242 OUR BODIES AND HOW WE LIVE 



327. Opium and its Various Forms. Opium, one of the 

 most powerful of the narcotic poisons, is the dried juice 

 of the white poppy. It has the power of deadening the 

 nerves and producing a kind of deep sleep or stupor. 



Morphine, a white powder, is a very condensed form of 

 opium. Laudanum is an alcoholic solution of opium. Pare- 

 goric is a diluted and flavored form of an alcoholic tincture 

 of opium. 



The various forms of opium are very generally used in 

 patent medicines. They form the " soothing " basis of lini- 

 ments, cough killers, soothing sirups, stomach bitters, 

 cholera mixtures, and numerous other preparations which 

 some persons are eager to buy, hoping to get relief from 

 some real or fancied disease. 



328. The Ruin wrought by Opium upon its Victim. The 

 habit of taking opium completely changes its victim. A 

 once upright and honest man will lie, cheat, and defraud, 

 to satisfy his craving for this baneful drug. Promises and 

 resolutions to stop its use may be honestly made, but are 

 no more binding than ropes of sand. 



329. What may lead to the Opium Habit. Some persons, 

 jaded with business or with worry, and unable to sleep, 

 unwisely resort to some narcotic mixture to procure rest. 

 Occasionally persons getting better from some serious sick- 

 ness in which opiates were taken find that the desire for 

 these- drugs clings to them long after recovery. In these 

 and other similar cases, the use of opiates is always most 

 dangerous. 



330. The Opium .Habit. Opium is a most dangerous 

 drug because its use is so liable to lead to the opium habit 

 This is a craving for opium that makes life a burden for its 

 victim. The person may have begun its use in the most 



