416 



LATEX 



All parts of the plant yield on incision a white latex, but the unripe 

 capsule is especially rich, and from it alone opium is obtained. The 

 wall of the capsule contains an elaborate branching and anastomosing 

 system of laticif erous vessels that accompany generally the fibrovascular 

 bundles ; these vessels are filled with a white, milky secretion, and, 

 as they are in open communication with one another, a considerable 

 area of the system is drained of its latex when the vessels are incised 

 at any particular point. 



Although the methods adopted in the different countries for collecting 



a 



FIG. 233. Opium. Poppy capsules, showing the different methods of incising. 

 ( Vogl, from specimens in the Museum of the Pharmacological Institute, Vienna. ) 



the opium vary in their minor details, the principal features remain 

 the same ; in India alone a particular method of treating the opium 

 is adopted. Soon after the petals have fallen, and whilst the capsule 

 is still unripe, being about 4 cm. in diameter, incisions are made in 

 the wall, great care being taken that they do not penetrate to the 

 interior of the fruit, for then both opium would be lost and the seeds 

 prevented from ripening ; the latter have a commercial value, for 

 they contain a fixed oil which they yield when submitted to pressure. 

 The incisions are sometimes limited to a single transverse one extend- 

 ing round the capsule (Asia Minor) ; sometimes they are oblique or 

 vertical and two or three together (India) ; or the method adopted 

 varies in different districts of the same country. Sometimes the 

 capsules are cut once only, sometimes they are subjected after a short 

 lapse of time to a second and third cutting. This is usually done in 



