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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.
  • Frontispiece, 'The Galvanoscope'.
  • Hesperantha coccinea syn. Schizostylis coccinea
  • Hesperantha coccinea 'Major' syn Schizostylis coccinea
  • Qasr al-'Ayni Hospital and Medical School, Cairo: design for new buildings. Gouache after J. T. Cackett & R. Burns Dick, 1922.
  • Martín Martinez, Professor of Medicine and Anatomy at Madrid. Engraving by J.B. Palomino after Valerio de Iriarte.
  • Héloïse as a nun in her cell contemplating the Holy Cross. Mezzotint by J.R. Smith, 1792.
  • Johann Caspar Spurzheim. Lithograph by J.H. Bufford after A. Fisher.
  • Alcoholism: the outline of a figure of a man, with a bottle covering his heart. Colour lithograph after J. Galkus, 1969.
  • A countryman driving a wagonload of hay into town spatters a townsman's breeches with mud. Mezzotint and engraving, 1792.
  • A young woman is being pushed on a rope swing strung between two trees, a companion sits on the ground beneath. Etching, 17--.
  • Adam and Eve conceal their nakedness; in the distance they receive clothes from God. Line engraving by J. Haeyler after C. van den Broeck.
  • A physician thinking that a cobbler's use of the title "D.M." means that he is a Doctor of Medicine. Coloured etching.
  • Epicurus. Stipple engraving by A. Cardon, 1823, after W.M. Craig.
  • A bearded man lying in bed, his hand held by his wife who is seated next to the bed. Photograph, 187-.
  • Michel Eugène Chevreul. Photogravure by Dujardin after F. Bocourt, 1886.
  • Michel Eugène Chevreul. Photogravure by Dujardin after F. Bocourt, 1886.
  • An Italian bandit offering a French gentleman the piebald one of three 'hottentot' (steatopygous) women; representing Louis Sambon and Raphael Blanchard at an international medical congress. Halftone after M.S. Orr, 1913.
  • An Italian bandit offering a French gentleman the piebald one of three 'hottentot' (steatopygous) women; representing Louis Sambon and Raphael Blanchard at an international medical congress. Halftone after M.S. Orr, 1913.
  • Unhygienic practices which lead to cholera. Colour lithograph by the Ukraine Military Sanitary Directorate, Sanitary Enlightenment Department of the Kiev Region, 1921.
  • Unhygienic practices which lead to cholera. Colour lithograph by the Ukraine Military Sanitary Directorate, Sanitary Enlightenment Department of the Kiev Region, 1921.
  • A drunken wet-nurse about to give the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) a drop of alcohol as a horrified Queen Victoria and Prince Albert burst in on the scene. Lithograph.
  • A drunken wet-nurse about to give the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) a drop of alcohol as a horrified Queen Victoria and Prince Albert burst in on the scene. Lithograph.
  • Mr. Lambkin giving a speech at his wedding reception. Lithograph by G. Cruikshank.
  • The figure of a skeleton in a shroud is pulling the laces on a girl's stays. Process print.
  • Two rows of photographs of college students with reasons why they cannot get AIDS; advertisement about the HIV virus by De Anza College Health Services. Colour lithograph.
  • Francesco Redi. Line engraving by C.P.
  • Francesco Redi. Line engraving by C.P.
  • A naked man with epilepsy, walking. Collotype after Eadweard Muybridge, 1887.