POPPY, we have, under the word PA AvEn, given a botanical account of the plant ; we are now to speak of it as pro ductive of opium. The officinal poppy is a native of the southern parts of Europe, but it is thought to have been originally from Asia, where it is cultivated in great abundance. Opium, called, also, opium thebaicum, from its being anciently pre pared chiefly at Thebes, has been long and highly celebrated as a medicine. It is imported into this country, and the con tinent of Europe, in flat cakes, covered with leaves, to prevent their sticking to gether. It has a reddish-brown colour, and a strong peculiar smell. It is the chief narcotic now employed ; it acts di rectly upon the nervous power, diminish ing the irritability and mobility of the system. From the sedative power of opium, by which it allays pain, inordinate action, and restlessness, it is employed in various diseases. Besides the sedative power, it is known to act more or less as a stimulant, exciting the motion of the blood; and by the conjoined effort of the sedative and stimulant effect, opium has been thought to produce intoxication, a quality for which it is much used in the eastern countries. The manner in which this drug is collected in the east is as fol lows : when the capsules are about half grown, at sun-set, they make two longitu dinal double incisions, passing from below upwards, and taking care not to penetrate the internal cavity. The incisions are re peated every evening, until each capsule has received six or eight wounds ; they are then allowed to ripen their seeds. If the wounds were made in the heat of the day, a cicatrix would be too soon formed. The night dews favour the distillation of the juice. Early in the morning, old wo. men, boys, and girls, collect the juice, by scraping it off, and deposit the whole in an earthen pot, where it is worked by the hands in the open sun-shine, until it be comes of a considerable thickness. It is then formed into cakes, of a globular shape, and of about four pounds each in weight, and laid into little earthen vessels to be further dried. They are then co
vered over with poppy or tobacco leaves, and thus dried, they are fit for sale.
From a variety of experiments, made on a large scale, it is found, that opium may be obtained from the poppy cultivated in this country, which, in colour, consist ence, taste, &c. is, in every respect, as good as that which is imparted from fo reign parts. It is thus procured : when the leaves die away and drop off, the cap sules, being then in a green state, are cut in slits about an inch long, on one side of r, the bead only: immediately on the inci, sion being made, a milky fluid will issue out, which being of a glutinous nature, will adhere to the bottom of the incision; but some are so luxuriant, that it will drop from the head. The next day, if the weather should be fine, the opium will be of a greyish substance, and then may be scraped off with the edge of a knife, and in a day Or two it will be of a proper consistence to make into a mass, and to be put in pots. The white poppy is commonly considered as the officinal plant, but any of the varieties may be em ployed indiscriminately, since no differ ence is discovered in their sensible qua lities or effects.
The heads, or capsules, being boiled in water, impart a narcotic juice. The liquor, strongly pressed out, suffered to settle, clarified with whites of eggs, and evapo rated to a due consistence, yields an ex tract, possessing the virtues of opium, only in a much milder degree. This is called the syrup of the white poppy, and is adapted to the use of children. It may be observed, that the seeds possess no narcotic powers ; they consist of a simple farinaceous matter, united with an oil, and in some countries they are eaten as food.