Laudanum

Tincture of opium.

Usually a liquid, but the alcoholic extract can be subsequently dried as well.

Preparation instructions from Culpeper's Complete Herbal, 1653:

Take of Thebane Opium extracted in spirit of Wine, one ounce, Saffron alike extracted, a dram and an half, Castorium one dram: let them be taken in tincture of half an ounce of species Diambrę newly made in spirit of Wine, add to them Ambergris, Musk, of each six grains, oil of Nutmegs ten drops, evaporate the moisture away in a bath, and leave the mass.

Contacts and URLs:

• King's American Dispensatory (homepage, more info)
  Excellent reference for plants and preparations
  • King's American Dispensatory entry for Opium
    Papaver somniferum, chemistry and use (related items...)
• poppies.org (homepage, more info)
  Web portal and forums devoted to poppies. Home of the Somni-Forum
  • Dried Poppy Laudanum
    An experiment in making laudanum from dried poppy pods (related items...)
• Victorian Substance Abuse (homepage, more info)
  Information about drugs commonly used in Victorian England
  • Victorians and Laudanum (related items...)
• Miscellaneous URLs
  • Confessions of a Young Lady Laudanum-Drinker
    From The Journal of Mental Sciences, January 1889 (related items...)

more...

Trip Reports:

• The Pleasures of Opium: From Confessions of an English Opium Eater by Thomas de Quincey.
  Substances: Laudanum, Opium

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