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2 certain quantity of cleaned hemp herb in half water and half
3 milk, till half of it is evaporated; it is then strained and curdled*
4 The butter is afterwards, in the usual manner, separated from
5 the coagulation, and contains the effective (i.e., the resinous)
6 part of the herb. Five to ten grains of this composition is a
7 sufficient dose. It can be flavoured with spices, such as pepper,
8 cinnamon, saffron, ginger, &c., and sweetened with sugar ; and
9 by means of isinglass or gum tragacanth, it can also be converted
10 into lozenges, which I used as bon-bons at Lahore. It is
11 true, I could administer them only to Musselmen; the Sikhs
12 and Hindoos being unwilling to take any medicines prepared
13 with liquids by European hands, but invariably obtaining
14 them from us in a dry state, mixing them in their own
15 vessels, and using water procured by themselves. This diffi-
16 culty, however, was afterwards removed, when the hospital
17 was established; for as patients of every nation met with a
18 liberal reception, the Sikh government, aware of the religious re-
19 strictions in that country, appointed a certain number of Hindoo
20 attendants by whom the remedies were prepared, and took
21 care also to provide me with some water from the river Ganges
22 for the preparation of the medicines. The intoxicating drug
23 called churrus , used for smoking, is prepared as follows: — the
24 fresh and ripe hemp-plant is held over a mild fire to soften it,
25 and afterwards bruised in a mortar till it becomes a compact
26 mass. Another very curious method of obtaining it is, by
27 persons wearing leather breeches passing through the hemp-
28 fields, so that they come in contact with the hemp-plant, by
29 which a quantity of the resinous substance attaches itself to
30 the leather garments and other parts of the body, which they
31 afterwards scrape off and collect. But the best way is to gather
32 the resinous parts by rubbing the plant in its growing state
33 with the hands. In the bazaars of India, the different sorts of
34 churrus are sold under various names, as Bokharian, Jarkandian
35 and Cashmerian ; but the best is called churrus mumiai, i.e .,
36 wax-like churrus.