PAPAVEHACE^. 45 



uorth temperate zone; but it has spread towanl^ both the uurtli and suuth. 

 It fruits as far north }is tlie forty-tifth parallel, hut produces most largely south 

 of the thirty-fifth degree. The great opium districts are the valley of the 

 (ianges, Asiatic 'J urkey, Persia, and Egypt. 'J'he best is produced in Asia 

 Minor. In late years the culti\atiou has so extended in China as to cause 

 great alarm to the government. 



Etymology. — Papaver is said to be derived from the Celtic word papfi, a 

 name applied to a soft food fed to infants, and contracted into pap in Kurdish. 

 The seeds of the poppy were boiled in pap, to induce sleep in the infant, 

 hence the association. SotnniJ'eruin is from the Latin words soinnus, sleep, 

 and /ero, bear ; hence sleep-bearing, alluding to the sleep-producing property 

 of opium. Poppy, tlie common name, is a corruption of papa. 



History. — The medicinal properties of the p0])py were known to the Romans, 

 in the days of Hippocrates, about 400 years P. C. Vergil also speaks of the 

 poppy. History informs us that o])ium was first prepared at Thebes, and called 

 Thebaicnm. The juice of the whole plant was used by the ancients, and called 

 Meconium, which means the juice of the poppy. 



^fode of Cultivation. — In Turkey the poppy is sown on well-prepared land 

 in rows, and thinned out so as to stand from 12 to 18 inches apart, and 

 kept free from weeds. When the capsules are nearly full-grown, incisions 

 are made in them in the evening, with a guarded knife, Avhich cuts through 

 the cuticle only. The milky liquid appears on the surface the following morn- 

 ing, and is removed with a spoon-like instrument, and placed in an earthen 

 vessel, from which it is poured into a shallow, open brass dish, which is tilted 

 on the side to allow the watery part of the liquid to drain off. It is then ex- 

 posed to evaporation, and daily turned until it is sufficiently hardened to be 

 kneaded into balls, which are placed upon slats in large rooms, to dry. Here 

 they are tended and turned by boys till they are dry enough to pack, when 

 they are sent to Smyrna, where they are inspected and graded, packed into 

 tin-lined cases, and sent to market. 



The value of the Turkish opium depends upon the amount of morphia it 

 contains. Opium brought to the United States is assayed before it is exposed 

 for sale, and if found to contain less than nine jjer cent of morphia, is rejected. 

 The cultivation of the poppy for opium has been attempted in the United 

 States in Vermont, Virginia, Tennessee, and California, also in P'rance and 

 England, and opium far richer in mor])hia tlian the Asiatic opium has been 

 produced, but on account of the high price of labor its culti\ation proved 

 unprofital)le. 



Chemistry. — Opium, the product of the poppy, is a very complex substance, 

 containing a large number of bases in combination with sul})huric and meconic 

 acids. Morphine, whose formula is C17H19XO3, and Narcotiue, whose formula 

 is C22H.23NO.^, are the most abundant and important. 



The best known of the others are : — 



Codeine, whose formula is CipII.>,N03 

 Thebaine, " " " Ci9H.>,N03 



Papaverine, " " " Cn lI.nX04 



Narceine, " " " C.,3H,,3N()4 



So far as known, the medicinal properties of ojiium reside in these six 

 substances, and principally in the first two, Morphine and Narcotine. 



Use. — As a mediiine ojtium is administered to relieve pain, to promote 

 sleep, to allay irritation of the nervous system, ami to relax the muscles 



