416 



SCIENTIFIC RECREATIONS. 



Fig. 426. Hemlock. 



The most important are the following bases : 



QUININE is contained in the cinchona (yellow) bark. One hundred 

 parts of the bark have been calculated to yield three of quinine. 



MORPHINE is the poisonous base of opium, which is the juice of the 

 poppy, and is prepared chiefly in India and China 



NICOTINE is the active principle of tobacco, and 

 varies in quantity in different tobaccos. Havannah 

 tobacco possesses the least. It is a powerful poison, 

 very oily, volatile, and inflammable. 



CONIA is prepared from the hemlock. It is 

 fluid and volatile. It is also a deadly poison, and 

 paralyses the spine directly. 



STRYCHNINE is found in poisonous trees, par- 

 ticularly in the nux-vomica seeds of Coromandel. It 

 produces lock-jaw and paralysis. There is no antidote for strychnine ; 

 emetics are the only remedy. 



The above are chiefly remarkable for their uses in medicine, and in 



consequence of their highly poisonous cha- 

 racter are best left alone by unpractised hands. 

 A German chemist, named Serturner,was- 

 the first to extract the active principle from 

 Opium. The question of opium importation 

 has lately been attracting much attention, 

 and the opinions concerning its use are 

 divided. Probably in moderation, and when 

 used by ordinary people (not demoralized) 

 creatures), it does little harm. 



Opium is the juice of the "common"" 

 poppy, and derives its name from the Greek 

 opos, juice. The plant is cultivated in India,, 

 Persia, and Turkey. After the poppy has 

 flowered the natives go round, and with a 

 sharp instrument wound, or puncture, every 

 poppy head. This is done very early irt 

 the morning, and under the influence of the 

 sun during the day the juice oozes out. 

 Next morning the drops are scraped off. 

 The juice is then placed in pots, dried, and sent for export. The " con- 

 struction " of opium is very complicated, for it contains a number of in- 

 gredients, the most important being morphia, narcotine, meconic acid, and 

 codeia. It 'is to the first named constituent that the somnolent effect of 

 opium is due. 



Fig. 427. Tlie Poppy. 



