Thread by @cocteautriplets

In 1839, Dr. Thomas Smith of 21 Duke (now Dublin) Street in #Edinburgh tried on himself a purified extract of "Indian Hemp" - Cannabis sativa. He "gave an interesting account of its physiological action!". He was most probably the first person in Scotland to get high.

The medicinal and psychoactive properties of "Indian Hemp" had only just been introduced to Western medicine that year by Irish doctor William Brooke O'Shaughnessy, so it's unlikely anyone had done so before.

Cannabis seeds were advertised for sale in Edinburgh in the Caledonian Mercury as far back as 1761 (apply to the Gardener at Hermitage House in Leith), but these probably refer to Hemp: Cannabis sativa. 🌱

In 1849, Dr. Alexander Christison Esq. was the first to cultivate Cannabis in Scotland, when seeds from "fresh gunjah" (the flowering tops of the plant) were successfully raised to maturity at @TheBotanics

Christison, a medical student at the time, came from a long line of medical men, and his thesis would be on the medical uses of cannabis, making him one of the first Western doctors to write on this subject.

Christison was in correspondence with western Doctors in India, who were now very much interested in what Indians had long known. He described that his plants failed to produce much in the way of "churrus" (the Indian word for Cannabis resin)

Christison tried his specimens to test the "physiological action" with some friends. In small doses they found it "exciting the cerebral and digestive systems". In large quantities it was "powerfully sedative and anti-spasmodic" and would "induce insensibility"

He noted that its effects were well known in the East, both for "the purposes of creating intoxication", where Gunjah was sold in 2-3 foot long bundles in India for smoking. But also he noted its medical use in treating Tetanus and Hydrophobia.

In 1848, Dr Winslow Forbes' Physchological Journal reported that a Dr Auber had tried administering C. indica to plague sufferers in India. A Royal Navy officer so treated saw "puppets dancing on the roof of his cabin", another "believed he was the piston of a steam engine".

A young artist believed he was made from elastic and could "enter into a bottle and remain there at his ease". A colleague, Dr Moreau, believed "his whole body was inflated like a balloon [thus] enabled to elevate himself and vanish in the air" .

As early as 1840, Thomas Smith was producing for himself an "Essence of Coffee" by concentrating percolate of coffee beans. He was the first to do this, and used it to make "instant" coffee when working in his lab. James Young Simpson suggested he should commercialise it.

Smith's nephew Peter joined the business and pursued the development of coffee essence. You could buy it by 1845 in 2 shilling bottles.

Coffee Essence would become a Victorian fashion, but if that wasn't your thing then T. & H. Smith would also sell you a "fluid extract of Senna" if you fancied that other Victorian trend of "purging" yourself. Your bowels would be "[excited] to a gentle and healthy action".

Another T. Smith first was proving the artificial sweetener Mannite (Mannitol) was produced from the roots of Dandelions by synthesis, *not* extraction. He collected over 80lbs of the roots in 1849 from the embankments of the newly landscaped W. Princes St Gardens for the purpose

The aforementioned James Young Simpson had approached Smith in 1847, asking him to produce Chloroform on an industrial scale. This was done, but Smiths chose not to pursue it further and so the plant and method was transferred to fellow Edinburgh chemists Duncan & Flockhart

Chloroform was invented in 1831 but in 1847 Simpson was the first to show its effect on humans. He and his assistants were in the habit of sniffing chemicals to see if they would induce anaesthesia. On trying Chloroform they got giddy and all 3 were knocked out until the next day

T. & H. Smith would regret handing over the method they had developed and plant to Duncan & Flockhart, as the latter made William Flockhart's name and the firm made big business out of it. Smiths were left playing catchup.

It was another substance - Morphine - where Smiths really made their name. In 1831, Dr William Gregory invented a new process for producing Morphine Hydrochloride from Opium at Edinburgh University, In 1837 Thomas Smith went into partnership with Henry to commercialise it

Henry would focus on the retail business, allowing Thomas to focus on the research and production side. They realised they would need separation of premises too, so bought Heriothill and Blandfield Houses in Canonmills; the former as a residence, the latter for a factory

You may recognise this building as it's now the Royal Navy & Royal Marines Club house, with the landmark mast and rigging out front.

Blandfield was immediately to the east and is where Tesco (or Willie Lows in old money) is now situated. The below photo looks westr over the works, with Broughton Road on left (pre-1890s tenements) and Heriot Hill House in right background.

These works were developed in a haphazard manner and were largely wooden sheds constructed around whatever new piece of equipment Thomas was trialling. When the company finally moved to modern works at Gorgie in 1906, they transplanted the "Blandfield Works" name there

Thomas was not alone in working on Morphine, but a refined, mass-producable drug in many chemical formats made them their money. In the 1860s they were producting Morphine alkoloids, hydrochlorides, sulphates and acetates and Codeine amongst other opiates

Although junior brother to Thomas, Henry Smith predeceased him, dying in 1865. He was replaced by others in the family; first eldest brother James (who fell out with Thomas and left) and then his sons - James and Peter Shanklie-Smith.

Thomas lived a longer life; he retired aged 74 in 1881 to his house at Heriot Hill. Here he spent the last 12 years of his life refusing to retire completely, and pottering around in his home laboratory on problems that he had never quite solved in his working days.

Thomas Smith died, aged 87, on 19th July 1893 at Heriot Hill House. He lived quite the life for the son of a Paisley Shawl weaver who had been apprenticed as a cabinetmaker. His obituary noted he had studied medicine under Dr Knox, infamous for buying bodies off of Burke & Hare

The company continued to prosper however, the Shanklie-Smith brothers had been sent to Neuwied, on the Rhine, to complete their Chemistry studies and would bring a number of German research chemists to the firm, including a Herr Gottfried Delitsch.

They were amongst the first firms to commercially produce Diamorphine - Heroin. Their descendant company (Veranova) still produces variants of it and many other controlled substances to this day at the 118 year old "New" Blandfield Works in Gorgie

In an irony of ironies, in 1958, T. & H. Smith accidentally discovered the bitterest substance known to science - Denatonium Benzoate - at their factory called Blandfield. This is marketed as "Bitrex" and is what they put in antifreeze and meths to stop you drinking it

In 2017, Nintendo admitted that the little game cards for the Nintendo Switch were coated in Bitrex to try and stop children ingesting them. This admission was prompted by complaints from adults who had licked/tasted the cards and been upset with the results 🤪