Transcriber’s Notes
Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. Variationsin hyphenation and accents have been standardised but all otherspelling and punctuation remains unchanged
.The cover was created by the transcriber and is placed in the publicdomain.
THE
SEVEN SISTERS
OF
SLEEP.
POPULAR HISTORY OF THE SEVEN PREVAILING
NARCOTICS OF THE WORLD.
BY
M. C. COOKE,
DIRECTOR OF THE METROPOLITAN SCHOLASTIC MUSEUM.
“‘How many are you, then?’ said I.
‘O Master, we are seven.’”
Wordsworth.
“To re-create for man, whate’er
Was lost in Paradise.”
Southey’s Thalaba.
LONDON:
JAMES BLACKWOOD, PATERNOSTER ROW.
[The right of Translation is reserved.]
Dedication.
to all LOVERS of TOBACCO, in all parts of the world,
juvenile and senile, masculine and feminine;
and to all ABSTAINERS,
voluntary and involuntary——
to all OPIOPHAGI, at home and abroad,
whether experiencing the pleasures, or pains
of the seductive drug——
to all HASCHISCHANS, east and west,
in whatever form they choose
to woo the spirit of dreams——
to all BUYEROS, malayan or chinese,
whether their siri-boxes are full, or empty——
to all COQUEROS, white or swarthy,
from the base to the summit
of the mighty cordilleras——
to all VOTARIES of STRAMONIUM and HENBANE,
highlander, or lowlander—
and
to all SWALLOWERS of AMANITA,
either in siberia or elsewhere——
these pages come greeting
with the best wishes
of their obedient servant,
The Author.
v
PREFATORY PREMONITION.
“A certain miller was much annoyed by agoblin, who used to come and set his mill atwork at night when there was no grain to beground, greatly to the danger of the machinery,so he desired a person to watch. This person,however, always fell asleep, but once woke upfrom a nap time enough to see the mill in fulloperation, a blazing fire, and the goblin himself,a huge hairy being, sitting by the side thereof.‘Fat’s yer name?’ said the Highlander.‘Ourisk,’ said the unwelcome guest; ‘and whatis yours?’ ‘Myself,’ was the reply; ‘her nain-sell.’The goblin now went quietly to sleep, andthe Highlander, taking a shovel of hot coals,flung them into the hairy lap of the goblin, whowas instantly in a blaze. Out ran the monster tohis companions, making as much noise as hevicould. ‘Well,’ said they, ‘who set you on fire?’‘Myself,’ said