^2 KEW GARDEN MUSEUM, 



"The above process of mauufacture applies to the Opium which is 

 put up for the China market, and which includes the great bulk of the 

 entire provision. With the drug intended for internal consumption, 

 and called Abkaree Opium, a difierent process is followed. The Opium 

 intended for abkaree pui^poses is brought to a consistence of 90 per 

 cent, by direct exposure to the sun, in wliich state it is as firm and as 

 easily moulded as wax. It is then formed, by means of a mould, into 

 square bricks of one seer weight each, and these are wrapped in oiled 

 Nepaul paper, and packed in boxes, furnished with compartments for 

 their reception. The Opium put up in this way has not the same 

 powerful aroma as is possessed by that put up in balls ; but this is its 

 only deficiency, whilst it has the great advantage of containing a large 

 amount of drug, in a very limited space, and in a state very manage- 

 able for packing. 



" The manufacture for the season being finally concluded, six cakes 

 are selected promiscuously, from the provision by the magistrate of 

 Ghazeepore, for examination and chemical analysis. Of these, two are 

 forwarded to the Opium examiner at Calcutta, two to the examiner of 

 the Behar agency, and two are reserved for examination by the exa- 

 miner of the Benares agency. 



" A chief chemical feature which distingiiishes Bengal Opium from 

 that of Turkey and Egypt, is the large proportion which the narcotine 

 in the former bears to the morphia ; and this proportion is shown by 

 analysis to be constant in all seasons. It is a matter of importance 

 to ascertain, whether the treatment which the juice receives after its 

 collection, can influence in any way the amount of the alkaloids, 

 or of the other principles contained in Opium. In Turkey, it is the 

 custom to beat up the juice with saliva; in Malwa it is immersed, 

 as collected, in linseed oil, whilst in Bengal it is brought to the re- 

 quired consistence by mere exposure to the air in the shade, though at 

 the same time all the watery part of the juice that will separate is 

 drained oflF, and used, as has already been explained, in makino- lewah. 



" The following are the results which Dr. Eatwell obtained from the 

 analysis of fresh juice, collected in February, 1850, and from which 

 none of the pussewah was separated. The analysis has special refer- 

 ence to the amount of the alkaloids, morphia and narcotine, present in 

 the drug; no attempts having been made to separate any of the other 

 principles in a state of purity. 



