Family Herbal - Electric Scotland

FAMILY HERBAL. 275
when they arc fallen, the seed-vessel, or
grows
poppy head,
to the bigness of a large apple, and contains
within it a very great quantity
of small whitish seeds,
with several skinny divisions.
When any part of the is
plant broken, there
flows out a thick milky jirce,
of a strong, bitter, and
hot taste, very like that of opium, and full as dis-
agreeable.
The heads are used with us, and sometimes the
seeds. Of the heads boiled in water, is made the
syrup
of diacodium. The heads are to be dried
for this purpose, and the decoction is to be made
as strong as possible, and then boiled up with
sugar. The seeds are beaten up into emulsions
with barley water, and they are good against stran-
guries, and heat of urine : they have nothing
of the
sleepy virtue of the syrups, nor oi the oilier pails or
preparations of the poppy. Syrup of diacodium,
puts people to deep, but gently, and is safer than
or laudanum.
opium
Opium is nothing more than the milky juice of
this plant concreted ; it is obtained from the heads :
they cut them while upon the plant in the warmer
countries, and the
juice which flows out of the
wound, hardens and becomes : opium they make
an inferior kind also, by bruizing and sqeezing the
heads. Laudanum is a tincture of this opium
made in wine. Either one or the other is given
to compose people to sleep, and to abate the sense
of pain ; they are also cordial and promote sweat ;
but they are to be given with great care and cau-
tion, for they are very powerful, and therefore
they may be very dangerous medicines. It is
good to stop violent purgings and , vomiting but
this must be effected by small doses carefully given,
The present practice depends upon opium and
bleeding for the cure of the bite t)f a mad dog ;