COMPTON'S PICTURED ENCYCLOPEDIA AND FACT-INDEX:

1935

HEMP:

Since very early times the fiber of the hemp plant a native of temperate Asia, has been employed in making coarse cloth and rope, and today its cultivation is an important industry in China, India, and various parts of Europe.

In India and China hemp is cultivated not only for its fiber, but for its flowers and leaves from which is prepared an intoxicating drug, called "Hashish." Russia, Italy, and France are the chief producers of hemp in Europe.

In the United States hemp is a minor crop, and production is usually confined to Wisconsin, Illinois, and Kentucky. In the latter state it was once one of the chief crops (see Kentucky), but it is now little grown. The United States normally imports about half its supply.

Until a few years ago the exceedingly crude and primitive methods of harvesting the crop and preparing the fiber required an enormous amount of labor. Everything was done by hand, as is still the practice in Europe. The crop was cut with hand sickles, spread out on the ground to be "retted" by the weather for several weeks, gathered and bound in shocks by hand, and finally crushed in a heavy wooden hand-brake to separate the fiber from the wood of the stem. "Braking" by hand is an especially tedious and laborious task; 100 pounds of cleaned fiber is a good average day's work for a man.

It is hoped that production in the United States will increase, now that machinery has been invented to make the drudgery of hand labor unnecessary. Hemp crops are now harvested by an ingenious machine which spreads the stalks in even swaths. Another machine gathers and binds them when they have been retted. The crushing is done in power-brakes with fluted rollers, and the fiber is removed in a scutching machine.

Hemp fiber, which comes from the inner bark of the stem, is valuable because of its length, toughness, pliability, and resistance to water. American dewretted fiber, which is retted by soaking in soft water, is soft, lustrous, and almost white.

Hemp is chiefly used for making rope, twine, shoe and harness thread, and the coarse cloth known as gunny-sacking. At one time it was used extensively in the manufacture of sail cloth and sheeting, and some of the finer quality is still made into cloth in China and Japan. Hemp seeds produce an oil which is used in the manufacture of soap and varnishes. They are also used for bird-seed.

The term hemp is also used to designate many kinds of fibers in no way related to the hemp plant--among them manila hemp, sisal hemp, and the Sunn hemp of India. Manila hemp (abaca) comes from a plant of the Philippines which belongs to the banana family. Its fiber is long (6 to 12 feet), strong, and durable. Abaca is used in making ships' cables and other kinds of rope where great strength and flexibility are required, as well as the best grades of binder twine. Sisal and the closely related henequen are used in the twines, and ropes of small diameter. (See Sisal.)

All cultivated true hemp is produced from Cannabis sativa, an annual herb of the mulberry family varying under cultivation from 3 to 16 feet in height and having angular rough stems and alternate deeply lobed leaves. The male and female flowers grow on separate plants, the female plant being taller and more luxuriant and having darker foliage than the male. Manila hemp comes from the musa textilis. (See Rope and Twine.)

COMPTON'S PICTURED ENCYCLOPEDIA AND FACT-INDEX: 1939 HEMP. This plant serves the wise and destroys the foolish. Its fibers make valuable textiles, but its sap yields a dangerous narcotic drug, called "hashish" or "marihuana."

Hemp has been cultivated for thousands of years in its native Asia and was long ago carried to many other regions of the world. For centuries it was one of the most important textile fibers. Rope, coarse cloth, and the sails of ships were made of it. The very name canvas probably comes from the Latin word cannabis for "hemp," though canvas now is usually made of cotton.

The Cavaliers at Jamestown and the Pilgrims at Plymouth early planted hemp and from it wove their homespun clothes. From hemp were woven also the tops of covered wagons that carried pioneers into the West.

Today hemp is little used for rope, because of competition from abaca (manila hemp), which is lighter and more resistant to water. Jute has replaced hemp for making coarse cloth (see Jute). But hemp is still used widely for making strong and durable twines, high-grade belting and webbing, and oakum and other kinds of packing. Oil from the seeds is used in making soaps, paints, and varnishes. The seeds are also fed to birds.

The fibers of hemp come from the inner bark of the woody stalk. Before they can be recovered, the plant must "ret" or rot on the ground after it has been cut. The stalks are then shocked, and finally they are crushed to separate the fiber from the wood of the stem. Crushing in hand brakes is a tedious and laborious task; 100 pounds of cleaned fiber is a good average day's work for a man. All the operations from harvesting to the removal of the fiber can now be performed by machinery, as shown on the opposite page.

The Production of hemp for its fiber is an important industry in China, India, Russia, Italy, Hungary, and Poland. In the United States hemp is a minor crop, and production is confined mainly to Kentucky, Wisconsin, and Illinois. In Kentucky it was once one of the chief crops, but it is now of little economic importance there (see Kentucky). The United States imports the greater part of its supply.

A resinous substance in the leaves, stems, and flowers of certain types of hemp is the source of hashish, which is called "marihuana" in Mexico. This has been used as a drug since ancient times. It has a sinister effect upon habitual users, and many commit crimes while under its influence (see Assassins; Narcotics). The Federal government classifies marihuana as a narcotic drug and cooperates with other nations to regulate its distribution and to prevent its abuse.

The term hemp is also used to designate many kinds of fibers in no way related to the hemp plant--among them manila hemp, sisal hemp, and the Sunn hemp of India. Manila hemp (abaca) comes from a plant of the Philippines which belongs to the banana family. Its fiber is long (6 to 12 feet), strong, and durable. Abaca is used in making ships' cables and other kinds of rope where great strength and flexibility are required, as well as the best grades of binder twine. Sisal and the closely related henequen are used in the twines, and ropes of small diameter. (See Sisal.)

All cultivated true hemp is produced from Cannabis sativa. This is an annual herb of the mulberry family varying under cultivation from 3 to 16 feet in height and having angular rough stems and alternate deeply lobed leaves. Male and female flowers grow on separate plants, the female plant being taller and more luxuriant and having darker foliage than the male. Manila hemp comes from the musa textilis. (See Rope and Twine.)

COMPTON'S PICTURED ENCYCLOPEDIA AND FACT-INDEX: 1947 Narcotics. Few drugs are more valuable to man than the narcotics -- but they are also the cause of much suffering, degradation, and crime. Properly used by physicians, they help to relieve pain or to induce sleep. Large doses are fatal; continued small doses poison the nervous system. The periodic stimulation they give is followed by a deep depression that can be relieved only by every larger amounts. The control of narcotics is a world problem.

Morphine and Heroin: The most widely used of all narcotics are opium and the drugs derived from it. Opium is obtained from the seeds of the sleep poppy, which is grown chiefly in Asia (see Opium). Medicines which contain opium (such as laudanum and paregoric) are still sometimes proscribed by doctors. But opium in its natural sate has now been largely supplanted by the drugs derived from it -- particularly morphine, which is considered indispensable to the practice of medicine. No drug yet discovered equals morphine in relieving pain, and it produces a deep dreamless sleep from which the patient usually awakes refreshed. But it is used sparingly by physicians, since it is quickly habit forming. Codein, which is derived from morphine, is milder and not so effective in relieving pain. It is widely used as a sedative for coughs. Heroin, which is also derived from morphine, is considered the most dangerous of the narcotic poisons. Since it is inferior to morphine for medical use, its manufacture in the United States as well as its importation from abroad are prohibited. Addiction to heroin is the worst form of the drug habit and the most common among criminal classes.

Cocaine, Stimulant and Anesthetic For ages the natives of Peru and Bolivia have chewed the leaves of the coca shrub for their stimulating effect. Coca is produced also in Java and Ceylon, but is not native to hose islands. The drug cocaine, which is obtained from the leaves, was one of the first local anesthetics used by surgeons and dentists, but synthetic drugs have now largely replaced it. Cocaine also is a commonly misused drug. Like morphine and heroin, it causes a deterioration of the nervous system. Its prolonged use brings about tremors, sleeplessness, and emaciation.

Hashish, or Marihuana - The same plant which gives us the useful hemp fiber also furnishes a dangerous narcotic drug (see Hemp). The upper leaves and flower of the plant secrete a gum that has an intoxicating effect. This drug has been used for ages by the natives of Asia and Africa. It is called "hashish" by the Arabs; and our English word "assassin" is derived from the name of a murderous Mohammedan sect which used this drug (see Assassins). In India it is known as "bhang," and in Mexico as "marihuana." Because of its variable effect, it has little or no use in medicine. The hemp plant may be found growing as a roadside weed in nearly every state of the Union, and the illegal marihuana traffic is therefore difficult to control. The criminals who engage in it usually mix the drug-bearing leaves with tobacco and make cigarettes which are sold to addicts at a high price.

The Control of Narcotics: Traffic in opium became a large and lucrative business in the 19th century. In 1909 the United States brought about an international conference on the subject at Shanghai; and this was followed by an Opium Convention at the Hague in 1925, and the Narcotics Limitation Convention in 1931. These limited the manufacture of narcotic drugs to the amounts required for medical purposes and provided that shipments of raw opium, coca leaves, or manufactured derivatives can move from one country to another only with the permission of both the exporting and the importing governments. To control this lawful traffic the League of Nations set up the Permanent Central Opium Board and the Drug Supervisory Body. In the United States the suppression of smuggling in one of the important functions of the Bureau of Customs of the Treasury Department, aided by the Coast Guard. The task of preventing unlawful trade in narcotics within the country is assigned to the Bureau of Narcotics, also of the Treasury Department. It administers the Harrison Narcotic Act (1914), which imposes taxes on narcotics and requires the registration of all dealers; and also the Marihuana Tax Act (1937), which provides punishment for anyone handling marihuana without a license. Each state also has laws to control the traffic.

Other Narcotics Used in Medicine Narcotics which have special uses in medicine but seldom attract addicts include belladonna from the deadly nighshade plant; stramonium, from the thorn apple; and hyoscyamine from the henbane (see Poisonous Plants; Poisons). Narcotics used for the relief of pain are called anodynes; and those which induce sleep are known as hypnotics, or soporifics. The same substance, however, is sometimes used for both purposes. Synthetic drugs used as sedatives are usually called hypnotics rather than narcotics. Some of these are habit-forming; and in large doses they may cause complete unconsciousness (narcosis) and death. Of synthetic hypnotics the most important are the barbiturates, derived from barbituric acid. They include barbital (veronal), phenobarbital (luminal), and other drugs sold under proprietary names. Trom chloral is derived chloral hydrate ("knockout drops"). (See also Anesthetics.)