286 



CULTURE OF THE POPPY FOR Ott. 



Used by the 

 ancient Ro- 



Cerreets the 

 rancidity of 

 •live oil. 



Consequence 

 of a scarcity 

 of olive oil. 



that the seeds were peculiarly nutritive both to men and (Tat- 

 tle; they asserted that the ancient Romans, concerning whose 

 mental powers there could be no doubt, were accustomed to 

 mix the oil and meal of the poppy seed with honey, and 

 have it served up as a second course at their tables ; and that 

 it was on account of its nutritious qualities so well known to 

 the Romans, that Virgil gives it the title of ve&aim,food, by 

 way of preeminence; and that the peculiar qualities of this 

 oil rendered it a desirable object of cultivation; and that taste 

 was delicate and pleasant, somewhat resembling that of the 

 hazel nut; that it continued in a fluid state, exposed to a 

 much greater degree of cold than was required to congeal 

 the olive oil ; that it contained a larger quantity of fixed air, 

 which preserved it a longer time from being rancid; that in 

 these particulars it not only approached to the finest oil of 

 Provence* but it mitigated the disagreeable taste which that 

 oil acquired by length: of time; and that the poppy oil de- 

 cidedly deserved a preference to every other oil expressed 

 from seeds, whether nut, almond, or beech ; which, tho' they 

 yielded large quantities, soon became rancid : and as 7 there 

 was no appearance of its being pernicious in the more exten- 

 sive use of it, so valuable a product ought not to be confined 

 within the narrow bounds of the painter's use. 



Things were in this state, without any prospect of accom- 

 modation between the parties, when the severe winter of 1709 

 overtook the combatants. This damaged the olive, nut, and 

 almond trees to such a degree, that there was a great scarcity 

 of their oils; and they were obliged to have recourse to the 

 substitutes, beech and rape, &c. But it was soon perceived, 

 that these were far inferior to the oil extracted from the red, 

 white, or brown poppy, which had a much nearer resemblance 

 to the small portion of the olive oil which the winter had 

 spared. This was consequently mixed with the olive oil in 

 the proportion of 4-, %, \, without the least opposition. But 

 when it was attempted to sell the poppy oil in its pure and 

 unmixed state, the opposition became so violent, that the 

 Lieutenant-Gene ral of the police of Paris resolved, in the 

 year 1717, to order the medical faculty of that city to make 



the 



