A tincture is prepared from the dried tops of the herb (gathered in India), Cannabis Sativa var. Indica, L.
General Action
The chief effect is on the mind; an abnormal exhilaration and excitation of thought. Ideas crowd upon each other with extreme rapidity so that time seems infinite, space immense. The sense of duality is also pronounced. Convulsions are sometimes induced.
Generalities
Dropsy. Determination of blood to surface. Creeps on hands or knees in the open air. Unconsciously walks sideways in the street. Cannot avoid running against people in the street. Did things automatically. During the intoxication, when the spells of laughter came on, he stamped and raised his body up and down on the sofa in a violent manner. Closed his eyes and tried to think of something solemn, suddenly felt as if he were a marble state, unable to move generally chill. Shaking of whole b body. Trembling on moving hand or feet. Twitchings. Spasms. Catalepsy. Tetanus at the moment that water was taken, others frothed at the mouth.
Stitches in chest and limbs. Aching in nape, r. shoulder and r. ear. Pressing pain on different spots of cranial bones, in l. wrist and ankle, and violent pain in muscles below l. scapula. Thrilling; through whole frame to finger-ends and through brain, then terror; agreeable, through body and limbs. Enlarged feeling in single parts; E. feeling in r. side of body. Light feeling on motion. The first sensations are physically extreme lightness and mentally keen perception of the ludicrous. Feeling as if raised from the ground and as if he could fly. Nervous feeling. Uneasiness; vague. Excitation as from quick circulation of blood, as if streams of it poured towards the head, which felt dull, eyes glistened, and on walking he could scarcely find his way, everything seemed dark and perverted, on reaching home great cheerfulness and serenity, as if an unseen power lifted him into a higher region, everything seemed too small and dark, frequent protestations that he saw something unearthly and could accomplish great things, he saw spirits dancing around him as happy as himself, hearing very acute, thirst, cataleptic and epileptic attacks.
Sudden oppression, everything seemed too narrow, with distortion of features, pallor, the oppression increasing to anxiety, with feeling as if boiling blood mounted to his head. Heaviness after going to bed, or drowsiness, could hardly lift his arms of legs. Desire to lie down in day time. Disinclination to physical labor. Indolence in morning; luxurious I., with erotic delirium. Weakness; from short walk; (<) about knees; so that he could hardly speak, and soon deep sleep; of whole body, arms heavy, a kind of fainting, as after loss of blood; limbs rigid, and he became cataleptic, feet cold and insensible to hot applications, subsequently the anaesthesia extended over the whole body, with rapid automatic movements of hands, at times portions of the head and whole body seemed petrified, so that he could not move these parts, then they relaxed, the brain seemed suddenly changed to marble, eyes seemed as hard as marble.
Felt as if under the influence of an opiate. Felt drunk. Rigidity. Torpidity. Numbness; creeping through body and limbs. Paralytic feeling of whole body caused by candle-light, with stupefaction of senses, compression of brain, and everything appears without color. Collapse. Syncope as soon as he closes his eyes. It affects most the nervous and sanguine temperaments, the bilious nearly as much, but the lymphatic only slightly. Aggravation on r. side. Amelioration from rest; from washing in cold water.
Clinical Cataleptic spasm of muscles of neck. Tetanic spasms about the jaws.
Mind
Lunacy. Imagines that he hears music, shuts his eyes and is lost in delicious thought. Imagined that he was gradually swelling. Extreme exaggeration of the duration of time and extent of space, a few seconds seemed ages, the utterance of a word as long as a drama, a few rods seemed a distance so great that it could never be passed, things in the room seemed to recede to a vast distance, the ceiling was raised, and the adjoining room seemed an enormous depth below him though on the same floor.
Ridiculous speculative ideas; or he imagines that he hears sublime music or sees magnificent architecture or beautiful landscapes. Imagined that he was a huge saw darting up and down, cutting off planks, that he was a bottle of soda-water, running to and fro, then a huge hippopotamus, then a giraffe, then a huge fan, surrounded by clouds of music and perfume, that his leg was a tin case filled with stair-rods that rattled as he walked, or that the other leg extended hundreds of feet into the air, on which he was compelled to hop as he walked. Imagined that he was a pump-log, through which a stream of hot water was playing, that he was an ink stand and that the ink might spill over the bed, that he could open and shut his cover, could see and feel the ink splash against his sides.
He seemed transparent, fire seemed to shine through him and warm the marrow in his bones, was conscious of the blood coursing through his veins, and everything within him trembled with pleasure. Could trace the circulation of the blood along every inch, knew when every valve opened and shut, the beating of the heart was so audible that he wondered why others did not hear it. He seemed possessed of a dual nature, one of which watched the other from a height while it passed through various phases of delirium, or one seemed thinking of something while he laughed at it. He seemed a third person looking at himself and his friend. The soul seemed separated form the body. His voice seemed as if not his own. Imagines that he is possessed of infinite knowledge and power of vision, he possesses the wealth of the world and has a benevolence equal to his wealth.
Excitement; in afternoon, with irritation; with dancing, laughing, talking nonsense, knew that he was talking nonsense, but could not stop without an effort of the will, which he did not care to make. Sees dancing satyres and mandarins. Dancing before a looking-glass, with laughing and singing. Sings and extemporizes both words and music. Shouts, leaps into the air and claps his hands for joy. Whistles and wishes to hug every one. Delightful ecstasy was converted into horrors, which were (<) by darkness. Ecstasies of pleasure, of agonies, of terror and pain are constantly followed by more gentle forms of delirious excitement or hallucinations.
Sees diabolical imps, who terrify him or make him laugh at their grotesque grimaces. All around and within seems a mystery, and is terrifying. Imagines that men are bribed to kill him. Idea that he was about to die; and be dissected. Looks under beds and tables, unlocks and relocks doors, for he fancies that he hears strange noises, and that thieves are in the house. Melancholic delirium. Thinks that every one he meets has some secret sorrow and wishes to sympathize with him. The most familiar objects seem strange. Did not know where he was, or whether men generally existed, or for what purpose he existed. Difficulty in refraining from saying and doing unusual things. Speaks uncontrollably loud now and then, and then corrects himself. Sensations exalted and magnified, the pulse seems strong, ideas flow rapidly, pictures seem larger. There seems to be no possible freak of the imagination that is not aroused by this drug.
Exaltation of spirits. Loquacity. Incoherent talk. Uncontrollable laughter, until the face is purple and back aches; immoderate L., full of fun and mischief; immoderate, and he accents the last syllable in all words; spasmodic, (<) flatus rising in throat, threatening to choke him and make him vomit, without nausea. Tendency to make puns and to talk about grammatical questions. Constant theorizing. Anguish (>) open air, with oppression; A. and despair. Despair and fear of being eternally lost, the name of God seemed terrible, demons clutched him, he seemed walking in a vast arena, encircled by tremendous walls. Fear that he should become insane; F of darkness; of approaching death; of spectres; of the coal-scuttle; at the sight of bright objects, asked for water, carried it convulsively to his mouth, but was unable to swallow; of things real and unreal, alternating with delight. Dread of congestion, apoplexy, haemorrhage and a multiplicity of deaths.
Depression of spirits; and disinclination to study; from which he could arouse himself only by imitating the movements and follies of others. Crying and moaning. Weeping, the tears seem blood. Passionate. Intolerant of contradiction. Sarcastic. Tendency to blaspheme. Reckless feeling. Suspicious. Lonely. Taciturn. Indifference to the world and to the dictates of conscience. No power of will.
Capable of great effort. Ideas quick and sensations pleasant. Thoughts crowded upon each other so that he could not recall any thought or event. Remembered the events and ideas of his childhood. Ideas fixed. Absent-minded. Writes one word for another. Repeats words and sentences when writing. Unable to collect his thoughts. Forgetful; of what he intended to write or speak, so that he cannot finish a sentence; of his last words and ideas, and spoke in a low tone and thick voice, as if tired. Inability to read, partly from dreamy spells and partly because he had not full power of vision. Stupidity. Deathly stupor in the reaction. Cataleptic state. Lethargy in attacks, with unconsciousness.
Born in 1837in Westminster, Vermont. . He was an orthodox doctor who converted to homeopathy
Dr. Allen compiled the Encyclopedia of Pure Materia Medica over the course of 10 years.
In 1881 Allen published A Critical Revision of the Encyclopedia of Pure Materia Medica.