Deluc, 25 Aug. 1765, 374-666: and 24, 25, 26 Aug. 1770, 374-833. .... 384-499 387 416. 62.9° 940.833 972.833 64° 1019 000 1040 500 62.3° 729-333 743.000 73.6° 1180.833 1208.333 † Deluc, 780-666. § Saussuré, 226-666. Pictet, 765-666. Pictet 943, Lake VIII. On the Cultivation of the Poppy. By T. COGAN, M. D*. GENTLEMEN, ALTHOUGH the ardour with which the British nation pursues whatever promises to be of public utility, is perhaps unequalled by any other, and certainly exceeded by none; yet there is one subject which has hitherto been permitted to Cultivation of escape our attention, and in which several nations upon the the poppy neg- continent can not only boast of their superior policy, but are already enjoying considerable advantages from it; I mean the cultivation of the poppy to a great extent for the benefit of its oil, as an article of food, and for other useful purposes. lected. Objection to It. Answer to this objection. It will doubtless be remarked, that we ought not to ascribe the neglect of it as an article of food to inattention altogether, but to a superior caution, as the narcotic quality of the poppy renders it totally unfit to be taken inwardly. This, it is allowed, is, in appearance, a very formidable objection; and as it respects the lives of multitudes, it ought not to be treated with levity: the objection itself, and the argument from analogy on which it is founded, ought to be completely confuted, before the article can be recommended to the community in this novel point of view, We might observe that the objection is solely founded upon very slight and imperfect analogy. It assumes, that, because some parts of a plant are noxious, the whole must be equally noxious. But this assumption may be confuted in numberless instances. Daily experience testifies, that di ferent parts of plants possess not only different, but opposite qualities. Oranges and lemons, which are used in profusion, possess juices that are both palatable and refrigerating; but these are enclosed in a rind, the essential oil of which is extremely acrid and stimulating: and it is well known that the bland and nutritive tapioca is the produce of a tree the roots of which are highly poisonous. In this case, therefore, the ar Papers of the Bath and West of England Society, vol. X, p. 331. gument |