Journal of Psychoactive Drugs
ISSN: 0279-1072 (Print) 2159-9777 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ujpd20
Edmond DeCourtive and the First Thesis on Hashish: A Historical Note and Translation Ronald K. Siegel & Ada E. Hirschman To cite this article: Ronald K. Siegel & Ada E. Hirschman (1991) Edmond DeCourtive and the First Thesis on Hashish: A Historical Note and Translation, Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 23:1, 85-86, DOI: 10.1080/02791072.1991.10472578 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02791072.1991.10472578
Published online: 20 Jan 2012.
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Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=ujpd20 Download by: [Monash University Library]
Date: 20 November 2015, At: 21:52
Short Communication EDMOND DECOURTIVE AND THE FIRST THESIS ON HASHISH: A HISTORICAL NOTE AND TRANSLATION
DeCourtive began his thesis with a revealing description of the various sources for his hashish experiments. In addition to Cannabis indica obtained from Algeria, he used C. indica grown in the French province of Burgundy. Most startling of all, DeCourtive revealed that Moreau was growing his own C. sativa on his private property at Ivry from seeds that had been sent to him from Italy. Moreau was troubled by the complex methods used to prepare hashish from the plant and encouraged DeCourtive to find a simpler and more efficient method. DeCourtive prepared several different extracts for Moreau, who experimented with them on himself. Moreau was "truly delighted" with DeCourtive's concentrates, which were as much as 600 times more potent than previous preparations. DeCourtive made pills of these concentrates and distributed them to Moreau and other investigators. Following the example of Moreau's method of selfexperimentation, DeCourtive swallowed hundreds of his own pills while conducting his research and dutifully recorded his "fantasies." In addition, he gave the hashish extracts to animals and to friends. The following descriptions from his thesis, translated for the first time, illustrate his findings.
Downloaded by [Monash University Library] at 21:52 20 November 2015
Ronald K. Siegel, Ph.D.* Ada E. Hirschman, B.A.* The two most outstanding names in the early hashish literature are Jacques-Joseph Moreau (1845) and Charles Baudelaire (1860). Moreau, in addition to conducting the first psychopharmacological studies on hashish, supplied the drug to Baudelaire and the other members of the infamous Club des Haschischins. Baudelaire, who rarely acknowledged his sources, failed to mention Moreau in his writings. However, in the "Poem of Hashish," Baudelaire referred to the work of Edmond DeCourtive, one of Moreau's most promising students. In 1846, DeCourtive was studying pharmacy at the central pharmacy that serviced the various hospitals around Paris, including the one at Bicetre where Moreau had been experimenting with hashish. DeCourtive observed a number of Moreau's mental patients who were treated with hashish and was impressed by the results. Encouraged by Moreau, DeCourtive began his own experiments in April1847. By September he had completed a remarkable series of studies on the chemistry of hashish and its effects on animals and humans. Illness prevented him from completing the thesis until the following year but it still became the first thesis on hashish (DeCourtive 1848a). Excerpts from the thesis, which was dedicated to Moreau, were published in several French journals of the time (DeCourtive 1848b, 1848c, 1848d), but the main body of work has remained unavailable. Recently, the present authors obtained a copy of the original thesis from an antiquarian book dealer in Paris. This copy had been inscribed by DeCourtive to Monsieur Regnaute, a professor of medicine in Paris. In addition to the inscription, the author had corrected many sections in his own handwriting and had scribbled footnotes and commentaries in the margins. The full text of this thesis (56 pages), combined with DeCourtive's personal notes, provides rare and valuable insights into the early days of hashish experiments and one of its most remarkable figures.
ON ANIMALS I carried on many animal experiments but as these creatures cannot tell us their feelings, there is little I can say about them: physical activity is most observable, however ... . Jays, magpies, sparrows, canaries are relaxed and sad and do not eat. Music awakens and animates them a great deal. Geese are anxious and dazed. A big beautiful male, very proud and robust, appeared ashamed and paralyzed. He fell backward paddling feet in the air, collapsing. In repose and lying down he rocked back and forth like a boat on the water. One day when I had given hashish to several of these birds, I threw them a large amoWlt of food; they ate voraciously as is characteristic of them. As they were greatly under the influence, they were biting each other and pecking within range of one or two feet the morsels that they coveted .. .. Dogs, besides showing greater agility and extreme good humor, are greatly impressed by music, much more so than in the normal state. A griffon [breed of dog) to whom I was playing music, gave off plaintive groans which frankly were very strange and had a certain harmony; its eyes were very bright . . . and seemed radiant with delight Cats rolled ... around with pleasure and licked my feet Music frightened them badly. A monkey ... was more obedient and certainly more intelligent than these interesting creatures usually are. This ... animal laughed and cried like a human. At the sound of music, it started to dance about hs owner, while a little anxious, thanked me, saying "Sir, if I were sure it wouldn't harm him, I would ask you for your drug, which would make my animal intelligent and would earn me a lot of money."
•Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California. Please address reprint requests to Ronald K. Siegel, Ph.D., P.O. Box 84358, Los Angeles, California 90073.
Jownal of Psychoactive Drugs
85
Vol. 23(l),Jan-Mar 1991
Siegel & Hirschman
Short Communication
ON FRIENDS
The spell having vanished, I remained where I was [sitting at the dining table at home, not at the pharmacy school], my mind tense; a bite of bread in my hand, which I had held onto since these mad impressions started .. . . During this veritable phantasmagoria I did not experience only happy thoughts and whoever doubts my truthfulness has but to take some hashish. If he feels nothing, it is because he is not in the condition which I indicated above. I repeat, in a normal state (asleep or awake) one has visions that are equally fantastic, but never have I seen people more clearly. It resembles a dream during a half-sleep, and differs basically in that one recalls all that is presented to the senses .
I found him in his bed, with his eyes closed; he was laughing so hard that he made me laugh and he laughed even harder. "Oh how stupid to laugh like this; I must seem very funny, but never mind, I will take more of this invention; I am too happy; I want some hashish; give me enough to die!"- I played music for him: he leaps, laughs, as I had never seen him laugh, even though he laughs a lot. All the while he has his eyes closed and says he is happier with them closed. The dose was strong, he was stupefied. I make him get up: he dances and sings, acting like a devil . I want him to react to external objects and to the music, he ref uses obstinately and returns to bed.
DECOURTIVE'S CONCLUSION Downloaded by [Monash University Library] at 21:52 20 November 2015
ON HIMSELF It is truly extraordinary that hashish has for so long remained with people who only use it for pleasure or for unworthy reasons; more inspired, Mr. Aubert-Roche and Mr. Moreau have made themselves patrons of Cannabis indica in France. It is because I am convinced that this plant (already useful to man, who uses it for clothing and makes rope from it, which helps him navigate the seas) can comfort him in his suffering, that I join my feeble voice to those of these hard-working and dedicated medical travelers, that I call Cannabis to the attention of observers and workers alike. Science and humankind can only gain . .. .
I am at the pharmacy school. .. . I am triumphant; I have taken hashish so that my judges can better judge this wonderful philtre of the sick spirit. And I have taken so much that I have hashished them with a look, from a distance, as if they were magnetized. Therefore the amphitheater presents a very amusing sight The professors give themselves up to a charming hilarity, just as though they were in fancy dress, without thinking so themselves. The noise expands to outside, and the school is invaded by the mob. It is a true insurrection. During this time I tell my colleagues of the wonders of hashish . The examiners, in their moments of extreme seriousness, blame the attendant B. for everything that has happened, and give him orders to reestablish order and respect for the gown. But B. has been equally fascinated; he laughs harder, and everyone laughs as he wishes .... During this moment of reaction, Mr. S., who, up until then, was little affected, had stood aside, laughing, meditating, observing, now comes forward to speak and propose an armistice. This generous proposal becomes useless . .. . During this whole fantasy, I was laughing in the most eccentric, the most uncontrollable manner; but I felt that it was not over yet. I was alone, as far as being more influenced in the sphere of intellectual impressions, and I closed my eyes . . .. I see before me another who eats, and makes all my gestures; I laugh in his face, or rather, I make fun of myself. Since I know that it is truly me, through a visual illusion, I say to myself, we are joined together and we laugh together. . ..
Journal of Psychoactive Drugs
REFERENCES Baudelaire, C. 1860. Les Paradis Artificiels. Opium et Haschisch . Paris: Poulet-Malassis et de Broise. DeCourtive, E. !848a. 1/aschisch: Etude 1/istorique, Chimique et Physiologique. Paris : Imprimerie d'Edouard Bautruche. DeCourtive, E. 1848b. Haschisch : Etude Historique, Chimique et Physiologique. Repertoire de Pharmacie Vol. I : 358-361 . DeCourtive, E. 1848c. Note sur le haschisch. Comptes Rendus de /' Acadamie des Seances. Vol. 26: 509-510. DeCourtive, E. !848d. Sur le haschisch. Journal de Pharmacie et de Chimie Vol. 13:427-441. Moreau, J.J . 1845. Du 1/aschisch et de /'Alienation Menta/e . Paris: Librarie de Fortin, Masson et Cie.
86
Vol. 23(1), Jan-Mar 1991
ISSN: 0279-1072 (Print) 2159-9777 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ujpd20
Edmond DeCourtive and the First Thesis on Hashish: A Historical Note and Translation Ronald K. Siegel & Ada E. Hirschman To cite this article: Ronald K. Siegel & Ada E. Hirschman (1991) Edmond DeCourtive and the First Thesis on Hashish: A Historical Note and Translation, Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 23:1, 85-86, DOI: 10.1080/02791072.1991.10472578 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02791072.1991.10472578
Published online: 20 Jan 2012.
Submit your article to this journal
Article views: 5
View related articles
Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=ujpd20 Download by: [Monash University Library]
Date: 20 November 2015, At: 21:52
Short Communication EDMOND DECOURTIVE AND THE FIRST THESIS ON HASHISH: A HISTORICAL NOTE AND TRANSLATION
DeCourtive began his thesis with a revealing description of the various sources for his hashish experiments. In addition to Cannabis indica obtained from Algeria, he used C. indica grown in the French province of Burgundy. Most startling of all, DeCourtive revealed that Moreau was growing his own C. sativa on his private property at Ivry from seeds that had been sent to him from Italy. Moreau was troubled by the complex methods used to prepare hashish from the plant and encouraged DeCourtive to find a simpler and more efficient method. DeCourtive prepared several different extracts for Moreau, who experimented with them on himself. Moreau was "truly delighted" with DeCourtive's concentrates, which were as much as 600 times more potent than previous preparations. DeCourtive made pills of these concentrates and distributed them to Moreau and other investigators. Following the example of Moreau's method of selfexperimentation, DeCourtive swallowed hundreds of his own pills while conducting his research and dutifully recorded his "fantasies." In addition, he gave the hashish extracts to animals and to friends. The following descriptions from his thesis, translated for the first time, illustrate his findings.
Downloaded by [Monash University Library] at 21:52 20 November 2015
Ronald K. Siegel, Ph.D.* Ada E. Hirschman, B.A.* The two most outstanding names in the early hashish literature are Jacques-Joseph Moreau (1845) and Charles Baudelaire (1860). Moreau, in addition to conducting the first psychopharmacological studies on hashish, supplied the drug to Baudelaire and the other members of the infamous Club des Haschischins. Baudelaire, who rarely acknowledged his sources, failed to mention Moreau in his writings. However, in the "Poem of Hashish," Baudelaire referred to the work of Edmond DeCourtive, one of Moreau's most promising students. In 1846, DeCourtive was studying pharmacy at the central pharmacy that serviced the various hospitals around Paris, including the one at Bicetre where Moreau had been experimenting with hashish. DeCourtive observed a number of Moreau's mental patients who were treated with hashish and was impressed by the results. Encouraged by Moreau, DeCourtive began his own experiments in April1847. By September he had completed a remarkable series of studies on the chemistry of hashish and its effects on animals and humans. Illness prevented him from completing the thesis until the following year but it still became the first thesis on hashish (DeCourtive 1848a). Excerpts from the thesis, which was dedicated to Moreau, were published in several French journals of the time (DeCourtive 1848b, 1848c, 1848d), but the main body of work has remained unavailable. Recently, the present authors obtained a copy of the original thesis from an antiquarian book dealer in Paris. This copy had been inscribed by DeCourtive to Monsieur Regnaute, a professor of medicine in Paris. In addition to the inscription, the author had corrected many sections in his own handwriting and had scribbled footnotes and commentaries in the margins. The full text of this thesis (56 pages), combined with DeCourtive's personal notes, provides rare and valuable insights into the early days of hashish experiments and one of its most remarkable figures.
ON ANIMALS I carried on many animal experiments but as these creatures cannot tell us their feelings, there is little I can say about them: physical activity is most observable, however ... . Jays, magpies, sparrows, canaries are relaxed and sad and do not eat. Music awakens and animates them a great deal. Geese are anxious and dazed. A big beautiful male, very proud and robust, appeared ashamed and paralyzed. He fell backward paddling feet in the air, collapsing. In repose and lying down he rocked back and forth like a boat on the water. One day when I had given hashish to several of these birds, I threw them a large amoWlt of food; they ate voraciously as is characteristic of them. As they were greatly under the influence, they were biting each other and pecking within range of one or two feet the morsels that they coveted .. .. Dogs, besides showing greater agility and extreme good humor, are greatly impressed by music, much more so than in the normal state. A griffon [breed of dog) to whom I was playing music, gave off plaintive groans which frankly were very strange and had a certain harmony; its eyes were very bright . . . and seemed radiant with delight Cats rolled ... around with pleasure and licked my feet Music frightened them badly. A monkey ... was more obedient and certainly more intelligent than these interesting creatures usually are. This ... animal laughed and cried like a human. At the sound of music, it started to dance about hs owner, while a little anxious, thanked me, saying "Sir, if I were sure it wouldn't harm him, I would ask you for your drug, which would make my animal intelligent and would earn me a lot of money."
•Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California. Please address reprint requests to Ronald K. Siegel, Ph.D., P.O. Box 84358, Los Angeles, California 90073.
Jownal of Psychoactive Drugs
85
Vol. 23(l),Jan-Mar 1991
Siegel & Hirschman
Short Communication
ON FRIENDS
The spell having vanished, I remained where I was [sitting at the dining table at home, not at the pharmacy school], my mind tense; a bite of bread in my hand, which I had held onto since these mad impressions started .. . . During this veritable phantasmagoria I did not experience only happy thoughts and whoever doubts my truthfulness has but to take some hashish. If he feels nothing, it is because he is not in the condition which I indicated above. I repeat, in a normal state (asleep or awake) one has visions that are equally fantastic, but never have I seen people more clearly. It resembles a dream during a half-sleep, and differs basically in that one recalls all that is presented to the senses .
I found him in his bed, with his eyes closed; he was laughing so hard that he made me laugh and he laughed even harder. "Oh how stupid to laugh like this; I must seem very funny, but never mind, I will take more of this invention; I am too happy; I want some hashish; give me enough to die!"- I played music for him: he leaps, laughs, as I had never seen him laugh, even though he laughs a lot. All the while he has his eyes closed and says he is happier with them closed. The dose was strong, he was stupefied. I make him get up: he dances and sings, acting like a devil . I want him to react to external objects and to the music, he ref uses obstinately and returns to bed.
DECOURTIVE'S CONCLUSION Downloaded by [Monash University Library] at 21:52 20 November 2015
ON HIMSELF It is truly extraordinary that hashish has for so long remained with people who only use it for pleasure or for unworthy reasons; more inspired, Mr. Aubert-Roche and Mr. Moreau have made themselves patrons of Cannabis indica in France. It is because I am convinced that this plant (already useful to man, who uses it for clothing and makes rope from it, which helps him navigate the seas) can comfort him in his suffering, that I join my feeble voice to those of these hard-working and dedicated medical travelers, that I call Cannabis to the attention of observers and workers alike. Science and humankind can only gain . .. .
I am at the pharmacy school. .. . I am triumphant; I have taken hashish so that my judges can better judge this wonderful philtre of the sick spirit. And I have taken so much that I have hashished them with a look, from a distance, as if they were magnetized. Therefore the amphitheater presents a very amusing sight The professors give themselves up to a charming hilarity, just as though they were in fancy dress, without thinking so themselves. The noise expands to outside, and the school is invaded by the mob. It is a true insurrection. During this time I tell my colleagues of the wonders of hashish . The examiners, in their moments of extreme seriousness, blame the attendant B. for everything that has happened, and give him orders to reestablish order and respect for the gown. But B. has been equally fascinated; he laughs harder, and everyone laughs as he wishes .... During this moment of reaction, Mr. S., who, up until then, was little affected, had stood aside, laughing, meditating, observing, now comes forward to speak and propose an armistice. This generous proposal becomes useless . .. . During this whole fantasy, I was laughing in the most eccentric, the most uncontrollable manner; but I felt that it was not over yet. I was alone, as far as being more influenced in the sphere of intellectual impressions, and I closed my eyes . . .. I see before me another who eats, and makes all my gestures; I laugh in his face, or rather, I make fun of myself. Since I know that it is truly me, through a visual illusion, I say to myself, we are joined together and we laugh together. . ..
Journal of Psychoactive Drugs
REFERENCES Baudelaire, C. 1860. Les Paradis Artificiels. Opium et Haschisch . Paris: Poulet-Malassis et de Broise. DeCourtive, E. !848a. 1/aschisch: Etude 1/istorique, Chimique et Physiologique. Paris : Imprimerie d'Edouard Bautruche. DeCourtive, E. 1848b. Haschisch : Etude Historique, Chimique et Physiologique. Repertoire de Pharmacie Vol. I : 358-361 . DeCourtive, E. 1848c. Note sur le haschisch. Comptes Rendus de /' Acadamie des Seances. Vol. 26: 509-510. DeCourtive, E. !848d. Sur le haschisch. Journal de Pharmacie et de Chimie Vol. 13:427-441. Moreau, J.J . 1845. Du 1/aschisch et de /'Alienation Menta/e . Paris: Librarie de Fortin, Masson et Cie.
86
Vol. 23(1), Jan-Mar 1991
