OPIUM 



45 



half of the 17th century/ and in another hundred years had spread like 

 a plague over the gigantic empire. The first edict against the practice 

 was issued in 1796, since which there have been innumerable enact- 

 ments and memorials/ but all powerless to arrest the evil which is 



Mr. Hughes, Commissioner of 



Customs at Amoy, thus wrote on this subject in his official 

 Heport^ for the year 1870: — "Opium-smoking appears here as else- 

 where in China to be becominir yearly a more reco^'nized 



still increasin<x in an alarminfj ratio. 



Trade 



habit, 



almost a necessity of the people, 

 openly, and native public opinion 

 as it is not carried to excess. . . . 



Those who use the drug now do so 

 attaches no odium to its use, so long 

 In the city of Amoy, and in adjacent 

 cities and towns, the proportion of opium-smokers is estimated to be 

 from 15 to 20 per cent, of the adult population. ... In the country 

 the proportion is stated to be from 5 to 10 per cent. . . -" 



Production — -The poppy in whatever region it may grow^ always 

 contains a milky juice possessing the same properties; and the collection 

 'of opium is p3ssi6?e in all temperate and sub-tropical countries where 

 the rainfall is not excessive. But tbe production of the drug is limited 

 by other conditions than soil and climate, among which the value of 

 land and labour stands pre-eminent. 



Asi 



m 



The 



has 



Australia,^ but more for the sake of experiment than as an object of 



commerce. 



We shall describe the production of the different kinds under their 



several names. 



1. Opium of 



Minor; Turlzcy, Smyi 



or Con 



'^wpJe Opimn^ — The poppy from which this most important kind of 

 ^pmm is obtained is Papaver somniferum, var. /5. ghthrirm Boissier, 

 Ilie flowers are commonly purplish, but sometimes white, and the seeds 

 vary from white to dark violet. 



The cultivation is carried on throughout Asia Minor, both on the 

 ^ore elevated and the lower lands, the cultivators being mostly small 

 peasant proprietors. The plant requires a naturally rich and moist soil, 

 iurther improved by manure, not to mention much care and attention 

 ^!i ^^^.P^^t of the grower. Spring frosts, drought, or locusts sometimes 

 ^nect its complete destruction. The sowing takes place at intervals 

 rom November to March, partly to insure against risk of total ftiilure, 



the 



partly in order that the plants may not all come to perfection at 



same tune. 



The plants flower between May and July according to the elevation 

 ^i the land. A few days after the fall of the petals the poppy head 



' S/T^ ^'P'^'^'tory, vol. V. (1837) vi. &c. 

 Custt ^^P "i"^- *° *^*^ Inspector- General of 

 1871 ' *''''"' ^"'^ pubUshed at Shanghai, 



s '^^™. Journ. XV. (1856) 348. 



^ouT'JT"'- fr^^- x^-"i- (1870) 124 ; 

 ^- ^/'^^c. of An^, Dec. 1, 1871. 



6 Pharm. Jonrn. Oct. 1, 1870. 272. 



' iliich information under this head has 

 been derived frum a paper On the production 

 of Opinm in Asia minor hy S. H. Maltass 

 {Pharm. Journ. xiv. 1855. 395), and one 

 On the Culture and Commerce in Opium in 

 Ada Minor, by E. R. Hetiier, of Smyrna 

 {Pharm. Journ. x. 1869. 434). 



