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
God (word) God (word) The English word god continues the Old English ' (' in Gothic, ' in Old Norse, ' in Frisian and Dutch, and ' in modern German), which is derived from Proto-Germanic '. The Proto-Germanic meaning of ' and its etymology is uncertain. It is generally agreed that it derives from a Proto-Indo-European neuter passive perfect participle '. This is similar to Persian word for God, Khudan. This form within (late) Proto-Indo-European itself was possibly ambiguous, and thought to derive from a root "*" "to pour, libate" (Sanskrit ', see '), or from a root "*" ("*") "to call,