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  • Conference : recent developments in prevention and therapy through Maharishi ayur-veda towards a disease-free society : new approaches to the prevention and treatment of heart disease, chronic disorders, cancer, AIDS : Royal College of Physicians, London, Monday 17 October 1988 / World Medical Association for Perfect Health - Great Britain.
  • Conference : recent developments in prevention and therapy through Maharishi ayur-veda towards a disease-free society : new approaches to the prevention and treatment of heart disease, chronic disorders, cancer, AIDS : Royal College of Physicians, London, Monday 17 October 1988 / World Medical Association for Perfect Health - Great Britain.
  • Conference : recent developments in prevention and therapy through Maharishi ayur-veda towards a disease-free society : new approaches to the prevention and treatment of heart disease, chronic disorders, cancer, AIDS : Royal College of Physicians, London, Monday 17 October 1988 / World Medical Association for Perfect Health - Great Britain.
  • Conference : recent developments in prevention and therapy through Maharishi ayur-veda towards a disease-free society : new approaches to the prevention and treatment of heart disease, chronic disorders, cancer, AIDS : Royal College of Physicians, London, Monday 17 October 1988 / World Medical Association for Perfect Health - Great Britain.
  • Conference : recent developments in prevention and therapy through Maharishi ayur-veda towards a disease-free society : new approaches to the prevention and treatment of heart disease, chronic disorders, cancer, AIDS : Royal College of Physicians, London, Monday 17 October 1988 / World Medical Association for Perfect Health - Great Britain.
  • 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.
  • An English gentleman stands at the open gates of his mansion handing out food to the poor who are gathered around. Etching by R. Seymour.
  • Two species of dock (Rumex species): flowering stems with leaf and rhizome. Coloured lithograph by W. G. Smith, c. 1863, after himself.
  • Three flowering plants, all types of dock (Rumex species). Chromolithograph by W. Dickes & co., c. 1855.
  • Gold-of-pleasure or false flax (Camelina sativa): flowering stem and floral segments. Coloured engraving after J. Sowerby, 1803.
  • Four flowering plants, all types of dock (Rumex species). Chromolithograph by W. Dickes & co., c. 1855.
  • Corn mint (Mentha arvensis): flowering stem, roots and floral segments. Coloured engraving after J. Sowerby, 1810.
  • Dyer's rocket (Reseda luteola): flowering stem, root and floral segments. Coloured engraving after J. Sowerby, 1796.
  • Four flowering plants, all types of dock or sorrel (Rumex species). Chromolithograph by W. Dickes & co., c. 1855.
  • A mint plant (Mentha viridis): flowering stem, leaf and floral segments. Coloured engraving after J. Sowerby, 1812.
  • White horehound (Marrubium vulgare): flowering stem, root and floral segments. Coloured engraving after J. Sowerby, 1797.
  • Rape (Brassica napus): flowering stem, leaf and floral segments. Coloured engraving after J. Sowerby, 1810.
  • Seven flowering plants, all named types of rush (Juncus species). Chromolithograph by W. Dickes & co., c. 1855.
  • A rush (Scirpus fluitans): flowering stem and floral segments. Coloured engraving after J. Sowerby, 1794.
  • Fennel-leaved pondweed (Potamogeton pectinatus): flowering stem, root and floral segments. Coloured engraving after J. Sowerby, 1795.
  • Seven flowering plants, all named types of rush (Juncus species). Chromolithograph by W. Dickes & co., c. 1855.
  • Seven aquatic flowering plants, all types of pondweed (Potamogeton species). Chromolithograph by W. Dickes & co., c. 1855.
  • Six British wild flowers, four types of bedstraw (Galium species), squinancywort (Asperula cynanchica) and levant (Rubia peregrina). Coloured lithograph, c. 1856, after H. Humphreys.
  • Three British wild flowers, including hedge mustard (Sisymbrium officinale) and woad (Isatis tinctoria). Coloured lithograph, c. 1846, after H. Humphreys.
  • Four flowering plants, including cuckoo-pint, sweet flag and two pondweeds. Chromolithograph by W. Dickes & co., c. 1855.
  • Angular Solomon's-seal (Polygonatum odoratum): flowering stem and floral segments. Coloured engraving after J. Sowerby, 1795.
  • Seven flowering plants, all named types of rush (Juncus species). Chromolithograph by W. Dickes & co., c. 1855.
  • Seven flowering plants, including glasswort (Salicornia species), seablite (Suaeda species) and saltwort (Salsola species). Chromolithograph by W. Dickes & co., c. 1855.
  • Mudwort (Limosella aquatica): flowering plant and floral segments. Coloured engraving after J. Sowerby, 1796.