COililON GAM)EN FLOWERS. 



103 



few days after the fall of the flower, men and women 

 proceed to the fields at sunset, and make horizontal 



though they are, yet they are extremely gay while 

 the hlossoms endure. This is Papaier Mhcua^, the 



^^iTv^Z^o" ^^''"^ ":T "^ "'^ ^°'"- '"•=^°'^ ^ '""^ Poppy-heads or capsules, taking 

 ^° l'^I°^W'S°'''' ^°'*' "^^ C"P ^°^«- It is care not to cut so deep as to penetrate their cavity 



A white juice exudes, 



a common British 



plant, is of annual 



duration, and blooms 



abundantly in June 



and July. Then there 



is ths Garden, or 



Opium, or "\\'hito 



Poppy, F. soinni- 



feriim, and this is not 



only regarded as the 



t>-pe, but the most 



important plant of 



the fsimily. It is 



found in a wild state 



throughout the whole 



of Europe, in Egypt, 



and in Asia; and, 



though frequently 



met with apparently 



wild in Britain, it is 



generally believed to 



liave been introduced 



at some early period, 



probably from some 



part of Asia. It is a 



plant of great value 



in medicine : Poppy- 

 heads sire the dried 



seed-vessels or cap- 

 sules of this plant. 



It is in the capsules 

 that the juice most 

 abounds, and this 

 juice, which exudes 

 after incision, be- 

 comes dry and hard, 

 and is then known 

 by the name of 

 Opium. The Poppy 

 is extensively culti- 

 vated in the Asiatic 

 provinces of Turkey, 

 '^gj'ptj Persia, and 

 India. " The plants 

 during their growth 



are carefully watered and manured. Hie watering 

 being more liberal as the period of flowering ap- 

 proaches, and imtil the capsules are half-grown, 

 when it is discontinued, and the gathering of the 

 opium commences. The manner in which opium is 

 obfaiined is still the same as that practised in the 

 East centuries before the time of our Saviour. A 



Papaver orientals. 



and appears in the 

 form of tears on the 

 edges of the incisions, 

 and the night dews 

 favour the exudation 

 of the juice. The 

 field is left in this 

 state for twenty-four 

 hours, after which 

 the juice is scraped 

 off with a small iron 

 scoop or blunt knives. 

 A portion of the slrin 

 of the capsule is also 

 removed, and con- 

 stitutes about one- 

 twelfth of the whole 

 product. This opera- 

 tion is never per- 

 formed more than 

 once on each head. 

 After it is gathered 

 the opium is put into 

 small earthen vessels, 

 and moistened with 

 saliva, then worked 

 with a wooden spa- 

 tule, in the sun, till 

 it attains a proper 

 consistency. It is 

 then formed into 

 cakes, and wrapped 

 in leaves of Tobacco 

 or Poppy, and sent 

 into the market." 

 (Hogg's Vegetabk 

 Kingd^>m.) The cul- 

 ture of this medicinal 

 Poppy is carried on 

 to some extent in this 

 country. The fine 

 double Poppies seen 

 in gardens are se- 

 lected varieties of 

 P. somniferum. The Carnation and Peony-flowered 

 Poppies are forms of these. What is found ia 

 some seed lists as Papaver Banehog is a small 

 variety of P. somnifeytim, bearing scarlet flowers 

 having a white spot on each petal. The Esmun- 

 eulus or Marseilles Poppies are known as French 

 varieties, and have been bred up, in aU probability. 



