THE TECHNOLOGIST. 
ON THE CULTIVATION OF INDIGENOUS OPIUM. 
BY ALPHONSE ODEPH. 
Pharmaceutical Chemist at Leuxeuil (Haute Saone) ; ex-Membre de la Commis- 
sion d'Hygiene et de Salubrite ; Awarded the Gold Medal in 1864 au 
Concours Regional d'Epinal ; Seven times rewarded for his Works on 
Opium ; a Liberal Professor and Founder of Public and Gratuitous Lec- 
tures on the Culture of- this Narcotic ; Honorary Member of the Agricul- 
tural Committee of Dampierre and of Champlitte, &c, &c. 
(Continued from page 246.) 
1st. Choice of the Plant. 
The poppy is an herbaceous annual belonging to the genus Papaver of 
that family known to botanists as Papaveraceal. 
There are a great many varieties of this plant all furnishing opium ; 
but the quantity which they yield and the richness of the product varies 
according to the species employed, as has been proved by Professor 
Cavantou of the School of Pharmacy in Paris, and according to the 
degree of advancement in ripening of the capsule as M. Aubergier has 
observed. 
Let us examine these varieties, taking some of the results of M. 
Aubergier, and see if this distinguished writer has been correct in fixing 
his choice upon the purple poppy, having regard to the cost of extraction ; 
the returns in opium ; and above all in seed; for the latter must be 
taken into consideration as a great, and very important portion of the 
products of the crop. It is the seed, in fact, which in covering the expense 
of culture, ought to enable us on French soil with a changeable climate ; 
—labour, and rent of suitable ground being also high, to permit us to 
compete successfully with oriental production. 
Professor Clermont, in his treatise has confined his attention to 
three varieties of poppy ; the white somniferous poppy with white seeds ; 
(Papaver Somniferum) the purple poppy, and the carnation poppy of the 
North. 
VOL. VI. . L L 
