Editing Flying ointment (section)

==Possible opiate component==
{{Unreferenced section|date=July 2017}}
[[File:Die Giftpflanzen Deutschlands (1910) (20738415388).jpg|thumb|Opium Poppy: ''[[Papaver somniferum]]'']]
One possible key to how individuals dealt with the toxicity of the nightshades usually said to be part of flying ointments is through the supposed antidotal reaction some of the solanaceous alkaloids have with the alkaloids of ''[[Papaver somniferum]]'' (opium poppy).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kulkin |first=Alexander |title=How Do Witches Fly?: A Practical Approach to Nocturnal Flights |publisher=AceN Press |year=1999 |isbn=9780966402704 |location=Mountain View, CA |language=en}}</ref> This antagonism was claimed to exist by the movement of [[Eclectic medicine]]. For instance, [[King's American Dispensatory]] states in the entry on belladonna: "Belladonna and opium appear to exert antagonistic influences, especially as regards their action on the brain, the spinal cord, and heart; they have consequently been recommended and employed as antidotes to each other in cases of poisoning" going on to make the extravagant claim that "this matter is now positively and satisfactorily settled; hence in all cases of poisoning by belladonna the great remedy is morphine, and its use may be guided by the degree of pupillary contraction it occasions."

The synergy between belladonna and poppy alkaloids was made use of in the so-called "[[twilight sleep]]" that was provided for women during [[childbirth]] beginning in the [[Edwardian era]]. Twilight sleep was a mixture of [[Hyoscine hydrobromide|scopolamine]], a belladonna alkaloid, and [[morphine]], a ''[[Papaver]]'' alkaloid, that was injected and which furnished a combination of painkilling and amnesia for a woman in labor. A version is still manufactured for use as the injectable compound ''[[Omnopon]]''.

There is no definite indication of the proportions of solanaceous herbs vs. poppy used in flying ointments, and most historical recipes for flying ointment do not include poppy.
Furthermore, a reputable publication by the former UK [[Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries]] (now [[Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs|DEFRA]]) states specifically that, in cases of poisoning by ''Atropa belladonna'' – far from being antidotes – 'Preparations containing morphine or opiates should be ''avoided'' as they have a [[synergic]] action with atropine', an appropriate antidote being, by contrast, the [[acetylcholinesterase inhibitor]] [[physostigmine]] salicylate.<ref>Cooper, Marion R. and Johnson, Anthony W. ''Poisonous Plants in Britain and their effects on Animals and Man'', Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food Reference Book 161 (replacing Bulletin 161) pub. HMSO London, 1984 {{ISBN|0 11 242529 1}} page 213</ref>