OPIUM, ORIGIN OF 



Fig. 2. Dihydromorphinone with HoPtBre in 

 strong H2SO4 , applied directly. These crystals are 

 opaque; photographed by reflected light. 



be seen much better by transmitted light 

 and show no special phenomenon with inci- 

 dent light. However, there is added diagnos- 

 tic value in crystals that show up well (espe- 

 cially on a dark background) or in an 

 interesting way with incident hght. (Fig. 2.) 

 Certainly not all these means of obser\'ing 

 microcrystals will be used in routine tests, 

 because then the analyst will be told or 

 know from experience what to look for. 

 However, he should know them all, and 

 would do well to try them on new tests and 

 in examining unknown crystals. 



Charles C. Fulton 



OPIUM, ORIGIN OF 



One of the best tests for determining the 

 origin of seized opium is simply examination 

 of a smear between crossed nicols of the 

 polarizing microscope, using a magnification 

 of about 80-lOOX (and higher when de- 

 sired). 



Certain kinds of opium, notably Indian 

 (Fig. la) and Iranian, are full of well- 

 formed, highly birefringent, rod crystals, 

 while other kinds, notably Turkish (Fig. lb) 



and Yugoslav, contain much less crystalline 

 material, and that mostly in the form of 

 small shapeless or roundish particles. Often 

 not e\'en a single well-formed rod can be 

 found in a smear of Turkish opium, while 

 Indian opium contains a multitude of rod 

 crystals. 8till other kinds of opium, as 

 Afghan (Fig. Ic), are intermediate between 

 these types. 



A small amount of the opium is treated 

 with a drop of water and spread out on a 

 slide. The water is primarily just a dispersing 

 agent and the crystals can be seen floating 

 in it. However, the examination is best made 

 after the smear has dried up. With a strong 

 light, the brown amorphous material is 

 fairly transparent in a thin layer when dry. 

 Alkali solution can be used to dissolve most 

 of this other material, leaving the crystals, 

 but generally this is not necessary. 



The usual sort of examination of a crude 

 drug with the ordinary microscope will dis- 

 close some of the large crystals in Indian or 

 Iranian opium; in fact this distinction from 

 Turkish opium was mentioned by The 

 National Standard Dispensatory (Hare and 

 others) in 1905, and Levine, in examining 

 samples of seized opium for the U. S. Nar- 

 cotics Bureau in 1945, used the crystal rods 

 as one origin test, along with some others, 

 for distinguishing Indian opium. 



However, the crystals are not at all easy 

 to see in any number with the ordinary mi- 

 croscope, or using only a polarizer, but spring 

 brilliantly into view when the nicols are 

 crossed. The present writer began using the 

 polarizing test in 1947, also for the U. S. 

 Narcotics- Bureau, and show^ed the crystal- 

 line material to be narcotine, in work on 

 methods for determining the origin of seized 

 opium, which was later continued at United 

 Nations, and which finally resulted in the 

 U. N. Narcotics Laboratory now at Geneva. 

 The number and form of the crystals de- 

 pend partly on the content of narcotine and 

 partly on the physicochemical reaction of 

 the other constituents. This one test, of 



ao 



