42 PAPAVERACEiE. 



narcotine. He 



ammonium salts, meconic 



mineriil acids, wax, and lastly two new crj^stalline bodies, Fapamin 



Merck 



of the same name ; although nitrogenous and bitter, it has an acid 



') 



It yields a blue precipi- 



tate with a solution of iodine in iodide of potassium. 



Papaverosine on the other hand is a base to which sulphuric acid 

 imparts a violet colour, changing to dark yellowish-red on addition of 



nitric acid. 



H 



Groves in 1854 



somewhat doubtfully announced the presence of Codeme. Frickei'' 

 stated to have obtained from the capsules 010 per cent, of alkaloid, 

 and Krause 2 was able to prove the presence of traces of morphine, 

 narcotine, and meconic acid. Ripe poppy capsules (seeds removed) 

 dried at_ 100° C. afforded us 14'2S per cent, of ash, consisting chiefly 

 of alkaline chlorides and sulphates, with but a small quantity ot 

 phosphate. 



Production 



for medicinal 



of England, mostly on a small scale. The large and fine fruits (poppj 

 heads) are usually sold entire ; the smaller and less slightly are broken 

 and the seeds having been removed are supplied to the druggist for 

 pharmaceutical preparations. The directions of the pharmacopeia as 

 to the fruit being gathered when " nearly ripe " does not appear to m 



m 



Uses — In the form of syrup and extract, poppy heads are in_ com- 

 mon use as a sedative. A hot decoction is often externally applied as 

 an anodyne. 



In upper India an intoxicating liquor is prepared by heating the 

 capsules of the poppy with jagghery and water.^ 



OPIUM. 



Botanical Origin — PcqMver somniferum L., see preceding article. 



History* — The medicinal properties of the milky juice of the 

 poppy have been known from a remote period. Theophrastusjv'jj^ 

 lived in the beginning of the Srd century B.C. was acquainted with tne 

 substance in question, under the name of Islmwviov. The investigation^ 



of Unger (18 

 acquaintance < 



Coynr. 



{circ(-^ 



A.D. 40) notices the method of procuring opium, and points out that i^^ 

 true drug is derived from the capsules, and not from the foliage of tne 

 plant. 



1 Dragendorff's Jahreshericht, 1874. 148. 1876, 229, reprinted in Pharnh Joar^- J^j 



9 Archiv der Pharm, 204 (1874) 607. {2 Dec. 1876; 23 June 1877), PP- ^^^ ^ 



^Catal hid, Departm. Intemat. Exhibi- 1041. ' ... ,^f 



tion, 1862, No. 742. ^ Ed. Bernhold, Argent. 1786, c. ni. sec^- 



*For more particulars see Dr, Rice's 22, 

 learned notes in New Mmedies^ New York, 



