Not to be nit picky but "Hasheesh" is not a narcotic. It is a form of cannabis. Strictly speaking. On Tue, 2013-09-10 at 19:57 -0400, Robert E Stewart wrote: > Go to cndc.ucr.edu (no www needed) and bracket your inquiry to, say, > 1861-1868 and search "Hasheesh." There are a dozen references in the > newspapers, and remember that the venerable SF Bulletin isn't included on that site. > They knew it was narcotic, but it appears to have been in common usage. > Consider today's American attitude toward cigarettes compared to the image I > have of my uncle, a surgeon in WWII Europe, lighting a cigarette for a > wounded man on a stretcher. His own children, born postwar, said "That can't be > Dad" because of the cigarette. No one ever said Twain was not a man of his > time. > > Bob Stewart > > > In a message dated 9/10/2013 11:58:01 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time, > [log in to unmask] writes: > > No single experiment could yield valid results unless it is conducted over > m= > any years. There are too many strains of the stuff - and each affects the > us= > er differently > > --- I have it from a reliable source. > > Sent from my iPhone > > On Sep 10, 2013, at 10:02 AM, Hal Bush <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > > Larry, I think I am correct is stating unequivocally that more than a few > > on this LIST have already performed that experiment. > >=20 > > More usefully: the old Hoffman thesis about MT's possible sexual > > adventuring in the mining camps and then SF was based to a large extent > on= > > > speculations about the "counter-cultures" already at work in those > regions= > . > > What do we actually know about marijuana usage at the same time, and > those= > > > same places? For instance, as the reporter on theatre in SF, I would > > imagine that he was at least around the stuff, and knew the smell, etc. > >=20 > > just thinking out loud here, --Hal B. > >=20 > >=20 > > On Tue, Sep 10, 2013 at 7:18 AM, Lawrence Howe <[log in to unmask]> > wrote= > : > >=20 > >> Peter-- > >>=20 > >> I don't know if this is true, but it might explain why some of my > student= > s > >> =3D > >> claim that Twain reads funnier under certain conditions. Before anyone > o= > n > >> =3D > >> this list performs this experiment oneself, > >=20 > > --=20 > > Prof. Harold K. Bush > > Professor of English > > 3800 Lindell > > Saint Louis University > > St. Louis, MO 63108 > > 314-977-3616 (w); 314-771-6795 (h) > > <www.slu.edu/x23809.xml>