PAPAVER
somniferum.
The Opium or White Poppy.
2
Extracted from the Dictionary of
882, 896; VII., 875-877; VIII., 1437; Johnston (Church Ed.), Chemis-
t r y of Common Li f e, 309- 331 ; Repor t of Opi um Commi ssi on, Par t I V. ,
R u l e s , & a m p ; c . , f o r G u i d a n c e o f O f f i c e r s o f P a t n a & a m p ; G h a z i p u r O p i u m
Factories, 1883; J. Scott, Man. Opium Husbandry ; Selections, Records,
Bengal Govt., No. 1 (1851) ; The Opium Poppy by Dr. Eatwell ; also
No. XXV. of 1857 ; Notes by Dr. Lyall ; Gennoe, Notes on Poppy Cultiva-
tion ; Selections, Records, Financial Department, 1871 ; Blight in Poppy
Cr o p i n t h e Be h a r &a mp ; Be n a r e s Ag e n c i e s ; Se l e c t i o n s , Re c o r d s , N. - W. P.
Govt., Vol. VI. (1873), 429; Birdwood, Bomb. Prod., 6, 18, 125, 198,
275 ;Baden Powell, Pb. Pr., 293; Drury, U. Pl. Ind., 327 ; Atkinson,
Him. Dist. (Vol. X. , N. -W. P. Gaz. ), 304, 704, 757; Duthie &amp; Fuller,
F i e l d & a m p ; G a r d e n C r o p s , 6 4 – 6 8 ; U s e f u l P l . B o m b . ( V o l . X X V . , B o m b .
Gaz.), 144; Econ. Prod. N.-W. Prov., Pt. V. (Vegetables, Spices,
& a m p ; F r u i t s ) , 2 7 ; R o y l e , P r o d . R e s . , 1 0 2 - 1 0 7 ; C o o k e , O i l s & a m p ; O i l s e e d s ,
63-64; Hawkes, Report on the Oils of South India, 19, 20, 31 ; Tropical
Agriculture, 422, 430; Ayeen Akbary, Gladwin's Trans., Vol. 82;
II., 44; Ain-i-Akbari, Blochmann's Trans., Vol. I., 378, 384; Lin-
schoten, Voyage to East Indies (Ed. Burnell, Tiele &amp; Yule), Vol. II.,
112; Milburn, Oriental Commerce (1825), 293-4; Hove's journal of a
Tour in Bombay in 1787, 59-60, III Man. Madras Adm. Vol. I.,
456-59; II., 291; Nicholson, Man. Coimbatore, 8; Boswell, Man.
N e l l o r e , 3 0 5 ; M a d d e n , O f f i c i a l R e p t . , K u m á o n , 2 7 9 ; B o m b . M a n . , R e v .
Accts., 102; Quarterly Jour., Agri., X., 37; XI., 120; Adm. Rept.,
C. P., 1666-67, 69; Settlement Reports:—Panjáb, Dera Ismail Khan,
7 5 ; J h a n g
. , 8 5 ; K a n g r a , 2 5 , 2 8 ; M o n t g o m e r y , 1 0 7 ; D e r a G h a z i K h a n ,
1 0 ; L a h o r e , 8 ; H a z
ύ r a , 9 3 ; N . - W . P . , H a r d o i , 1 5 ; K u m á o n , A p p . ,
33; Azamgarh, 135; Shahjehanpur, 15 Allahabad, 35; Central Prov-
inces, Nimar, 199; Baitool, 68; Chhindwárá, 28; Upper Godavery, 36 ;
Nagpur, 274; Wardha, 60; Administration Report, Bombay, 1889-90,
143-144 (instructive statement) ; Administration Report, Bengal, 1889-
90, 34-36 with three maps showing produce per bíghá of land irrigated,
and also percentage of cultivation, 331 ; Gazetteers :-Bengal, VII.,
307 ; XI., 146, 287-292 ; 92-98, 269-271 ; XV., 93-101 ; XVI.,
350-352; Bombay, VII., 97, 152, 430; XII., 167 ; Panjáb, Montgomery,
19; Shahpur, 65; Dera Ghazi Khan, 82; Simla, 56; N.-W. P., 79 ;_
II., 506 ; IV ., 525, lxvii. ; Oudh, I., 163, 235, 415 ; III.,81, 419 ; Central
Provinces, 50, 290, 328, 385; Mysore and Coorg, I., 57; II., II ; Rajpu-
t a n a , 9 8 , 1 0 9 , 1 5 1 , 2 2 7 , 2 6 9 ; A g r i . - H o r t i . S o c . I n d . : — T r a n s . , I . , 5 0 , 5 1 ,
54–58 ; II., 226, App. 314; V., 1119 ; VI., 1-3 ; VII., 45, Pro., 95,
VIII., 9 ;journals (Old Series), II., 319-322, Sel., 465 ; IV., 199, Sel.;
151, 211; VI. , 34; VIII. , 143; XII. , 354, 355, 413-417, Pro. , 46-48;
XIII. , 390, Pro. (1862), 2, 17 (1863), 9, 10 ; XIV. , 113-119; (New Seri es),
II., Pro. (1870), 10; V., Pro. (1875), 28; Ind. Forester, II., 292;
Spons' Encycl., II., 1308-1324; Encyclop. Brit., XVII., 787-794; Balfour,
Cyclop. Ind., III., 28-39; Ure, Dict. Ind., Arts. &amp; Man.,III., 312;
Smith, Ec. Dict., 335, &amp;c., &amp;c.
Habitat.—DeCandolle says that botanists are agreed in regarding the
opium-yielding poppy to be a cultivated state of Papaver setigerum,-a
species which is wild on the shores of the Mediterranean, notably in
Spain, Algeria, Corsica, Sicily, Greece, and the Island of Cyprus. He
adds, "Its cultivation must have begun in Europe or in the north of Africa.
In support of this theory we find that the Swiss lake-dwellers of the stone
age cultivated a poppy which is nearer to P. setigerum than to P. somni-
ferum. Heer has not been able to find any of the leaves, but the capsule
is surmounted by eight stigmas, as in P. setigerum, and not by 10 or 12,
as in the cultivated poppy. This latter form, unknown in nature, seems
therefore to have been developed within historic times. P. setigerum is
still cultivated in the north of France, together with P. somniferum, for
the sake of its oil-seed."
In India the opium-poppy is grown here and there throughout the
country, especially so in Native States, but its cultivation is mainly confined
to three centres, which afford the following opiums :-"Patna Opium"
in Behar, "Benares Opium" in the North-West Provinces, and "Malwa