants, of which, not only tobacco, but the potato, are members; so that, if only from their family connections, independently of any other right, they have a claim
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CHAPTER XXV. THE EXILE OF SIBERIA.
CHAPTER XXV. THE EXILE OF SIBERIA.
The rage for scampering half over the world in search of the picturesque has scarcely got far enough to tempt any, except a stray traveller or two, into the chilly regions of Siberia and Kamtschatka, and in these exceptional cases, perhaps, more from force than choice. These are regions, therefore, concerning which our information is remarkably limited. It is true that Captain Cochrane informs us that he married a wife from Kamtschatka—a virtuous maiden, who knew more of that region, perhaps, th
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CHAPTER XXVI. ODDS AND ENDS.
CHAPTER XXVI. ODDS AND ENDS.
After a feast, the prudent and thrifty housewife will gather up the fragments that remain, if for no other purpose than to distribute them amongst the poor. It was the constant habit of a certain elderly man of business, so long as he could stoop for the purpose, to pick up and stow away every pin and scrap of paper, or end of string, which he saw lying about on his premises. And when he could bend no longer to perform the operation himself, he would stand by the truant fragment, and vociferate
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TABLE IV.
TABLE IV.
Nett Profits of the French Regie on Tobacco, after paying all expenses of purchase, transportation, manufacture, and sale. Showing the increased consumption, in decennial periods, from 1811 to 1851....
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TABLE V.
TABLE V.
Consumption of Tobacco in Britain, with rate of Duty and Revenue therefrom....
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TABLE VI.
TABLE VI.
Consumption of Tobacco in the Austrian Empire....
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TABLE VII.
TABLE VII.
Statement exhibiting the quantities of Tobacco exported from the United States into the countries named, during 1855....
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TABLE VIII.
TABLE VIII.
Disposition of Tobacco the growth of the United States in 1840 and in 1850, with the Home Consumption at each period....
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TABLE IX.
TABLE IX.
Statement showing the Exports of Tobacco from America (United States) in decennial periods, from 1820 to 1850, and in 1855....
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TABLE XI.
TABLE XI.
Return showing the quantity of Chests of Opium exported by the East India Company between 1846 and 1858....
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TABLE XII.
TABLE XII.
Amount of Income derived by the East India Company from the Opium Monopoly....
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TABLE XV. PRISONERS SENTENCED BY THE POLICE TO THE HOUSE OF CORRECTION AT SINGAPORE.
TABLE XV. PRISONERS SENTENCED BY THE POLICE TO THE HOUSE OF CORRECTION AT SINGAPORE.
Besides which, there were 15 men in the hospital, of whom all smoked but one....
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TABLE XVII. REPORTS OF OPIUM-SMOKING IN CHINA.
TABLE XVII. REPORTS OF OPIUM-SMOKING IN CHINA.
In the Chung-wan (centre bazaar) there are about 5,800 inhabitants. The number that smoke opium merely because they like it are upwards of 2,600. The number that smoke opium are upwards of 300. In the Hah-wan (Canton bazaar) there are upwards of 1,200 inhabitants. The number that smoke opium merely because they like it are upwards of 600. The number that smoke opium are upwards of 100. The number that died for cause of smoking opium very few. (Signed) Chung-wan & Hah-wan Teapoa’s Report.
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TABLE XVIII.
TABLE XVIII.
Professor Johnston’s estimate of the number of persons indulging in the Seven principal Narcotics of the world....
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TABLE XIX. SYNOPSIS OF NARCOTICS, WITH THEIR SUBSTITUTES.
TABLE XIX. SYNOPSIS OF NARCOTICS, WITH THEIR SUBSTITUTES.
M’CORQUODALE & CO., PRINTERS, LONDON—WORKS, NEWTON. 1 The learned in the lore of ancient Rome may charge us, if they will, with a grievous wrong in considering Sleep as one of the softer sex, inasmuch as Somnus was one of the elder of the “ lords of the creation.” We confess to an inclination towards the “ ladies of the creation;” and in this matter especially 2 A correspondent of the Medical Times having asked for authentic instances of the hair becoming grey within the space of one nig
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