298 The Ufeful Family Herbal. 
cine is its Merit: When fomething more powerful 
is ufed, it is better to have recourfe to Opium, 
er Laudanum. eee 
Rep Poppy. 
PAPAVER ERRATICUM. 
A Common wild Plant in our Corn Fields, di- 
ftinguifhed by its great fearlet Flowers. It 
is a Foot high. The Stalk is round, fender, 
hairy, of a pale Green, and branched. The 
Leaves are long and narrow, of a dufky Green, 
hairy, and very deeply, but very regularly in- 
dented. The Flowers are very large, and of an 
extremely bright and fine fcarlet Colour, a little 
blackith toward the Bottom. The Head is fmall, 
not larger than a Horfe Bean, and the Seeds are. 
fmall, and of a dark Colour. The whole Plant 
is full of a bitter yellowith Juice, which runs out 
when it is any where broken, and has fomething 
of the Smell of Opium. 
The Flowers are ufed. A Syrup is made from 
__ them by pouring as much boiling Water on them 
as will juft wet them, and after a Night’s ftanding, 
_ ftraining it off, and adding twice its Weight of 
Sugar: This is the famous Syrup of red Poppies, 
It gently promotes Sleep. It isa much weaker 
Medicine than the Diacodium. It is greatly re- 
commended in Pleurifies and Fevers; but this 
upon no good Foundation. It is very wrong to 
depend upon fuch Medicines: It prevents having 
recourfe to better. — = 
