(Papaver Somniferum. _Capsulæ Maturæ._)
_Poppy Capsules_, or _Poppy heads_.
These capsules are employed in medicine for the purpose of affording a
decoction, to be applied as an anodyne fomentation, see _Decoctum
Papaveris_, and as a syrup of hypnotic qualities, see _Syrupus
Papaveris_.
The seeds of the poppy capsules are not directly used for any medicinal
purposes, but they yield a fixed oil which is daily met with in the
market, and is frequently used to adulterate _Olive Oil_, which see. As
an article of trade it is considered very inferior to the other fixed
oils; it burns very badly, and yields a great quantity of smoke. To the
pharmaceutic chemist it is an article of interest from the controversies
to which it has given origin.[597]