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DeCOURTIVE, Edmond. Haschish: Étude historique, chimique et physiologique. Thèse de pharmacie de Paris. Paris: D’Edouard Bautruche, 1848.
Small 4to. (Marginal toning and some spotting, stain on title-page, top margin of title-page trimmed and slightly affecting inscription). Contemporary wrappers; folding cloth chemise and slipcase.
THE AUTHOR’S OWN COPY OF THE RARE FIRST THESIS ON HASHISH inscribed by DeCourtive to Monsieur Regnaute with numerous holograph corrections and annotations throughout. “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 April 1847. 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” (Siegel and Hirschman, p. 85, Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, Vol. 23, Issue 1). A Horowitz high spot.