drug called Ὄπιον, which was a [1] Greek as well as a Latin word,expreſſing the [2]ſubſtance, which we call Opium at preſent.
Colchis was famed in all ages for its fertility both in medicinal and poiſonous plants[3].
Ille et venena Colchica,
Et quicquid uſquam concipitur nefas
Tractavit.
Hor. Od. lib. ii. 13.
Herbaſque quas et Colchos atque Iberia
Mittit, venenorum ferax.
Hor. epod v. 21.
The drugs, with which Medea ſupplied Jaſon, in order to appeaſe the fury of the bulls, which guarded the golden fleece, are called. by Apollonius,
Θελκτήρια φάρμακα ταύρων.
Argonaut. lib.ver. 738.
words, which imply a foothing, or anodyne quality. The preparation itſelf is deſcribed by the ſame writer as procured from the root of a plant, which bears a yellow flower, and is about a cubit in height[4]; and, as it ſhould ſeem, the drug was gained by preſſure, or rather perhaps by inciſion, as it is ſaid to be in form of a. black juice, collected in a ſhell.
Τῆς οἵην τ' ἐν ὄρεσσι κελαινὴν ἰκμάδα φητοῦ
Κασπίῃ ἐνι κόχλῳ ἀμήσατο φαρμάσσεσθαι.
Argon. lib. ver. 858:
This account bears a great reſemblance to Opium; The effects produced, its black colour, audits being collected in a ſhell, which
was
