353 
P A P A V E R. 
blood ; and this increafed a£lion has been afcribed inge- 
nioufiy, and, as we think, rationally, to that general law 
of the animal ceconomy, by which any noxious influence 
is refilled by a conl'equent re-a£lion of the fyftem. By a 
certain conjoined effort of this fedativeand llimulant ef- 
fe£l, opium has been thought to produce intoxication, 
a quality for which it is much ufeti in the eaftern coun¬ 
tries. 
In moll of the continued fevers of this climate, though 
originating from contagion, or from whatevercaufe, there 
is generally at the beginning, more or lefs of inflammatory 
diathefis ; and this, while it continues, would forbid the 
life of opium, which might prove dangerous. Its ufe is 
alfo forbidden in the more advanced Hate of this fever, 
whenever topical inflammation of the brain is afcertained, 
which fometimes exifts, and produces delirium, though 
other fymptoms of the nervous and putrid kind prevail. 
But when irritation of the brain is not of the inflamma¬ 
tory kind, and debility has made much progrefs,or where 
delirium is accompanied with fpafmodic affedlions, opium 
is a fovereign remedy, and may be employed in large 
dofes every eight hours, unlefs a remiflion of the fymp¬ 
toms and lleep take place. In intermittent fevers, opium, 
in combination with other medicines, was much ufed by 
the ancients; but, fince the introduflion of Peruvian 
bark, it is feldom trolled to for the cure of thefe dif'or- 
ders : it has, however, been ftrongly recommended as an 
effectual means of flopping the recurrence of the febrile 
paroxyfms; and has been given before the fit, in the 
cold llage, in the hot ftage, and during the interval, with 
the befteffedls, producing immediate relief, and in a fiiort 
time curing the patient, without leaving thofe abdominal 
obllruiSlions which have been afcribed to the bark ; but in 
thefe fevers, the bell practice feems to be that of uniting 
opium with the bark, which enables the ftomach to 
bear the latter in larger dofes, and adds confiderably to 
its efficacy. 
When opium is fo managed as to produce fweat, it will 
tend to remove an inflammatory Hate of the fyftem, and 
may prove generally ufeful: a notable inftance of this we 
oblerve in the cure of acute rheumatifm by means of 
Dover’s powder. In the fmall-pox, opium, fince the time 
of Sydenham, has been very generally and fuccefsfully 
prefcribed, efpecially after the fifth day of the dileafe ; 
but during the firft llage of the eruptive fever we are told 
that it always does harm ; an opinion (fays Dr. Woodville) 
which our experience at the Small-Pox Hofpital warrants 
us to contradidl. In haemorrhages, the ufe of opium is 
inferred from its known effedls in reftraining all excre¬ 
tions except that of fweat ; but, unlefs the haemorrhages 
be of the paffive kind, or unattended with inflammation, 
it may produce confiderable mifchief. In dyfentery, 
opium maybe occafionally employed to moderate the vio¬ 
lence of the fymptoms. In diarrhaea, when the acrimony 
has been carried off by a continuance of the difeafe, it is 
a certain and efficacious remedy. In cholic it is employed 
with laxatives, and no doubt often prevents inflammation 
by removing the fpafm. 
Opium has lately been commended in venereal cafes; 
and inftance's have been adduced in which it has fucceed- 
ed where mercury had failed : but few pradlitioners, u'e 
apprehend, will trull to opium alone in thefe complaints. 
Opium is fuccefsfully ufed in tetanus, and in other fpaf- 
inodic and convulfive cafes. 
Refpedling the external ufe of opium, authors are not 
agreed : fome contending, that when applied to the Ikin 
it allays pain and fpafm, and procures lleep, while others 
affirm, that when thus applied it has no eftefl whatfo- 
ever. Applied to the naked nerves of animals, it pro¬ 
duces torpor, and lofs of power in all the mufcles with 
which the nerves communicate. Opium taken in an im¬ 
moderate dofe, proves a narcotic poifon, producing ver¬ 
tigo, tremors, convulfions, deliriums, ftupor, ftertor, and 
finally fatal apoplexy. 
The officinal preparations of this drug are, Opium puri- 
' Vol. XVIII. No. 1248. 
ficatum, pilula ex opio, pulvis opiatis, tindlura opii, and 
tindlura opii camphorata. It alfo enters into the pulvis 
fudori ficus, balfamum anody num, ele&uarium japonic urn, 
pulvis e creta compofifa, See. The requifite dole of opium 
varies in different perfons, as well as in different Hates of 
the fame perfon. A quarter of a grain in one adult, will 
produce effefts which ten times the quantity will not do 
in another; and a dofe that might prove fatal in cholera 
orciiolic, would not be perceptible in many cafes of ma¬ 
nia or tetanus. The loweft fatal dofe, to thofe unaccuf- 
tomed to it, feems to be about four grains; but a dan¬ 
gerous dofe is fo apt to occalion vomiting, that it has 
leldom time to occalion death. When given in too fmall 
a dofe, it often produces dillurbed lleep, and other un- 
pleafant confequences ; and, on the other hand, a fmall 
dofe will fometimes produce found lleep, and alleviation 
of fymptoms, when a larger one would not have fuc- 
ceeded. Its general operation is fuppofed to laft about 
eight hours. It is well known, that, by continued habit, 
opium may be taken in large quantities ; and we are 
told by Garcias ab Horto, an inftance in which it was in¬ 
creafed to ten drams a day. About twenty drops of the 
tindlura thebaica, or laudanum, are conlidered as nearly 
equivalent to a grain of opium. Thofe who are addi&ed 
to the ule of opium in the eaft will fometimes take incre¬ 
dible quantities. 
The white poppy, a, is commonly conlidered as the offi¬ 
cinal plant; but any of the varieties may be employed 
indiferiminately, fince no difference is difeovered in their 
fenfible qualities or effedls. The heads orcapfules are 
alfo powerfully narcotic or anodyne; boiled in water, 
they impart their narcotic juice. The liquor ftrongly 
prelfed out, fullered to fettle, clarified with whites of 
eggs, and evaporated to a due confluence, yields an ex¬ 
tract, pofleffing the virtues of opium, but requiring to be 
given in double the dofe. It is laid not to occalion a 
naufeaand giddinefs, which are the ufual effects of opium. 
It is convenient to prepare the fyrup from this extrail, 
by dilfolving one dram in two pounds and a half of Am¬ 
ple fyrup. Tlie Jyrupuspapaveris alii, as directed by both 
colleges, is an ufeful anodyne, and often lucceeds in pro¬ 
curing lleep, wdiere opium fails; it is more elpecially 
adapted to children. White-poppy heads are alfo uled 
externally in fomentations, either alone, or more fre¬ 
quently added to the decodlnm pro fomento. The feeds 
poflefs not any narcotic power: they confift of a limple 
farinaceous matter, united with a bland oil, and in fome 
countries are eaten as food. As a medicine, they have 
been given in the form of emuliion, in catarrhs, ftrangu- 
ries, See. 
Opium is imported into Europe from Perfia, Arabia, 
and other warm regions of Alia. Six hundred thoufand 
pounds of it are laid to be annually exported from the 
Ganges. The manner in which this drug is collected in 
the eaft has been deferibed long ago by Kamipfer and 
others; but the molt circumftantial detail of it is given 
by Mr. Kerr, in the fifth volume of Medical Obfervations 
and Inquiries. When the capfules are half grown, at 
lur.-fet, they make two longitudinal double incifions, 
paffing from below upwards, and taking care not to pene - 
trate the internal cavity. In Perfia, according to Kasmp- 
fer a five-pointed knife is ufed for this purpole. The in¬ 
cifions are repeated every evening, until each capfule has 
received fix or eight wounds: they are then allowed to 
ripen their feeds. If the wound were to be made in the 
heat of the day',-a cicatrix would be too loon formed. 
The night-dews favour the exllillation of the juice. 
Early in the morning, old women, boys, and girls, collect 
the juice, by feraping it off with a fmajl iron fcoop, and 
depolit the whole in an earthen pot, where it is worked 
by the Hand in the open lunffiine, until it becomes of a 
confiderable thicknels. It is then formed into cakes of a 
globular fhape, and about four pounds in weight, and 
laid into little earthen bafins to be farther dried. Thefe 
cakes are then covered with poppy or tobacco leaves, 
4 X and 
