III. Paradise.
I do not know exactly how much to believe and how much to disbelieve of Théophile Gautier's tale about le club des hachichins at the hôtel Pimodan on the Ile Saint-Louis; but there is no doubt whatever in my mind that the author, if not an "adept" in the use of hachish, had at least experienced the effects of the drug. I cannot, however, readily com prehend that any enthusiastic devotees of the narcotic should deliberately form them-selves into an association for its enjoyment in company. Once in a way, perhaps, sociable hachish-eating may be charming as a comparative novelty; but the best delights of the drug are, after all, obtainable by the solitary. The patient's first craving is for quiet. He does not want to be disturbed, or to be reminded of the things of the work-a-day world. His best sanctuary is the silence of a
