CM'I'MlinH.K. rM'AVERACE.E. 653 



X X Ovanj and herri/ \-celhil. Srifd renifoim or Jielicoiil, liltwk, smooth. 

 C. Roxnuitniiii, Br. T. B. forests of Tromc imd Upper Tena&serim. 



C. reliffiosti, H. f. aud Th. 



C. ti ijoliata, lloxb. 

 Ka-dat. 



Berry globular, 1 -celled, roui;liisli, the size of u bullet or wood-apple. 

 C. iiyouopiiiL.v, Kz. ^'. Swampy forests aloug the Irrawaddy. 



Ye-klui-dat (Kurz). 

 C. ilAcuocAlU'A, Kz., is also recorded from Katehall. 



IloYDsi.v, Jioxbiiryh. 

 Sepah C, imbi-ioate, or almost valvate. Petuh none. Sfumem inserted on (lie 

 short torus. Ocrtn/ shortly stalked, .•J-celled, with numerous ovules on the 2 placentas. 

 Vnipe shortly stalked, with a fragile rind, containing a 1 -seeded putameu. Testa 

 membranous. Scandent shrubs, with simple leaves and small racemose flowers. 



II. OBTCSiFOLiA, II. f. ot TL. KS.S. Marshy forests along the Irraw-addy, 



Nga-hpyu (Kurz). Tsittoung, aud in Tenasserim. 



]{. 1'AKViFi.or. \, Grift. S.S. .Vva. 



+ + -|- Einhriju minute, in the lase of ii flesh ij alhiimen. 



Order rAPAYERACE.E. 

 Fluwers regular. Stamens many, free. Ovari/ 1 -celled. I'hieentas parietal. 

 Herbs, rarely shrubs. Leaves alternate, juice milky. 



I'ai'avku, Linnmts. 

 Capsules opening by short ^alves or pores. Stirjmas \ or more, radiating on a 

 sessile disk. 



* P. SOMNIFEUUJI, L. 



Opium, one of the most valuable drugs of the riiarmacopo'ia, is the concrete 

 juice of tlie unripe capsules. Tlu: most valuable of tiie alkaloids contained in it, 

 Morphia, is found in greatest (juantity in Turkey opium, whilst Indian opium is 

 richer than other sorts in Narootiue. It would recpiire many pages to enter on the 

 various disea.ses this drug is capable of being used with advantage in, but it may bo 

 remarked that Xarcotine was esteemed by Dr. O'Shaughnessy as second only to (piiuiue 

 in the treatment of intermittent fever, and superior to it in sonu^ cases when com- 

 plicated with dys(>ntery. 



A groat deal has been written on the harrowing state to which the use of this 

 drug reduces its victim, which is doubtless as deplorable as that of the confirmed 

 drunkard, but the special iniquity attaching to the Indian Government as a producer 

 of opium is by no means eciually clear. In the Kast, opium takes the place of beer 

 and siiirits, and in either case "the levenue is raised from an article uncjuestionably 

 deleterious to too many of those who consume it ; but, whereas opium merely injures 

 the individual who consumes it, reducing him to the condition of a more or less of 

 harmless ind)ecile, beer aiul spirits, when imnu)derately indulged in, too often convert 

 their victims into furious aud dangerous beasts, and hll our gaols with homicides and 

 our hospitals with tbe victims of their alcoholic phrcnsy. Truly the diatribes one hears 

 of the opium trade afford an excellent modern instance of the Pharisee with a beam 

 in his own eye turning oculist to his less-afflicted neighbmir, though no one can 

 question the incalculable benefit which would accrue to the human race from the 

 disuse of both intoxicating drugs and intoxicating drinks. Some people have supposed 

 tliat a preparation of opium was the " Nepenthe " of Homer, but it seems more prol)ably 

 to have been .';omc preparation of hemp, or possibly neither of these drugs. Tlie seeds 

 of tbe poppy arc eaten wlien boiled, and by expression yield a blaiul edible oil, quite 

 devoid of any narcotic quality. 



