18 KEW GAUDEN MUSEUM. 



short, ragged fracture, the sliarp edges of which are dull, and not pink 

 and translucent, as they should be^ and, on squeezing a mass of the 

 drug after immersion in water, the starch may be seen oozing from its 

 stu'face; the application of the iodine test however furnishes conclu- 

 sive evidence of its presence, or at least of that of some amylaceous 

 compound. The farina of the boiled potato is not unfrequently made 

 use of; ghee, and goor (an impure treacle) are also occasionally used, 

 as being articles at the command of most of the cultivators : their 

 presence is revealed by the peculiar odour and consistence which they 

 impart to the drug. In addition to the above, a variety of vegetable 

 juices, extracts, pulps, and colouring matters, are occasionally fraudu- 

 lently mixed with the opium; such arc the inspissated juice of the 

 common prickly pear (Cactus Dilletiii), the extracts prepared from the 

 tobacco-plant {Nicotiana Tahacuin), the Datura Stramoniiimy and the In- 

 dian hemp {Cam alts Indicd)^ etc. The gummy exudations from vari- 

 ous plants are frequently used ; and of pulps, the most frequently em- 

 ployed are those of the tamarind, and of the bale fruit {^gle Marmelos), 

 To impart colour to the drug, various substances are empIo)'ed, as 

 catechu, turmeric, the pounded flowers of the mowha-tree {Bassia lati- 



folia) y etc. 



" The colour of well-prepared Opium is a deep dull brown when 



viewed in mass, which becomes a bright chestnut-brown when a small 

 portion of drug is spread in a thin layer upon a white surface. It ad- 

 heres to the fingers, and draws out to a moderate extent, breaking with 

 a ragged fracture; should it however contain much pussewah, its duc- 

 tility is much increased, and it is more glutinous. 

 ^ ** Its smell is peculiar, and perfectly sui generis; it is not unpleasant, 

 and in the recent well-prepared drug somewhat fruity. 



" After having been duly weighed into store, the Opium receives but 

 little treatment in the factory. It is kept in large wooden boxes, capa- 

 ble of containing about 14 maunds (10 cwt.) each, in which it is (if be- 

 low the manufacturing standard) occasionally stirred up from the bot- 

 tom, until it has acquired the necessary consistence. Whilst remaining 

 in these boxes it speedily becomes covered with a thin blackish crust 

 (ulmine), and deepens in colour according to the amount of exposure 

 to air and light which it undergoes. Should the drug be of very low 

 consistence, it is placed in shallow wooden drawers, instead of in boxes, 

 in which it is constantly turned over, until its consistence has approxi- 



