The Seven Sisters of Sleep

Foreword

Prefatory Premonition

1    Somewhat Fabulous
2    The Sisters of Old
3    The Wond'rous Weed
4    The Cabinet of Cloudland
5    Pipeology
6    Sniffing and Sneeshin
7    Quid Pro Quo
8    A Race Of Pretenders
9    "Mash Allah" - The Gift
10    The Gates of Paradise
11    Revels and Reveries
12    Pandemonium
13    Opium Morals
14    False Prophets
15    Nepenthes
16    Gunja at Home
17    Hubble-Bubble
18    Siri and Pinang
19    Under the Palms
20    Chewing the Coon
21    Our Lady of Yongas
22    Whitewash and Clay
23    Precious Metals
24    Datura and Co.
25    The Exile of Siberia
26    Odds and Ends

Appendix

Mordecai Cooke (1825-1915) was an eminent naturalist, mycologist, and teacher. He was also the author of several scientific studies on mushrooms.

"The Seven Sisters of Sleep is as its tagline suggests, a 'drug classic'. No one with an interest in drug-related literature should be without a copy. Though, statistically speaking, it may not be a highly reliable source, it offers much, much more. As a cultural analysis, breathing life into the varied consumption of drugs across the globe, from a time of burgeoning understanding, it is reminder of what is perennial in humanity. Beautifully written, entertaining, educational, and revealing. Outstanding book."
Psychedelic Press, UK, Feb 2010

ETHNOBOTANY

Written in 1860, The Seven Sisters of Sleep is a groundbreaking survey of the use of the seven most popular narcotic plants of the Victorian era: tobacco, opium, cannabis, betel nut, coca, datura, and fly agaric. The author’s wide knowledge of scientific, historic, and artistic literature on the subject and his ability to present this information in an entertaining style has made this the classic exploration of drug use throughout history. It also provides an excellent view of some of the draconian but fruitless attempts to suppress the practice: Early users of tobacco in Russia would have their noses cut off and repeat offenders their heads. Pope Innocent XII excommunicated any who used it in St. Peters. Marijuana users in fourteenth-century Egypt would have their teeth extracted for the crime. Yet use of these and other forbidden substances continued to grow.

If only as a record of the perennial failure of harsh punishments to deter drug use, The Seven Sisters of Sleep would remain significant. But Mordecai Cooke’s natural humor and keen insights have ensured this work’s reputation as possibly the best early work from what has grown into an enormous body of literature on mind- and mood-altering substances. Written at a time, similar to our own, when drug use was being reconsidered, The Seven Sisters of Sleep’s thought-provoking and open-minded perspective has much to teach us. Quite popular in its day and a major influence on Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, this is an important book for anyone interested in an unbiased account of humanity’s long involvement with psychoactive, hallucinogenic, and stimulant plants.

MORDECAI COOKE (1825-1915) was an eminent naturalist, mycologist, and teacher. In addition to The Seven Sisters of Sleep he published many scientific studies on mushrooms.