Jaxuarv ;]n. 
THE COTTAGE GAEDENER. 
WEEKLY CALENDAR. 
1 
M W 
JANUARY 20—20, 1853, 
' Weather near London 
IN 1851. 
Sun 
Sun 
Moon 
Moon’s 
Clock 
Day of 
Year. 
i)i 1) 
j Barometer. iThermo. 
Wind. Rain in In. 
Rises. 
Sets. 
R.&S. 
Age. 
aft. Sun. 
20 Tn 
Notonecta gjlauca ; ponds. 
Sun’s declination, 19° 51' s. 
29.7(39 — 29.695' 49—23 
s. 
03 
57 a. 7 
26 a. 4 
3 
37 
,, 
11 
20 
20 
21 F 
29.967 — 29.377! 53—38 
s.w. 
1 26 
56 
28 
4 
44 
12 
11 
43 
21 
22 S 
Earlv Moth; hedges. 
29.396—29.263 4 7—31 
s.w. 
— 
55 
.30 
.5 
49 
13 
11 
59 
22 
23 Son 
SePTUAGESIMA SuiSDAY. 
,29.829 — 29.423 46 — 29 
s.w. 
— 
53 
31 
6 
47 
14 
12 
1.5 
23 
24 M 
Bay-shouldered. Button Moth. 
29.831—29.559 48—34 
s.w. 
i 
52 
33 
7 
37 
1.5 
12 
29 
24 
25 Tn 
Conversion of St, Paul. 
29.915—29.775 60-27 
s.w. 
! 16 
51 
35 
rises. 
© 
12 
43 
25 
20 W 
Dromius linearis; bark. 
30.073 — 29.903 51—41 
s.w. 
— 
49 
35 
6 a 
5 
17 
12 
56 
26 
Meteorology of toe Week. —At Chiswick, from observations during the last twenty-six years, the average highest and lowest tempera¬ 
tures of these days are 43.3° and 33° respectively. The greatest heat, 55°, occurred on the 28fch in 1846 ; and the lowest cold, 15°, on the 25th 
in 1827. During the period 91 days were fine, and on 91 rain fell. 
BRITISH WILD FLOWERS. 
POPPYWORTS.—PAPAVEEACE.^C. 
PAPAVER. POPPY. 
S'fclion IT.—Popihes with smooth capsules. 
{Continued from page '25:').) 
Papayer somniferuji ; White, or Opium Poppy. 
Description .—It is an annual. Stem from three to five 
feet high, smooth, hut often hairy near the top, erect, 
branched, milky-green, leafy. Leaves large, grayish, wavy, 
lobed, and bluntly notched, clasping the stem vith their 
Ijeart-shaped base. Flowers at the end of the branches, 
three or more inches broad; hanging down whilst enclosed 
in the calyx, but becoming erect before the flower opens. 
Calyx of two oval, grayish sepals, which drop off soon 
after the flower has opened. Petals four, large, roundish, 
bluish-white, with a broad violet spot at the base of each. 
Capsule or seed-vessel, from two to three inches in diameter, 
globular, smooth, flattened at the top and bottom, some¬ 
times rather furrowed. Stigma, or crown, eight or more 
rayed, TOth a broad, thin, bent-down margin. Seeds white, 
oily, sweet, and eatable. 
Places where found .—Sandy soil, in fenny places. 
Time of flowering. —Jul_y. 
History .—Its specific name, somniferum, or sleep-bringing, 
tells truly of its powers. There are many varieties of it in 
our gardens differing in being double and semi-double, and 
in the varied colours of the petals. One, and, perhaps, a 
more permanent variety has black seed, which is used as a 
food for cage birds, and is commonly called “ Maw-seed.” 
From this species is obtained opium, that drug so bene- 
^ficient as a medicine, and so ruinous as an intoxicater. “ It 
is indeed,” says Dr. Drummond, “ an agent which can, for a 
period at least, 
‘ Raze out the ^v^itten troubles of the brain. 
And, with a sweet oblivious antidote, 
Cleanse the full bosom of that perilous stuff, 1 
Which weighs upon the heart.* | 
But this is only for a time, and the charm being dissolved, ' 
the soul awakes from its trance only to experience aggra¬ 
vated woe, in those at least (and even in Britain the number 
is not small), who have fallen into the habitual use of this 
drug. If there be on earth a misery that approaches what | 
we might be allowed to conceive as among the worst suffer- i 
ings of a future place of punishment, it is the state of an I 
! Opium-eater, after the action of his dose has subsided. Un- 
j happy and trembling, his head confused, and his stomach 
! sick', remorse at his lieart, liut his resolution too feeble to 
j attempt a reformation; feeling as an outcast from every 
thing that is good or great, he returns despau'mg to a repe¬ 
tition of his dose, and every repetition adds confirmation to 
the evil habit. His constitution becomes exhausted in a 
few years; he grows prematurely old, and dies of palsy, 
dropsy', or some disease as fatal; he dies, having by his own 
weakness and imprudence lived a life of wretchedness in 
this world, and looking forward at his e.xit to the darkest 
scenes of misery in the next. How often does man turn 
the greatest blessings into the greatest em'se ! ” 
IMany attempts have been made in this country to obtain ; 
opium from the capsules of this species, and Mr. Ball obtained j 
a premium from the Society of Arts for specimens of British j 
opium, in no respect inferior to the best eaMern opium. Mr. j 
Young, a respectable surgeon in Edinburgh, has also obtained ' 
it of excellent quality and in considerable quantity. But we j 
apprehend the climate, besides the destruction by insects, ; 
is an insuperable obstacle to its becoming a profitable j 
branch of horticulture in Britain. It was very early cul- ' 
tivated in Greece, perhaps at first solely for the sake of its , 
.seed, which was used as food. It is extensively cultivated ! 
in most of the states of Europe in the present age, not only I 
on account of the opium, for which it is reared in Turkey, ; 
Persia, and India, but also on account of the capsules and | 
of the bland oil obtained from the seeds. jVll the parts of ■ 
the poppy abound in a narcotic milky juice, which is par- : 
tially extracted, together with a considerable quantity of 
j mucilage by decoction. The liquor is strongly pressed out, 
I suffered to settle, clarified with white of eggs, and being eva- 
j porated to a due con.sistence, yields about one-fifth or one- , 
! sixth of the weight of the heads of extract, which possesses 
the virtues of opium in a very inferior degree, and does not , 
come to this country unless when used to adulterate the ; 
genuine opium. The heads are gathered as they ripen, and \ 
as this happens at ditfereut times, there are annually three ' 
or fom’ gatherings. They are brought to market in bags, • 
each containing about ;10n0 heads, and sold to the druggists. | 
The London market is chiefly supplied from Mitcham, in ; 
Surrey. The heads or capsules possess anodyne pro- j 
perties ; they are chiefly employed boiled in water, as fomen- I 
tations to inflamed and ulcerated surfaces, and the syru)) ' 
prepared from their boiled-down decoction is used as an 
anodyne for children, and to allay tickling coughs. A strong' 
decoction of the dried heads, mixed with as much sugar as is 
sufficient to reduce it to the consistence of a syrup, becomes 
fit for keeping in a liquid form, and is the only officinal pre¬ 
paration of the poppy. It is, however, a very unequal prepa¬ 
ration, as the real quantity of opium it contains is very un- 
No. CCXXV., VoL. IX. 
