164 On cultivating in Great Britain the Papaver somniferum, 



under side of the pole is to be grasped by the left hand, while the 

 right hand is slipjicd within the hook b. The end of the pole 

 being brought near the fruit, the right hand is to be raised so as 

 to bring the hook /' into the position represented bv the dotted 

 line ; the short end of the lever will of course at the same time 

 press the wire c forwards. The impulse of the wire throws the 

 lever d into the position represented by the dotted line, and the 

 interval between the two rings becomes such as readilv to ad- 

 mit an apple or pear of the largest size. The hook b being now 

 again brought nearer to the pole, the ringed extremity of d grasps 

 the fruit gently but firmly, and a slight pull detaches it from the 

 branch. 



XXIII. AW Method of cultivating in Great Britain the Papa- 

 ver somniferum, and of preparing Opium from it. By 

 John Young, Esq. Fellow oj the Royal College of Surgeons, 

 Edinburgh *. 



rp Edinburgh, April 22, 1818. 



Dear Str, — A he preparing of opium from poppies grown in 

 Britain having engaged the attention of the Society for the En- 

 couragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, I request 

 you will do me the favour to j)resent to the Society the inclosed 

 accoimt of a new method of collecting opium in this country, and 

 a proposal for improving the present mode of gathering it in the 

 East Indies. The box contains a specimen of the opium, the in- 

 struments used for collecting it, and one of the capsules from 

 which I gathered it. I have affixed to the account two certifi- 

 cates respecting the efficacy of the opium. 



I am, sir, &c. 

 A. Aikin, Esq. Secretary, &^c. John Young. 



The natural history of opium and the manner of collecting and 

 preparing it in the East Indies and in Persia have been fully de- 

 tailed by Dr. Samuel Crump, in his Inquiry into the Nature and 

 Properties of Opium. He examined the different accounts re- 

 lated by authors, from Dioscorides, Pliny, Kaempfer, and many 

 others, till the year 1792, when his very interesting work was 

 completed. 



The preparation of opium in Britain has long been a deside- 

 ratum. Premiums have been offered by the Society of Arts, and 

 more recently by the Caledonian Horticultural Society. Speci- 



• From the Transactions of the Society for tlie Encouragement of Arts, 

 Manufactures, and Commerce, for 1819. The Gold Isis medal of the Society 

 was conferred on Mr. Young for these communications, and specimens of 

 the instruments are preserved in the Society's Repository. 



mens 



