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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.
  • Two young men wake up in bed with headaches on Sunday morning after much drinking the night before. Colour lithograph, 1913.
  • Two young men wake up in bed with headaches on Sunday morning after much drinking the night before. Colour lithograph, 1913.
  • Two men in bed with a bottle on Sunday morning, holding their heads. Colour process print, ca. 1908.
  • Two men in bed with a bottle on Sunday morning, holding their heads. Colour process print, ca. 1908.
  • A destitute girl throws herself from a bridge, her life ruined by alcoholism. Etching by G. Cruikshank, 1848.
  • Two peasants sit at a table as a third man vomits on the floor. Etching by D. Deuchar, c. 1784, after A. van Ostade (?).
  • A destitute girl throws herself from a bridge, her life ruined by alcoholism. Etching by G. Cruikshank, 1848.
  • A destitute girl throws herself from a bridge, her life ruined by alcoholism. Coloured etching by G. Cruikshank, 1848, after himself.
  • A man lying dead on the ground with a broken bottle; a woman sits crying at his side. Lithograph by C. Schacher, c. 1845, after J. Faed.
  • Two peasants sit at a table as a third man vomits on the floor. Etching by D. Deuchar, 1784, after A. van Ostade (?).
  • A peasant man sits on a tree stump vomiting and onlookers hold their noses, with an accompanying couplet. Etching, 17th century.
  • Men drinking, vomiting and collapsing around a tavern table. Etching by J. Le Poutre, 17th century, after himself.
  • A man has a joke with his optician. Process print after J-A. Faivre, 1902.
  • An unprotected penis becoming intoxicated by beer, to show the value of condoms as a protection against unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases including AIDS. Colour lithograph, 1994.
  • A veteran of Hotel des Invalides resists gout on account of his formidable alcohol consumption. Colour photomechanical reproduction of a lithograph by D.T. de Losques, 1910.
  • A king sits drinking at a table surrounded by revelling courtiers and a man about to vomit. Engraving after J. Jordaens, c. 1640.
  • Nineteen scenes depicting popular disillusionment with doctors and medicine. Coloured wood engraving by Henriot, ca. 1900.
  • Nineteen scenes depicting popular disillusionment with doctors and medicine. Coloured wood engraving by Henriot, ca. 1900.
  • Nineteen scenes depicting popular disillusionment with doctors and medicine. Coloured wood engraving by Henriot, ca. 1900.
  • Nineteen scenes depicting popular disillusionment with doctors and medicine. Coloured wood engraving by Henriot, ca. 1900.
  • Fifteen vignettes relating to child care, domestic medicine, effects of alcohol and eating. Etching by G. Cruikshank after himself.
  • Fifteen vignettes relating to child care, domestic medicine, effects of alcohol and eating. Etching by G. Cruikshank after himself.
  • Papaver somniferum seed