J.^6 ExirsBion^J Opium from Garden Lettuce. 



The milky juice from which the opium is prepared exifts 

 in the ftalk and in the leaves of the plant. It is not indifcri^ 

 minatcly depofited throughout, hut is placed in appropriate 

 veifels running longitudinally in the woody or fibrous part 

 t>f the ftalk. The internal or medullary part of the plant is 

 foft, and perfe6llv bland to tlie talte; abounding in a tranf- 

 parent mucilaginous juice, which has not the fmallefl; ana- 

 logy to the milky one above mentioned. The heft time for 

 collecting the milky j«ice is when the plants are beginning 

 to feed : before this it has not acquired its medical proper^ 

 ties, and at a later period the produce is by no means fa 

 confiderable. 



It is procured in the fame manner as from the poppy, viz, 

 by incifions; with this difference, that in the poppy they are 

 longitudinal, but in the lettuce they muft be circular. A 

 very moderate depth fuffices. It exudes freely in milky drops, 

 which may be either immediately colledled, or fu&red to dry 

 on the ftalk, apd then fcraped off and depofited in proper 

 veffels. 



Some attempts were made to obtain it by prefTure, but th<? 

 other juices of the pl^nt feemed to alter it confiderablv. 



All the fpecies of lettuce contain opium in a larger or 

 fmallcr proportion. The common lettuce, as has before 

 been obferved, produced that made nfe of by Dr. Coxe ; but 

 the i(7Siiica Jj'IvcjMs OT viro/a o( hinna^us contains it moll 

 abundantly. The former, however, Ihould perhaps be pre-, 

 ferred : it will ferve the double purpofe of cultivating for the 

 table as well as for the druggift. The fale of the fupernume- 

 rary plants would probably more than repay the expenfe at- 

 tending the Cultivation of thofe inten<ied ft>r opium : indeed, 

 a nun>ber of plants generally run to feed and are loft, at pre- 

 f\:nt, which might, and we hope in future will, be made to 

 turn to good account. 



It is a curious circumftance, that while Dr. Coxe was 

 en<r?»ged on this interefting buiinefs in America, Mr. Cart- 

 wright (to whom the world is indebted for the difcovcry of 

 the efficacy of veaft in curing putrid fevers) was engaged in 

 ftmilar experiments in England. The arrival of the fourth 

 volume of the AuTerican Tr4Hfa<ftious in this country, and 

 4 ii'QXXx 



