68 ThetwenuethBookeofi = = » , 
drawne and thus prepared,hath power not onely to provoke fleepe burif it be taken in any preat: G. 
quantitie,to make men die in their fleepe : and this our Phyficians call Opion. ‘Ceres, | have’ 
knowne many come to their death by this meanes:and namely, thefather of LiciniwaCecinna' 
late deceafed,a man by calling a Pretour,who not ableto eadure the intolerable pains and tor-j 
ments of a certaine difeafe,and being wearie of hislifejat Bilbilin Spaine, (homened his owne! 
daies by taking Opium, By reafon whereof, Phyficians are growne to great variance;and bee of 
contrary opinions as touching the ufe of the forefaid Opium. Diagaras and Erajfifivatus condem~> 
ned italrogether as a moft deadly thing, &¢would not allowthar it fhould be fomuch as injeGted: 
orinfufed into the bodie by way of clyfter: fortheyheldit no better chanpoyfonizandothetwile! 
harcfullalfo cothecies, Andreas faith moreover, That if Opium doothnot prefendly pnrouta: 
mans cies and make him blind,it is becaufe they of AlexandriainZeypt dofophifticarit.Butin’ py 
proceffe of time the later and moderne Phyficiansdid not utterlyrejectit, butfoundagood ufe: 
thereof,as may appeare by that noble and famous Opiat confection called Diacodium. Moreo.: 
ver, there bee certaine ordinarie trofches made of Poppie feed beaten into pouder, which with: 
milke are commonly ufed by way of a linimentto bring ficke patients to fleepe « Likewife with 
oile Rofa:, for the head-ach : and with the fame oylethey ufé to dropit into’ the eares for to mi- 
tigat their paine. Alfoa liniment made thereof with breaft-milke,is fingular gaod forthe gout! 
In which fort there ts a great ufc of the leaves alfo tothe fame purpofe, And beeing applied as a 
cataolafne with vinegre,they helpe S, Amthonies fire,and all forts of wounds. For mine own part 
I would not haveit in any cafe to encer into:C ollyries thuch lefle unto thofe medicines which be 
ordained to drive away aged fits or into maturatives,no nortogoe among other ingredientsin- _> 
to thofe remedies which are devifed for to ftay the flux chat commeth from the ftomacke. How- 1 
beir,in this cafe lat {pecified,many give the blacke Poppie with wine. All garden Poppies prow 
rounder in the head than the wild :for thefe bear a head longer and{maller,howbeit(for anyufey 
of greater operation than thofe of the garden. For the decoctionthereoftakenasa drink,procu- 
reth flecpeto fuch as bee over-warchfuil : fo.doth afomentation thereof, ifeither the vifage bee 
{princkled,or the mouth wafhed therewith, The beft Poppies bee they that: grow indrie places: 
aad where itraineth feldome. When the headsand leaves both be fodden and ftamped,the juice 
that is prefied fromythem,Phyficians call Meronium: and itis far weaker andduller in operation 
than Opium. Nowtoknow which is good Opiuntindeed,the fick and principal triallis bythe. 
nofe ; forthe true Opium is fo ftrong,that aman may not endure to fniell it. Phe fecond proofe 
is by fire: forthe right Opium will bucne cleare like a candle; and whenitis put forth, yeeldetha’ K 
funking fent from 1t in the end: which fignes are neverto bee found in that which is falfified and 
fophilticat: for this that is not right,will not fo foone take a light fire,and befides,is readie often= 
times to goe out, There is another experiment by water: for the goodand pure Opium beeing 
putinto water ,fendeth forth a certaine miftfrom itlikea cloud, which floteth even alofe; where- 
as the corrupt and depraved Opium gathereth into blifters and bladders, and fo bubbleth upon 
the water. And yet there is one way more admirable than the reft to trie good Opium even by 
the Sunnefhine ina Summers day: tor ifit be fuch as it ought,it will fweat andrefolve into a thin 
liquor, like as when it came firft out of the plant, To conclude,«-Izneficlesis of opinion, That the 
beft meanesto keepe and preferve Opium,isto lay itamesg Henbane feed: butothersthinkeit 
better to letit lie among Keans, ; 
; Cua Pp XIX. ; 
“Memithtin O& Of the wandering Poppieand the horned Poppie.of *Glancisum or Paralium.Of Heras 
clita or Aphrum, Of the compofition named Diacodium and of the Tithimal. 
Namiddle nature betweene the garden Poppie and thewild, isto bee raunged athird kind: 
which becaufe irccommeth up in corne fields, but yet unfowne and of the own accord,we have 
called Rhoeas and wandering Poppie.Some there be,who fofoonas itis gathered, chewboth 
hearbe and head all whole as it grew, andfo eat it . Five heads of this Poppie beeingfodden in M 
three hemines of wine, and fo caken in drinke,doe both purge the bellie, andalfo bring the pa- 
tient co fleepe. \ | Sua 
Ofthefe wild Poppies, there is onekind called in Greek Ceratitis,of a darke or duskifh green, 
growing up with a ftalke a cubithigh;wich a grofic root,& the fame covered with a thick ee 
eads 
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