OTIIIM, one of the most valuable of medicines, is the dried juice of the unripe cap sules of a species of poppy (q.v.), 'waver sontnyeruna, sometimes called the common poppy, and sometimes the white poppy, although time latter name is really appropriate only to one of its varieties. The plant is probably a native of some of the warmer parts of Asia, although it is now common in cultivated and waste grounds throughout all the s. and middle of Europe, and is occasionally found in Britain. It is an annual, varying in height from 1 to 6 ft., erect, branched, of a glaucous green color, with ovate-oblong sessile leaves, the stem and leaves generally smooth, the branches terminated by large flowers on long stalks, the capsules globose or roundish-ovate and smooth. There are two principal varieties cultivated for the opium which they yield, which have been regarded by some botanists as distinct species; the one (paparer somniferunt) having gen red or violet-colored flowers, numerous flower-stalks rising together, globose cap sules opening by a circle of pores under the persistent stigma, and black seeds; the other (P. officinale) having white flowers, solitary flower-stalks, the capsules somewhat ovate, the circle of pores almost wanting, the seeds white. The former variety is generally cultivated io the mountainous parts of the n. of India, the latter in the plain of Bengal, where the poppy-fields are described by Dr. Hooker as resembling green lakes studded with white water-lilies. The cultivation of the poppy for the sake of opium is carried on in mammy parts of India, although the chief opium district is a large tract on the Gauges, about 600 m. in length and 200 m. in breadth, which was divided by the east India company into two agencies, that of Behar and that of Beuares, the central factory of the former being at Patna, and that of the latter at Ghazeepore. The poppy is also extensively cultivated for opium in tile Asiatic provinces of Turkey, in Egypt. and in Persia. Opium of very good quality is also produced, although not to any considerable amount, in some parts of Europe, and even in Britain. It is sometimes alleged that a much wanner climate than that of Britain is requishe for the profitable production of opium, but the chief fault of the climate seems rather to be the frequency of wet weather. Very fine specimens of opium have been produced, and the produce, per acre has been found amply remunerative; but a great difficulty is experienced in ob aining labor at a moderate rate for a few days only at a time, and when the experiment is con ducted on a small scale, only for a few hours daily. This difficulty was much felt in an experiment, otherwise most successful, which was made at Edinburgh, by Mr. Young, n surgeon, who, about the year 1830, obtained 56 lbs. of opium from one acre of poppies, and sold it at 86s. a lb. It was of excellent quality. His mode of cultivation was sim ilar to that usual in India, The seed being sown in spring on a rich soil, the plants were kept clear of weeds, and when they had flowered and produced capsules, incisions were made in the capsules, and the exuded juice collected as described below. The
capsules vary from the size of a hen's egg to that of the fist. In India, the poppy flow ers in the end of January and beginning of February.
- The poppy requires for its profitable cultivation a rich soil, and in India is generally sown in the neighborhood of villages where manure can be easily obtained. The soil ought to be fine and loose when the seed is sown. The subsequent cultivation consists chiefly in thinning and weeding. Irrigation is practiced. • Mild moist weather, with night-dews, is deemed most favorable during the time of the collection of the opium. Very dry weather diminishes the (lbw of the juice, and much rain is injurious.
The opium poppy is cultivated for other purposes besides the production of opium, concerning which see POPPY.
as a commercial article, is of great importance, exceeding indeed that of any other drug in use, and the cultivation of the opium poppy (paperer somnifsrum) in Brit ish India forms a most extensive branch of agriculture, and the collection and prepa ration of the drug itself employs a large number of persons in the Patna, Malwa, and districts of Bengal. Indeed, during the whole existence of the East India Com pany, the production of this drug was of the first importance; its employment as a habit ual narcotic, as well as a medicine amongst all the eastern nations, demands an enor mous supply. The seed is sown in India in the beginning of November: it flowers its the end of January, or a little later; and in three' or four weeks after, the capsules or poppy-heads are about the size of hens' eggs, and are ready for operating upon. When this is the case, the collectors each take a little iron instrument, called a nushtur; it is made of three or four small plates of iron, narrow at one end and wider at the other, which is also notched like a saiv; with these instruments they wound each full-grown poppy-head as they make their way through the plants in the field. This is always done early in the morning, before the heat of the sun is felt; during the day the milky juice of the plant oozes out, and early on the following morning it is collected by scraping it off with a kind of scoop, called a salaam, and transferred to an earthen vessel called a karrace, hanging at the side of the collector. When this is full, it is carried borne and transferred to a shallow open brass dish, called a thallee, and left for a time tilted on its side, so that any ivatery fluid may drain out; this watery fluid is called pusseewah, and is very detrimental to the- unless removed. It now requires daily attendance, and has to be turned frequently, so that the air may dry it equally, until it acquires a tolerable consistency, which requires three or four weeks; it is then packed in small earthen jars, and taken to the godoams, or factories; here the contents of each jar are turned out and carefully weighed, tested, valued, and credited to the cultivator. The opium is then thrown into vast vats, which hold the accumulations of whole districts, and the mass being kneaded, is again taken out and made into balls or cakes for the market.