Order 1. 
POLIANDRIA MONOGYNIA. 
7649 Berries roundish. Petals length of stamens, Raceme ovate, Leaves 2-3 ternate 
7650 Berries ovate-oblong, Petals shorter than stamens. Raceme ovate. Leaves bi-triternate 
7651 The only species 
7652 Stem erect 2-leaved 1-flowered, Fruit ovate 
7653 Peduncles umbelled. Leaves pinnated with roundish toothed lobed segments, Petals elliptical entire 
7654 Peduncles umbelled. Leaves pinnated with finely cut segments. Petals serrated or cut 
7655 Pods 3-4-valved erect with rigid bristles at end 
7656 Stem smooth, Cauline leaves repand, Pod warted roughish 
7657 Stem smooth, Cauline leaves roundish sinuated, Pods rough, Flowers subscssilc 
7658 Stem hairy, Cauline leaves pinnatifid cut. Pod bristly 
7659 Caps, subglobose torose hispid, Stem leafy many-flowered 
7660 Caps, clavate hispid. Stem leafy many-flowered 
7661 Caps, hispid. Scape 1-fl. naked hispid. Leaves bipmnate 
7662 Caps, hispid. Scape 1-fl. naked hispid, Leaves simple pinnate sniuated 
and Miscellaneous Particulars. 
for which it is reared in Turkey, Persia, and India, but also on account of the capsules, and of the bland oil 
obtained from the seeds. All the parts of the poppy contain a white, opaque, narcotic juice ; but it abounds 
more in the capsules : hence these are the only otlicmal parts of the plant, and for them chiefly is the plant 
cultivated in this country. They are gathered as they ripen ; and as this happens at different times, there are 
annually three or four gatherings. They are brought to market in bags, each containing about 3000 capsules, 
and sold to the druggists. The London market is chiefly supplied from Mitcham in Surrey. 
The milky juice of the poppy, in its more perfect state, which is the case in warm climates only, is extracted 
by incisions made in the capsules, and inspissated ; and in this state forms the opium of commerce. The 
mode of obtaining it appears to have been nearly the same in the time of Dioscorides as is at this day 
adopted. The plants, during their growth, are carefully watered and manured, the watering being more 
profuse as the period of flowering approaches, and until the capsules are half grown, when it is discontinued, 
and the collection of the opium commences. At sunset, longitudinal incisions are made upon each half-ripe 
capsule, passing from below upwards, and not penetrating to the internal cavity. The night dews favor the 
exudation of the juice, which is collected in the morning by women and children, who scrape it from off the 
wounds with a small iron scoop, and deposit the whole in an earthen pot, where it is worked by wooden 
spatules in the sunshine, until it attains a considerable degree of thickness. It is then formed by the hand 
into cakes, which are laid in earthen basins to be further exsiccated, when it is covered over with poppy or 
tobacco leaves. Such is the mode followed in India, and according to Kampfer's account, nearly the same is 
practised in Persia ; and when the juice is drawn in a similar manner in this country and inspissated, it has all 
the characters of pure opium. 
Opium is brought to this country in chests from Turkey and India. The Turkey opium is in flat pieces, 
covered with leaves. East Indian opium is in round masses, covered with the petals of the poppy in successive 
layers, to the thickness nearly of one-fourth of an inch. Mr. Kerr relates, that at Bahar, it is frequently 
adulterated with cow-dung, the extract of the poppy procured by boiling, and various other substances. In 
Malava it is mixed with oil of sesamum, which is often one half of the mass ; ashes and the dried leaves of 
the plant are also used. It is also adulterated with the aqueous extract of the capsules, the extracts of 
Chelidonium glaucum, Lactuca virosa, and Glycyrrhiza glabra, and sometimes with gum arable, tragacanth, 
aloes, and many other articles. 
Poppy heads or capsules possess anodyne properties ; they are chiefly employed, boiled in water, as fomenta- 
tions to inflamed and ulcerated surfaces ; and a syrup, prepared with the inspissated decoction, is used as an 
anodyne for children, and to allay the tickling cough in chronic catarrh and phthisis. 
Opium operates as a powerful and very diffusible stimulus, but its primary operation is followed by narcotic 
and sedative effects in a degree much greater than could be expected from the previous excitement it induces. 
It acts directly on the nervous system, and when taken into the stomach destroys irritability, and allays pain 
in the most distant parts of the body, independent of the circulation, and without inducing any change on 
the composition of the blood. As the principle, therefore, on which opium acts is the same over all the body, 
the topical application of it is capable of producing similar effects, only in a diminished degree, to those 
resulting from it when it is taken into the stomach. 
In moderate doses, opium increases the fulness, the force, and the frequency of the pulse, augments the 
heat of the body, quickens respiration, and invigorates both the corporeal and mental functions, exhilarating 
even to intoxication ; but by degrees these effects are succeeded by langour, lassitude, and sleep ; and in many 
instances headach, sickness, thirst, tremors, and other symptoms of debility such as follow the excessive use 
