(Pocula si quando sævæ infecere novercæ
Miscueruntque herbas, et non innoxia verba)
Auxilium venit, ac membris agit atra venena.”
“Nor be the Citron, Media’s boast unsung,
Though harsh the juice, and ling’ring on the tongue.
When the drug’d bowl mid witching curses brew’d
Wastes the pale youth by step-dame hate pursu’d,
Its powerful aid unbinds the mutter’d spell
And frees the victim from the draught of hell.”
Chardin, in his travels through Persia, informs us that when a Persian finds himself in a distressed situation, he has recourse to a piece of opium as large as the thumb, and that immediately afterwards he drinks a glassful of vinegar; by which he is thrown into a fit of laughter, terminating in convulsions and death.