OF ORNAMENTAL ANNUALS. 
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failed. It is, indeed, much to be lamented, that time, energy, and capital, should be wasted in striving to over¬ 
come difficulties of climate. The art of the cultivator should rather be directed to assist nature than to oppose 
her ; and it is only when it is thus employed that it can be attended with success. 
The name of papaver is said to be derived from the Celtic word pap, from the decoction of the poppy being 
mixed with the food of children. Somniferum is sleep-bearing. The French call this species le pavot desjardins. 
THE COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS OF THE WHITE, OR OPIUM POPPY. 
These are opium, oil, the seeds as an article of food, and the dried capsules. When the poppies are grown for 
opium, the ground is well ploughed and carefully manured before the seeds are sown ; and when they come up, 
the plants are regularly watered till the petals of the flowers drop, and the capsules are about half ripe. At this 
period, and while they are yet quite green and succulent, they are in a fit state for yielding the opium. In the 
evening, a number of persons, each armed with a sharp lancet, pass along the rows of poppies, making in each head 
two or four incisions, according to its size, and taking care not to penetrate through the rind to the inner cavity 
of the capsule. The milky juice that exudes from these incisions hardens during the night, and the following 
morning it is scraped off with an iron tool. This substance, which is called tears of opium, is the drug in its 
purest state, before it is prepared for the market. When a sufficient quantity has been collected, it is kneaded 
with a wooden spatula in the sunshine till it becomes like dough ; it is then, in Turkey, formed into flat cakes, 
and covered with the reddish capsules of a species of Rumex, after which it is wrapped in numerous poppy or 
tobacco leaves. In India, after kneading, it is put into saucers, or shallow earthen basins, and kept in a shady 
place till it is dry ; and when packed up for exportation it is only wrapped in leaves, without being covered with 
capsules. There is an inferior kind of opium, formed by boiling all the remains of the plant after it has ripened 
and discharged its seeds, and evaporating the moisture, which is used for adulterating the purer kind; and the 
Indian opium is also adulterated by mixing it with cow-dung and other substances, while it is being kneaded. 
The best opium is that called Turkey opium, which is produced from poppies cultivated in Turkey and 
Persia. This kind forms a compact semi-transparent substance, which is brittle, and easily broken when dry, 
but which is rendered soft and pliable by a gentle heat. The opium made in the East Indies is, on the contrary, 
soft, and opaque, and some inferior kinds are about the consistence of tar. It is much cheaper than the Turkey 
opium, and not above half the strength. 
Opium is used medicinally, to allay pain and procure sleep ; but it is also taken as an intoxicating drug. It 
was known to the ancients, its medical properties having been described by Dioscorides, who mentions also, that 
too large a dose will kill. Galen ranked it among his cold medicines. At the present day it is principally used 
in Turkey, where, as the Mussulman religion forbids wine, it is taken solely for its intoxicating properties. In 
Turkey it is frequently mixed with rich syrup or candied fruit, and made into lozenges, which are stamped with 
the words Mash Allah, literally, “ the work of God.” In this state it is taken by women, and even children ; 
but never without producing a most injurious effect upon the constitution. The Turkish men generally take it 
raw; and there are certain coffee-houses in Constantinople set apart for those who have habituated themselves 
to the use of this drug. In these places, stupid, heavy-looking men may be seen sitting on a bench, waiting 
for the effects it will produce. The time which elapses between the taking of the opium and its effects, 
varies from about twenty minutes to two hours, and as soon as it begins to operate, these stupid, heavy-looking 
d 2 
