244 OPIUM. 



milky juices of many plants; but especially in those of the 

 Papaveracece, or Poppy tribe. The species which yields it 

 most abundantly, is the White Poppy (Papaver somniferum) ; 

 but this does not produce it in any large amount in temperate 

 climates, and is cultivated in Europe chiefly for the oil yielded 

 by its seeds (. 371). The juice is obtained by making incisions in 

 the capsules or seed-vessels (commonly termed heads), whilst they 

 are quite green ; and that which hardens upon them is scraped 

 off. Many kinds of opium are known to the importers of 

 drugs ; but their difference only results from the varieties of 

 climate in which they are grown, and from the mode in which 

 the juice is obtained and prepared. Some kinds are very much 

 adulterated. More opium is now raised in Hindostan, than in 

 any other country; and the principal demand for it has been in 

 China. Opium is a substance of very compound nature. A 

 large proportion of it consists of a gum soluble in water ; there 

 is also, however, a small quantity of resin and of caoutchouc. 

 The ingredients which act so powerfully on the animal body, 

 however, constitute but a very small proportion of the whole. 

 The most important of these, are two substances of an alkaline 

 character (being capable of uniting with acids to form a salt), 

 which are named Morphia and Narcotine. The properties of 

 the first of these are directly sedative ; that is, it causes sleep or 

 the relief of pain, without any previous excitement. The first 

 effect of Narcotine, on the other hand, is to stimulate. These 

 alkalies exist in the opium, in combination with a peculiar vege- 

 table acid, termed the meconic; and they are separated by 

 chemical processes, since, in order that the medicinal effects of 

 either may be most advantageously produced, it is desirable to 

 administer them separately. 



385. The chief consumption of Opium, however, is unfortu- 

 nately not for the purpose of curing disease, or of relieving pain, 

 but for the production of a species of intoxication ; the constant 

 indulgence in which has a great tendency to degrade the mind, 

 and to enfeeble the body. The quantity necessary to produce 

 the desired effect increases with habit ; so that the confirmed 

 opium-eater often takes as his single dose, repeated many times 



