Alkaloid use of Ephedra and opium poppies. Also, coca leaves have been used by South American Indians since ancient times. Extracts from plants containing toxic alkaloids, such as aconitine and tubocurarine, were used since antiquity for poisoning arrows. Studies of alkaloids began in the 19th century. In 1804, the German chemist Friedrich Sertürner isolated from opium a "soporific principle" (), which he called "morphium" in honor of Morpheus, the Greek god of dreams; in German and some other Central-European languages, this is still the name of the drug. The term "morphine", used in English and French, was given by the French
Morpheus "Glimmande nymf", Morpheus is invoked as the "god of sleep". Morpheus Morpheus ('Fashioner', derived from the meaning 'form, shape') is a god associated with sleep and dreams. In Ovid's "Metamorphoses" he is the son of Sleep, who appears in dreams in human form. From the medieval period, the name began to stand more generally for the god of dreams, or of sleep. In Ovid's "Metamorphoses", Morpheus is one of the thousand sons of Somnus (Sleep). His name derives from the Greek word for form ("μορφή"), and his function was to appear in dreams in human guise. According to Ovid "no