One Is A Bright
Crimson On The Surface; This Is The Most Powerful, And Is Seldom
Used.
The other is a white solid puff-ball, with a rough outer
skin or rind.
I have eaten the latter on two occasions, having been assured by
the natives that they were harmless. The flavor somewhat
resembles a truffle, but I could not account for the extreme
drowsiness that I felt soon after eating; this wore off in the
course of two or three hours. On the following day I felt the
same effect, but to a still greater degree as, having convinced
myself that they were really eatable, I bad taken a larger
quantity. Knowing that the narcotic principle is the common
property of a great variety of fungi, it immediately struck me
that the puff-balls were the cause. On questioning the natives,
it appeared that it was this principle that they admired, as it
produced a species of mild intoxication.
All people, of whatever class or clime, indulge in some narcotic
drug or drink. Those of the Cingalese are arrack, tobacco, fungi
and the Indian hemp. The use of the latter is, however, not so
general among the Cingalese as the Malabars. This drug has a
different effect from opium, as it does not injure the
constitution, but simply exhilarates, and afterward causes a
temporary lethargy.
In appearance it very nearly resembles the common hemp, but it
differs in the seed. The leaves and blossoms are dried, and are
either smoked like tobacco, or formed into a paste with various
substances and chewed.
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