POPPY. 295 



turing towns, and not unknown to the same class in London 

 as a gentle sedative, and the inducer of oblivious delirium 

 from the cares of life. Another preparation of opium, 

 employed, not only for this purpose, but also for quiet- 

 ing the cries of starving children by throwing them into 

 a forced sleep, is that called Godfrey's Cordial, being a 

 coarse syrup made of treacle, flavoured with anise or some 

 similar seed, in which opium is dissolved. Another fa- 

 vourite preparation of this juice is the syrup of poppies, 

 which should be made by boiling the dried capsules (with- 

 out the seeds) in water, and adding sugar ; but as this is 

 a very troublesome process, the syrup is more usually 

 made by dissolving a little opium in a syrup of treacle. 



The use of these as stimulants and narcotics, especially 

 in children, without proper care, is highly to be depre- 

 cated, and lays in their little frames the foundation of many 

 disorders, besides putting numbers to their last sleep. 

 Opium may be regarded as a gift of heaven itself in some 

 extreme cases, and regulated by the physician ; but the 

 danger of its abuse is in proportion. 



The author of the Confessions of an English Opium- 

 Eater has so impressively portrayed the fascinations and 

 the terrors of this treacherous drug, and his work has been 

 so popular, that it is unnecessary to enlarge upon the 

 subject here. The reader who takes an interest in it, 

 either will have read, or will choose to read, the book itself. 



In Batavia opium is added to tobacco in smoking ; a true 

 Dutch improvement. 



The Poppy is noted chiefly for its power of inducing 

 sleep, which all the kinds are supposed to possess in some 

 degree. 



Thus Virgil, in his Georgics, calls it the Lethaean Poppy, 

 directing it to be offered by way of funeral rite to Orpheus. 



