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i 

 118 WILD FLOWERS. j 



All the poppies possess the narcotic principle ! 

 in a greater or less degree, and the white poppy ! 

 especially {Pcipaver somnifenim) partakes it. | 

 It is now common in corn-fields. It is thought i 

 that this flower was originally brought us from ■ 

 some parts of Asia. It is, in several east- ; 

 em countries, cultivated for the purposes of . 

 opium. Upon breaking the stem of this flower j 

 it may easily be seen to contain a quantity of i 

 thick white milk ; and the opium is made by i 

 wounding the poppy-stem, and leaving the milk ■ 

 to harden in the sun. It is then formed into i 

 flat cakes, and covered with leaves, and in this 1 

 state we receive it from the east. The Turks j 

 mingle in their opium-cakes a variety of syrups ; 

 made from several fruits, and stamp these \ 

 sweetmeats with the words "Mash Allah,'" the j 

 work of God. Alas, that pious words should j 

 have so little real meaning, and should be used i 

 as a sanction to that degrading intoxication, and j 

 destruction of bodily and mental faculties, which j 

 is the sad result of opium eating ! ( 



The white poppy is planted in many fields of i 

 England for its seed-vessels, which are used in j 

 medicine and surgery. It was formerly called j 

 Joan silver pin. ! 



Poppy seeds, in the east, are commonly ; 

 sprinkled on the tops of cakes and sweetmeats. 

 Several seeds are, indeed, used in this way, as 

 we should use carraway-seeds, and even the 

 bread is thus adorned with the seed of the 

 poppy or some other plant. The cracknels 

 spoken of in the first book of Kings, when 



