By Thomas Bruges Flower, Esq. 



107 



them, amongst the old writers, the title of "erraticum," should, 

 according to Dr. Bromfield, have little or no tendency to establish 

 themselves in the United States or in Canada, where so many of 

 our European weeds have obtained an extensive, and in some cases, 

 injurious footing, favoured by the similarity of soil and climate to 

 the country from which they migrated. This species was thought 

 by the ancients so necessary for the prosperity of their corn, that 

 the seeds of this Poppy were offered up in the sacred rites of Ceres, 

 whose garland was formed with barley or bearded wheat, interwo- 

 ven with Poppies. An antique statue of this goddess in the Louvre 

 in Paris, represents Ceres as holding Poppies in her hand, mixed 

 with corn, as well as having them braided in her hair ; and in the 

 same collection Sabina holds a cornucopia filled with Pomegranates, 

 Grapes, and Poppyheads. The Carnation Poppy, which adds so 

 considerably to the gaiety of the garden during the months of July 

 and August, and which is so much cultivated in France, is a variety 

 of the common Poppy "P. Rhceas" of our cornfields. In a double 

 state it is a plant of great beauty, both on account of its crumpled 

 and delicate texture, elegance of shape, and variety in colouring; 

 some being perfectly white, others plain-rose, blush, scarlet, or 

 crimson. This flower bursts out of its confinement at maturity 

 with considerable force, throwing off the two-leaved caducous calyx 

 to some distance, and astonishing the beholder who sees so large 

 and so beautiful a corolla escape from so small a dwelling. For 

 medicinal purposes, the petals of the red Poppy should be gathered 

 just as they begin to blow; they possess a faint narcotic odour, and 

 are generally thought to have a slightly sedative effect. They 

 yield their virtues to boiling water, but are merely used for their 

 fine colouring matter. A syrup of them was formerly prescribed 

 in coughs and catarrhal complaints, but no faith whatever is now 

 placed in its medicinal powers. Opium has been obtained from 

 the capsules, but in so small a quantity as to render it an object 

 unworthy of the trouble. By some foreign practitioners this ex- 

 tract as a sedative is preferred to opium itself. 



P. dubium, (Linn.) doubtful Corn Poppy, or long smooth-headed 

 Poppy, a species between Argemone and Rhseas. Engl. Bot. t. 644. 

 Reich. Icones. iii. 4477. i 2 



