ON THE CULTIVATION OF INDIGENOUS OPIUM. 323 
Let me explain myself. We know that the opium of the purple 
poppy gives approximately 10 per cent, of morphia, and that of the 
carnation never descends lower than 15 per cent., and sometimes reaches 
23 per cent. This variableness of the carnation poppy need not perplex 
us ; the height to which its strength ascends will enable us to manage 
the produce as we desire. " Abondance de biens ne nuit pas." 
It will be easy for us, to buy at a low price the poorest exotic 
opium, and by mixing it with the extract of the juice of the plant, to 
obtain a medicinal] opium with a fixed 10 per cent, of morphia by 
following the process recently pointed out by Mr. Adrien. 
An example is necessary to understand these facts. 
Let us take for instance : — 
1 kilog. 500 grammes of carnation opium at 19*40 per cent, of morphia. 
2 kilog. of exotic opium at 3 per cent. 
Let us mix exactly these products, having previously analysed them, 
and calculate the sum of kilogrammes and that of morphia, and we 
have — 
3 kilog. 500 grammes on one side, and multiplied by 10 351 of 
morphia on the other. 
351 (morphia) 
Whence we have 8 500 ^^tj = 102 of morphia per kuog. 
or in round numbers 100, and consequently 10 per cent. So, that if 
1 kilog. 500 grammes of carnation poppy has cost forty-five francs in 
the extraction — the kilogramme of opium at 10 per cent, will only come 
to fifteen francs, or what is the same, instead of 1 kilog. 500 grammes of 
opium, you obtain 3 kilog. 500 grammes for the same price. 
One word more. Why then substitute for this carnation poppy, 
already acclimatised and so well known in parts of France for its 
fruitfulness and for its culture ? — a variety which both in opium and in 
seed gives produce of an inferior quality.* The oil of the purple 
poppy is well known to be more highly coloured than that of the 
carnation. And when have we ever seen France, that nation of pro- 
gressive improvement, prefer a» inferior product to one of superior 
quality 1 
Let us, then, with MM. Benard of Amiens, and Eoux of Kochefort, 
give the preference to the carnation poppy, which will produce a double 
harvest, give a richer opium, and abundance of seed afterwards. 
What I have said of the culture of this plant, and of the manner of 
collecting the opium juice and seed, applies to every other variety of 
the poppy. 
2. Description of the Plant. 
The carnation poppy is a variety of the Papaver somniferum, or 
rather of the Papaver nigrum, the capsule being dehiscent. It has an 
* It was impossible for me to find purple poppy seed in any of the seed shops 
in Paris. 
