244 Botanic Drugs 



and for burning purposes. It has also been used 

 as an adulterant in olive oil. 



CALIFORNIA POPPY, Eschscholtzia Californica, is 

 one of about a dozen Papaveraceae growing in the 

 United States. It contains an acrid substance, a 

 bitter principle, succinic acid, and, possibly, san- 

 guinarine. Schmidt claimed it contains protopine. 

 one of the opium alkaloids. The alcoholic extract 

 has been used and is said to produce calm sleep. 



I have experimented with this plant, finding little 

 activity in the seed capsules; but the root, when 

 freshly dug in my garden in Pennsylvania, exudes 

 a yellow juice much resembling that of sanguinaria. 

 I have taken it in fairly large doses, without nausea 

 being induced or any marked narcotism. From 

 limited experience, the root of this plant impresses 

 me as possessing to some degree the properties of 

 hydrastis, as well as slight narcotic properties. It 

 had no such action as has sanguinaria in my tests 

 of it. A tincture is not at all high colored. I very 

 much doubt if it contains any appreciable amount 

 of sanguinarine, as I do not get its characteristic 

 action; but the addition of a trace of nitric acid to 

 the tincture develops a high color, though it does 

 not cause a precipitate. So there may be a trace of 

 sanguinarine in the root. 



PHARMACOLOGY OF OPIUM. There are about 

 twenty alkaloids in opium, morphine, codeine, and 

 thebaine being the principal ones of the phenanthrene 

 group, and papaverine, narcotine, narcein, laudosa- 

 nine, laudanine, cotarnine, and hydrocotarnine being 

 the principal ones of the iso-quinoline group. 



There are two classes of actions also, a depressant 

 action on the higher cells, and a convulsant action 



