240 CLASS POLYANDRIA. 



its two leaved caducous calyx, must be well remembered. 

 Single poppies have but four petals ; but the change of sta- 

 mens to petals is very common in this flower, and most of the 

 cultivated poppies are double. From the papaver somniferum 

 is obtained the opium of commerce. The juice which issues 

 from incisions in the green capsules, is dried in the sun and 

 usually made into cakes. Six hundred thousand pounds of this 

 drug are said to be annually exported from the banks of the 

 Ganges. The narcotic property of opium renders it highly 

 valuable as a medicine. 



Why it is that certain substances, acting upon the human 

 system, have power to affect the mind, no physiologist has yet 

 been able to explain. But in the power of fermented liquors 

 to produce changes in the mind, or of opium to lull its faculties 

 into temporary oblivion, there is nothing more wonderful, than 

 that the presence of light should produce vision, or the vibra- 

 tions of the air sound. All are equally beyond our knowledge ; 

 we may trace a series of organic changes, but the last link of 

 the chain, that which connects body and soul, is concealed from 

 our observation. Thus why it is we know not, but the fact is 

 evident, that narcotics can for a time, 



" Raze out the written troubles of the brain, 

 And with a sweet oblivious antidote, 

 Cleanse the full bosom of that perilous stuff 

 Which weighs upon the heart. 



Yet but for a time does this effect remain ; and they who would 

 drown sorrow by artificial means, whether of the intoxicating 

 bowl or the stupefying opium, find their sensibilities return with 

 aggravated terrors. When properly used to allay bodily an- 

 guish, the product of the poppy may be considered one of our 

 greatest blessings ; but like all our blessings it may, by our 

 own misconduct, be made a curse. 



The genus Citrus, which contains the orange and lemon, is 

 found here. Jussieu places this in his 70th order, Auranlia, 

 or golden fruits. The fruit is a berry with a thick coat. It 

 furnishes citric acid. 



Few valuable fruits, with the exception of this genus, are 

 found in the class Polyandria. 



Di-pentagynia. 



The four orders following Monogynia, are, as in the prece- 

 ding class, united into one, called as before, Di-pentagynia, 

 having from two to five styles. 



We find here some plants of a poisonous nature, as the Lark- 

 spur, Monk's hood, and the Columbine ; these belong to a natu- 



Opium Power of opium and fermented liquors to affect the mind Genus 

 Cilrui Order Di-pentagynia. 



