326 



POPLIN 



POPPY 



appear* to have been introduced into Ktimjie from 

 tin* Knot. It is very common in the Punjab and 

 in Persia, ami nnw also in bmibaidy nml other 

 part* of Italy. It attain* a height of 100, or even 

 l.~iii feet, and U reinarkalile for IU erect form, con- 

 tracted head, and very lapid growth. It U often 

 planteil an an ornamental tree, although not so 

 generally as in the end of the ISth century, 

 when it w;i> thought preferable for ornamental 

 pur|ioses to every other tree. It U common in 

 the streets and squares of towns in Britain, and 

 U particularly adapted to situations where a long 

 horizontal line of any kind fatigue* the eye, or where 

 it is *een starting up from a maw of lower wood 

 or shrubbery. The wood i- almost of no value. It 

 U generally propagaU-d bv layers. The species 



i monk known as Black Italian Poplar (P. 



mnnilifri't or .I.-.WCJKC/I I. although it is really a 

 native not of Italy, but of North America, and is 

 sometimes more correctly called Canadian Poplar, 

 the female catkins of which resemble a string of 

 pearl*, U frequently planted lioth as an ornamental 

 tree and for the sake of its timber, which is useful 

 for flouring, Arc. The leave* are deltoid. It is of 

 rapid growth, and attains a height of 100 to 

 120' feet. The Balsam Poplar, or Tacamahoc i /'. 

 bnltamifrra), a very common ornamental tree in 

 Britain, is a native Ixitli of North America and of 

 Siberia, ami has ovate-oblong leaves, which in 

 spring are of a delicate yellow tint, and have an 

 agreeable fragrance. The leaf -buds are viscid. The 

 re>inoii> exudation of the buds (Tacamahac, q.v. ) 

 is said to lie diuretic and anti-spasmodic ; and an 

 ointment mode from the buds is used for tumours, 

 wounds, and hums. The resinous exudation of 

 the hud* of other species, as the black poplar, 

 possesses similar properties. The Cotton wood (P. 

 - 1 of North America, particularly abund- 

 ant on the upper parts of the Mississippi and 

 Missouri, is valued as a timlier-tree, and has been 

 pretty extensively planted in Britain ; as has also 

 the Ontario Poplar (P. candicaia), a species with 

 tlie s;unc h.'iNamic character as P. lialsamifera, 

 and chiefly distinguished from it by its larger 

 leaves. |n -i/e of leaf no other species equals /*. 

 heteropht/lln, a native of the southern states of 

 North America, the leaves of which are often 

 6 inches long. See ASI-KX. 



Poplin ( Fr. jxi/ie/ine ; possibly from the town 

 of Popwingfae. of which an old spelling is Pop- 

 peiling), a fabric which has been long mode 

 in Krance, from which country the manufacture 

 was introduced into England and Ireland in the 

 17th century by Protestant refugees. Poplin con- 

 sists of a warp of silk and a weft of worsted, 

 and the latter In-ing thicker than the former pro- 

 duces a corded appearance. The worsted yarn 

 S'ves sulwtance to the fabric, and a soft silky 

 < i* produced by the wnv in which it is woven. 

 Poplins may l>e either plain or figured. The 

 Irish poplins are nearly all mode in Dublin; the 

 industry has lieen subject to great fluctuations, 

 notwithstanding the efforts Hi foster it Figured 

 |H)plins. which were much used aliout 1870 for cur- 

 t.-inis and covering furniture, are at the present 

 time, in (ireat Britain at least, employed for these 

 purposes only to a limited extent. 



r<|>ornt<'|>rll ('smoking mountain'), a vol- 

 tano about 40 miles SK. of the eitv of Mexico. It 

 rises in the form of a cone to a lieight of 17,784 

 feet above the sea- level. No eruption has been 

 recorded since 1540 ; it still smokes, however. It 

 i* often scaled, and in ami around its crater (5105 

 feet in diameter, and nearly 1000 deep) a good 

 deal of sulphur is obtained. 



Poppy (Panaver), a genns of plant* of the 

 natural order Papaveraceip, having a calyx of two 



(or rarely three) sepals, which very soon fall off; 

 a corolla of four (rarely six) jwtals : numeions 

 stamens seated on a receptacle : the stigma ciow u 

 ing the ovary, without a style, and in the form of 

 4 to 20 rays ; the cajwtule o|>iiin^ by pores under 

 the persistent stigma, impeitcctK divided into cells 

 by partitions as numerous as the lays of the .stigma, 

 luit which do not reach the centre, and the seeds 

 extremely numerous. There are numerous species 

 of poppy, mostly natives of Europe and Asia, some 

 of them found even in very northern regions, but 

 most of them in the mmr taBMmta parts. They 

 are herbaceous plants, annual, iiidinial, or peren- 

 nial, mostly sprinkled with bristly hairs. They 

 have a white milky juice ; a disagreeable mncotic 

 smell, particularly when bruised ; pinnatifid or 

 bipinnat iliil leaves, more rarely jagged or toothed 

 leaves; and large showy flowers, which readily 



Opium Poppy ( Papaver xmniferum ) : 



a, whole plant ; ft, flower and leaf ; c, ripe capsule ; d, seed and 



section of do. enlarged. ( Beutley and Triiuen.) 



become double by cultivation. The capsules are 

 curious from the manner in which they Iling out 

 their seeds when the plant is shaken by the wind : 

 each cajisule being somewhat like a round or oval 

 popper-box, with holes, however, not in the top, 

 where rain might get in by theiu, hut under the pio- 

 jeciiug rim. By far the most important species is 

 that known as the Opium Poppy ( /'. ..ui//iri), 

 also called the White Poppy ancf the Oil Poppy (see 

 Oril'M). But the same species is ini|>ortant on 

 account of the bland fixed oil of the seeds, and is 

 much cultivated as an oil-plant. J'nf,/,i/-,,i/ is OH 

 sweet as olive-oil, and is used for similar purposes. 

 It is imported into Britain in considerable quanti- 

 tie- from India. The poppy is also extensively 

 cultivated for it in Frartce, Belgium, and Ccnniin.t. 

 The usp and manufacture of this oil were for a long 

 time, <luring the ISth century, strictly prohibited in 

 France, from a mistaken notion that it must par- 

 take of the narcotic properties of the milky juice 

 of the plant. The seed, however, contains no 

 opium or any narcotic principle, and was well 

 known to the ancient* as a pleasant article of 

 food, fit to be eaten by itself or with bread ; 

 some German cakes have poppy-seed plentifully 

 sprinkled on the top. The oil expressed from it 

 is perfectly wholesome, and is much used in 



