()2 CULTIVATED VEGETABLES. 



of opium in this author's time, who says, he 

 has known many die in their sleep from taking 

 this medicine, and he names some who pur- 

 posely shortened their days by taking opium ; 

 but observes, that physicians had found out 

 many valuable properties in this medicine. 

 The best opium, he says, was procured from 

 poppies which grew in dry situations where 

 it seldom rained, and good opium is men- 

 tioned by him as being so powerful, that it 

 could not be smelt with impunity. This 

 author also states, that it may be proved 

 by fire, as the true opium will burn clear like 

 a candle, whereas the adulterated will not 

 so easily take a light, and often goes nearly 

 out. He tells us likewise, that it may be 

 tried in water, where it emits a misty cloud 

 that floats on the surface, while the impure 

 opium gathers into bubbles and bladders ; but 

 the surest method to prove it, is to place 

 it in the sun, when, if it be pure, it will 

 dissolve into a liquid, similar to that which 

 oozes from the plant. 



Opium is so called after the Greek word 

 Opoji, or Opion, which signifies juice. 



The principal part of the opium sold at 

 Constantinople, is brought from that part of 

 Anatolia called by the Turks Aphium Ca- 



