156 OPIUM. 
The best mode of reducing the opium to a proper consist- 
ence appears to be to spread it thinly in shallow dishes, 
and expose it, under glasses, to the rays of the sun. 
We possess few medicines so valuable as this. It 
is used as a powerful antidote, but chiefly as a remedy 
for procuring sleep and mitigating pain, which it does 
in a very remarkable manner. In the latter respects, 
however, it is too often abused ; and, if taken in large 
doses, it proves a deadly poison. But so much are the 
effects of opium diminished by the habit of taking it, 
that, although four grains have, in some instances, 
proved fatal to grown persons, fifty times that quantity 
have been taken daily by others. The bad effects of 
too great a dose are best counteracted by making the 
patient drink freely of acids and coffee, and not per- 
mitting him to yield to the desire of sleeping, with 
which he is oppressed. The habitual use of opium, 
which is much indulged in by the Asiatics, is attended 
with the same bad effects as the habit of drinking ardent 
spirits : it brings on tremors, palsy, stupidity, and ge- 
neral emaciation ; and, when once acquired, it can 
scarcely ever be relinquished. 
Possessing the above properties, it is remarkable 
that opium, combined in a certain proportion with 
vegetable acids, instead of inducing, will prevent 
sleep. In consequence of which it has often, though 
injuriously, been used by persons who are obliged to 
devote their nights to sedentary or active pursuits. It 
is likewise deserving of remark, that the seeds of the 
poppy have none of the narcotic qualities of the opium. 
They are mild, sweet, and nutritive ; and yield, by 
pressure, an oil little inferior to that of almonds. So 
numerous are these seeds that more than 30,000 have 
been counted from a single seed-vessel. 
Laudanum is a liquid preparation from opium and 
spirit of wine ; and is used for most of the same pur- 
poses to which opium is applied. Its effects, as a poison, 
may be counteracted in the same manner as those of 
opium. 
