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  • Papaver somniferum L. Papaveraceae Opium Poppy Distribution: Asia minor, but has been dated to 5000BC in Spanish caves. Now grows almost everywhere. The oldest medicine in continuous use, described in the Ebers' papyrus (1550 BC), called Meconium, Laudanum, Paregoric and syrup of poppies. Culpeper (1650) on Meconium '...the juyce of English Poppies boyled till it be thick' and 'I am of the opinion that Opium is nothing else but the juyce of poppies growing in hotter countries, for such Opium as Authors talk of comes from Utopia.[he means an imaginary land, I suspect]’]. He cautions 'Syrups of Poppies provoke sleep, but in that I desire they may be used with a great deal of caution and wariness...' and warns in particular about giving syrup of poppies to children to get them to sleep. The alkaloids in the sap include: Morphine 12% - affects ?-opioid receptors in the brain and causes happiness, sleepiness, pain relief, suppresses cough and causes constipation. Codeine 3% – mild opiate actions – converted to morphine in the body. Papaverine, relaxes smooth muscle spasm in arteries of heart and brain, and also for intestinal spasm, migraine and erectile dysfunction. Not analgesic. Thebaine mildly analgesic, stimulatory, is made into oxycodone and oxymorphone which are analgesics, and naloxone for treatment of opiate overdose – ?-opioid receptor competitive antagonist – it displaces morphine from ?-opioid receptors, and constipation caused by opiates. Protopine – analgesic, antihistamine so relieves pain of inflammation. Noscapine – anti-tussive (anti-cough). In 2006 the world production of opium was 6,610 metric tons, in 1906 it was over 30,000 tons when 25% of Chinese males were regular users. The Opium wars of the end of the 19th century were caused by Britain selling huge quantities of Opium to China to restore the balance of payments deficit. Laudanum: 10mg of morphine (as opium) per ml. Paregoric: camphorated opium tincture. 0.4mg morphine per ml. Gee’s Linctus: up to 60 mg in a bottle. J Collis Browne’s chlorodyne: cannabis, morphine, alcohol etc. Kaolin and Morph. - up to 60 mg in a bottle. Dover’s Powders – contained Ipecacuana and morphine. Heroin is made from morphine, but converted back into morphine in the body (Oakeley, 2012). One gram of poppy seeds contains 0.250mgm of morphine, and while one poppy seed bagel will make a urine test positive for morphine for a week, one would need 30-40 bagels to have any discernible effect. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Papaver somniferum L. Papaveraceae Opium Poppy Distribution: Asia minor, but has been dated to 5000BC in Spanish caves. Now grows almost everywhere. The oldest medicine in continuous use, described in the Ebers' papyrus (1550 BC), called Meconium, Laudanum, Paregoric and syrup of poppies. Culpeper (1650) on Meconium '...the juyce of English Poppies boyled till it be thick' and 'I am of the opinion that Opium is nothing else but the juyce of poppies growing in hotter countries, for such Opium as Authors talk of comes from Utopia [he means an imaginary land, I suspect]’. He cautions 'Syrups of Poppies provoke sleep, but in that I desire they may be used with a great deal of caution and wariness...' and warns in particular about giving syrup of poppies to children to get them to sleep. The alkaloids in the sap include: Morphine 12% - affects ?-opioid receptors in the brain and causes happiness, sleepiness, pain relief, suppresses cough and causes constipation. Codeine 3% – mild opiate actions – converted to morphine in the body. Papaverine, relaxes smooth muscle spasm in arteries of heart and brain, and also for intestinal spasm, migraine and erectile dysfunction. Not analgesic. Thebaine mildly analgesic, stimulatory, is made into oxycodone and oxymorphone which are analgesics, and naloxone for treatment of opiate overdose – ?-opioid receptor competitive antagonist – it displaces morphine from ?-opioid receptors, and reverses the constipation caused by opiates. Protopine – analgesic, antihistamine so relieves pain of inflammation. Noscapine – anti-tussive (anti-cough). In 2006 the world production of opium was 6,610 metric tons, in 1906 it was over 30,000 tons when 25% of Chinese males were regular users. The Opium wars of the end of the 19th century were caused by Britain selling huge quantities of Opium to China to restore the balance of payments deficit. Laudanum: 10mg of morphine (as opium) per ml. Paregoric: camphorated opium tincture. 0.4mg morphine per ml. Gee’s Linctus: up to 60 mg in a bottle. J Collis Browne’s chlorodyne: cannabis, morphine, alcohol etc. Kaolin and Morph. - up to 60 mg in a bottle. Dover’s Powders – contained Ipecacuana and morphine. Heroin is made from morphine, but converted back into morphine in the body (Oakeley, 2012). One gram of poppy seeds contains 0.250mgm of morphine, and while one poppy seed bagel will make a urine test positive for morphine for a week, one would need 30-40 bagels to have any discernible effect. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • A drunken party for friends of a nobleman who has inherited a large estate. Aquatint after H. Dawe, 184-.
  • A young nobleman listens as a lawyer tells him he has come into his inheritance. Aquatint after H. Dawe, 184-.
  • A young man sings and turns the pages of the music as a girl plays the piano. Colour wood engraving (?) after George Cruikshank.
  • A child holds a large bunch of holly and two others watch as a young woman stands on a chair to reach the picture she is decorating for Christmas. Colour process print.
  • A seated gouty man with his bandaged leg on a gout stool. Coloured pencil drawing.
  • Three people sitting yawning around a table. Etching.
  • A bailiff (Mr Fixem, centre) calls on an affluent man (left) to enforce payment of a debt, assisted by his assistant (Bung, right). Etching by George Cruikshank.
  • A town gentlemen exclaiming to his servant about a extremely long doctor's bill. Coloured etching by W. Heath, 1823.
  • A man suddenly awakened by two squalling cats. Coloured etching by J. Gillray, 1806.
  • A pompous physician trying to impress the two ladies he is visiting. Etching, 1804.
  • A man fast asleep with his head back and wig dangling. Coloured etching by J. Gillray, 1806.
  • A man with an excruciating headache. Coloured etching by H. Cook, 1827, after M. Egerton.
  • Dr. Flannel suggests to a fashionable lady that she wear a flannel petticoat to keep her legs warm. Coloured etching by I. Cruikshank, 1807?, after G.M. Woodward.
  • An elderly man throwing his head back to swallow some pills and in the process tossing water all over himself. Coloured aquatint after M. Egerton, 1827.
  • An elderly man throwing his head back to swallow some pills and in the process tossing water all over himself. Coloured aquatint after M. Egerton, 1827.
  • A misunderstanding between a doctor his patient and her daughter. Coloured etching by C. Williams, 1823.
  • A disgruntled ill man taking a large dose of medicine. Coloured lithograph.
  • A man suffering from headache in the form of devils. Coloured etching by G. Cruikshank, 1835, after Captain F. Marryat.
  • A woman prepares to bathe a baby aided by an older girl who pours water into a bowl. Engraving after A. Chisholm.
  • A dishevelled nurse with her disgruntled patient. Coloured lithograph by W. Hunt.
  • A man suffering from indigestion; suggested by little characters and demons tormenting him. Coloured etching by G. Cruikshank, 1835, after A. Crowquill.
  • A nobleman and his friends drink with prostitutes in a brothel. Aquatint after H. Dawe, 184-.
  • A man suffering from indigestion; suggested by little characters and demons tormenting him. Coloured etching by G. Cruikshank, 1835, after A. Crowquill.
  • A dishevelled nurse with her disgruntled patient. Coloured lithograph by W. Hunt.
  • A farmer duping a doctor. Coloured etching by C. Williams, 1823.
  • A fashionable middle-aged woman reprimanding a young male relative. Coloured lithograph.
  • A doctor taking the pulse of a country squire; the smug doctor receives a drink from the butler while his disgruntled patient's medicine is prepared by the maid. Lithograph by W. Hunt, 1825, after H.W. Bunbury.
  • A haggard old woman carelessly mixing a recipe for corns on the fire in her sordid bedroom. Etching by G. Cruikshank, 1819, after Captain F. Marryat.