Laudanum
1.
The scientific explanation
[from www.encyclopedia.com]
Laudanum
(lôdŽenem, Tincture, or alcoholic solution, of opium , first compounded by Paracelsus in the 16th cent. Not then known to be addictive, the preparation was widely used up through the 19th century to treat a variety of disorders. Many literary and artistic figures, including Coleridge, Poe, Moussorgsky, and De Quincey, are known to have been addicted.
Opium
Substance derived by collecting and drying the milky juice in the unripe seed pods of the opium poppy , Papaver somniferum. Opium varies in color from yellow to dark brown and has a characteristic odor and a bitter taste. Its chief active principle is the alkaloid morphine , a narcotic . Other constituents are the alkaloids codeine, papaverine, and noscapine (narcotine); heroin is synthesized from morphine. Morphine, heroin, and codeine are addicting drugs; papaverine and narcotine are not. A tincture of opium is called laudanum ; paregoric is a mixture of opium, alcohol, and camphor.
[from www.sff.net]
A
hydroalcoholic tincture containing ten percent opium. The first medicinal form
of opium, laudanum was widely used through the 19th century for a variety of
diseases and to quiet fretful babies and children, for it was available without
a prescription. Among its addicts were S.T. Coleridge, E.A. Poe, A. Swineburne,
E.B. Browning, and D.G. Rossetti.
Confessions of a Young Lady Laudanum Drinker, 1889
Opium & Infant Mortality
2.
The (almost) whole story
Laudanum was a very popular drug during the Victorian period. It was an opium-based painkiller prescribed for everything from headaches to tuberculosis.
Laudanum's biggest clam to fame was its use by the romantic poets. Many of the Pre-Raphaelites (Among them Lord Byron, Shelly and others) were know to indulge. The image of the romantic poet, pale, morose, drunk on absinthe and laudanum is a common one. In reality, most of the PRB were heavy drinkers first and formost.
3.
Where do I know it from?
"From Hell"
Inspector Abberline treats himself to an Absinthe-Laudanum cocktail.
4.
Where can I get it?
Laudanum is probably no longer manufactured anywhere in the world. Its closest modern relative is paragoric, which also is no longer being made.