20 
NAT. ORDER. PAP AVE RACEME. 
somniferum. The seeds, when perfectly ripe, are said to contain 
but very little of the narcotic principle ; and, being mostly com- 
posed of a mucilage, are often used as an article of food. They 
have rather a sweetish, bland taste, somewhat like almonds. 
The opium from this plant is mostly procured from Arabia, 
and is often found to be of a poor quality. It is said that the in- 
habitants frequently bruise the capsules together with the seeds ; 
boil them in water, and evaporate the decoction to the consistence 
of a sirup, which is mixed with the genuine drug, for the sake of 
gain : the juice of other plants have been mixed with it, which is 
a fraud that is sometimes attended with serious consequences, 
though with difficulty detected. 
Water extracts some of its virtues by infusion, assuming a 
brown color ; and, when a solution of iron is added to it, becomes 
black, indicating the presence of astringent matter. It is in part 
soluble in alcohol, wine, vinegar, &c. One of the chief constitu- 
ents of opium is a volatile matter, which is so active as to occasion 
giddiness, trembling, &c, in the persons employed in collecting the 
juice. This principle is extracted by water and spirit in distilla- 
tion ; hence the decoction of opium impairs its virtues. Roasting, 
also, by depriving it of this active volatile matter, injures the drug. 
By age these volatile particles become dissipated ; and, to prevent 
this as much as possible, the gum should be always kept in wet, 
moist situations. 
When opium is taken in large doses by the Turks, it occasions 
a remarkable exhilaration of spirits: they have various agreeable 
images before their eyes ; lose all fear of death ; and occasionally 
become very violent and ferocious : in fact, it acts upon them in a 
similar manner that intoxicating liquors do upon us ; and they in- 
dulge in it in consequence of their religion forbidding any excess 
in intoxicating drinks. Some of them will take as much as four 
or five drachms, or even an ounce, daily, without apparently any 
injury, not having any of the above symptoms, but only a degree 
