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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.
  • Gypsies in Spain (?), three views showing aspects of itinerant life. Lithograph.
  • Two girls fight over a doll which they both lay claim to. Coloured stipple engraving by C. Knight after H. Singleton.
  • A man vaccinating a child surrounded by its mother, family and other children waiting to be vaccinated. Process print after a lithograph (?) after a painting by L. Boilly, 1807.
  • A Spanish nobleman congratulating his wife on the birth of a child, the court are also in attendance. Etching by A. Lataurze(?) after F. Gonzalez Tavé.
  • A dispensary in the East End of London: crowds of local children are being vaccinated. Wood engraving by E. Buckman, 1871.
  • A dispensary in the East End of London: crowds of local children are being vaccinated. Wood engraving by E. Buckman, 1871.
  • Bagnères-de-Bigorre, Pyrenees: the thermal baths and visitors. Lithograph by J. Jacottet and A. Bayot, 1841.
  • Children playing at creating the effect of a wet day with bellows, watering-can and an umbrella. Chromolithograph after E. Lees after A. Havers, 1890.
  • A male patient surrounded by his family discussing his illness with a physician. Engraving.
  • The Bog Gardens Sulphur Well, Harrogate, Yorkshire. Process print by A. Schuler.
  • A male patient surrounded by his family discussing his illness with a physician. Engraving.
  • A travelling tooth-drawer in a carriage extracting a tooth from a patient in front of a village audience. Lithograph.
  • A country doctor comforting the mother of a sick child, who is in bed in the background. Mezzotint by J.A. Allais after P. Duval-Lecamus.
  • Children playing in their nursery: performing at and attending the theatre. Chromolithograph after E. Lees after A. Havers, 1890.
  • East London Hospital for Children, Shadwell: a party in one of the wards on New Year's Eve. Wood engraving, 1870.
  • A corpulent woman provides the pustule for the vaccination of a child by a couple of dandified doctors. Etching, c. 1800.
  • A corpulent woman provides the pustule for the vaccination of a child by a couple of dandified doctors. Etching, c. 1800.
  • A maid shows an old man his smallpocked face in a hand mirror. Coloured lithograph by Langlumé, 1823.
  • A diseased woman turning into a mermaid, a physician riding a cow and an apothecary wielding a syringe form a grotesque procession that scares children; referring to the distrust of the French public in the face of vaccination. Coloured etching.
  • A diseased woman turning into a mermaid, a physician with a lancet riding on a cow and an apothecary wielding a syringe form a grotesque procession, scaring children as they go; referring to the distrust of the French public in the face of vaccination. Coloured etching.
  • A physician examining a gypsy child with a stethoscope outside a tent on the side of the road. Halftone by Swain after W. Small, 1898.
  • A diseased woman turning into a mermaid, a physician with a lancet riding on a cow and an apothecary wielding a syringe form a grotesque procession, scaring children as they go; referring to the distrust of the French public in the face of vaccination. Coloured etching.
  • Dr. J. Alibert taking serum from a servant's baby to vaccinate the child of Mme Desbordes-Valmore. Photograph, 1938, of a painting by C. Desbordes, 1822.
  • The Middlesex Hospital: a party in a ward, with a Christmas tree and other decorations. Wood engraving, 1874.
  • The history of vaccination seen from an economic point of view: A pharmacy up for sale; an outmoded inoculist selling his premises; Jenner, to the left, pursues a skeleton with a lancet. Coloured etching, c. 1800.
  • The history of vaccination seen from an economic point of view: A pharmacy up for sale; an outmoded inoculist selling his premises; Jenner, to the left, pursues a skeleton with a lancet. Coloured etching, c. 1800.
  • 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.