There are some interesting posts about hasheesh use in Twain's day in the
searchable logs of H-Net: Humanities and Social Sciences Online:
http://www.h-net.org/
Here's part of a post by Matt Schoenbachler to the Scholars of the History
of
the Early American Republic list on "purposes of cultivating hemp":
>> As to Dane Hartgrove's question concerning the consumption of hemp:
yes, there is in fact a good deal of evidence that cannabis was consumed in
antebellum America, especially in the mid/late 1850s, when there seems to
have been a bit of a hash-eating craze. (Apparently, smoking cannabis was
relatively rare; most commonly, people consumed hash orally.) Articles
typically entitled "My Experience with Hashish" were relatively common in
mid-19th century magazines such as Harpers or Putnams. In 1857, one of
the more famous accounts of hash usage was published, Fitzhugh Ludlow's
_The Hasheesh Eater_. Furthermore, scattered references to hash
consumption can be found in letters and journals.... <<
The magazines he mentions are online at the Making of America site at
Cornell. A search for "hashish" turns up "163 matches in 48 journal
articles."
A search for "hasheesh" turns up "280 matches in 94 journal articles."
Here's one from a notable source:
"During all the long conversation that had followed, he had been conscious
of a sort of dual operation of his mind, like that familiar to the eaters of
hasheesh." -- John Hay, "The Bread-Winners" (Oct 1883)
The Making of America site at the University of Michigan also has early
books and magaines that contain references to "hasheesh":
http://www.hti.umich.edu/m/moagrp/
The New York Times archive lists a Nov. 10, 1871, article on "The New
Hasheesh" that begins, "A London paper, usually distinguished for the
temperateness of its statements on practical subjects, has made an
astounding discovery. The strange drug, which has been reported of late to
be a kind of universal panacea, which cures corns and headaches,..."
Sounds like something Twain would invest in. :-)
Jim Zwick
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