ON PLANTS IN RELATION TO ANIMALS. 867 
purposes, the most beautiful being P. orientale and some varieties 
of the opium poppy. A variety of the former, with the petals united 
so as to form a funnel-shaped corolla, has been recently intro¬ 
duced. The opium poppy P. somniferum is supposed originally to 
have been a native of the Levant, but is now widely distributed. 
The writer has observed it growing on the cliffs between Folke¬ 
stone and Dover, and also in other places, where it had obviously 
been introduced. The plant varies much in the colour of its 
flowers and seeds, and in gardens double varieties are common. 
In general it forms an erect annual plant, slightly branched, 
about two feet in height, with the stem and leaves of a glaucous 
green colour, usually without bristles, but sometimes, especially 
in wild specimens, with a few straggling hairs. The leaves are 
oblong in shape, irregularly sinuous at the margin, and clasp the 
stem by their base. The flowers are usually of a light violet 
colour, with a purple centre. The opium poppy is cultivated in 
this country for the sake of its capsules, from which syrup of 
poppies is prepared, a favourite remedy for children when a seda¬ 
tive is required; but, owing to the varying strength of the pre¬ 
paration, its liability to adulteration with laudanum, &c., and 
the frequent great susceptibility of children to the influence of 
opium, in any shape, it should be used only with great caution, 
and its operation should be carefully watched. A decoction of 
poppy-heads is often employed as an anodyne fomentation, and 
with excellent effect; an extract of poppy-heads is also occa¬ 
sionally used in minute doses in place of opium. 
“ The seeds contain a large quantity of oil, which is extracted 
as an article of food, and for the use of painters. Olive oil is 
stated to be adulterated with it—an intermixture of compara¬ 
tively little consequence, as the oil is destitute of narcotic 
properties. 
“The seeds themselves, in Greece, Poland, and elsewhere, are 
eaten as articles of food, and have an agreeable, nut-like flavour. 
It is howxver, for producing opium that this plant is especially 
cultivated in India, Persia, Asia Minor, Egypt, &c., and it seems 
to have been cultivated for this purpose, from the earliest times 
of which we have any record—at least so far as Greece is con¬ 
cerned. The word opium is derived from the Greek opos, juice, 
as being the especial juice, just as Cinchona bark is called bark, 
Two varieties of the plant are cultivated for the production of 
opium, one with violet-coloured or white flowers and black seeds, 
the other with white seeds and flowers. These two kinds are 
mentioned by Hippocrates. The latter is the one most generally 
cultivated in India. 
“ A very full account of the manufacture, as well as of the pro¬ 
perties of opium, is contained in Dr. Pereira's Materia Medica 
