46 PAPAVERACE^. 



oduces 

 the 



being about an incli and a half in diameter is ready for incision. The 

 incision is made with a knife transversely, about half-way up the cap- 

 sule, and extends over about two-thirds the circumference, or is carried 

 spirally to beyond its starting point. Great nicety is required not to 

 cut too deep so as to penetrate the capsule, as in that case some of the 

 juice would flow inside and be lost. The incisions are generally made 

 in the afternoon and the next morning are found covered with exuded 

 juice. This is scraped off with a knife, the gatherer transferring it to 

 a poppy leaf which he holds in his left hand. At every alterDate 

 scraping, the knife is wetted with saliva by drawing it through the 

 mouth, the object being to prevent the adhesion of the juice to the blade. 

 Each poppy-head is, as a rule, cut only once; but as a plant pr ""' 

 several heads all of which are not of proper age at the same time, 

 operation of incising and gathering has to be gone over two or three 

 times on the same plot of ground. 



As soon as a sufficient quantity of the half-dried juice has been 

 collected to form a cake or lump, it is wrapped in poppy leaves and pu 

 for a short time to dry in the shade. There is no given size for cakes o 

 opium, and they vary in weight from a few ounces to more than two 

 pounds. In some villages it is the practice to make the masses jargej 

 than in others. Before the opium is ready for the market, a meetingo 

 buyers and sellers is held in each district, at which the price to ^ 

 asked is discussed and settled,— the peasants being most of them i 

 debt to the buyers or merchants. , ,^ 



To the latter the opium is sold in a very soft but natural sta ■ 

 These dealers sometimes manipulate the soft drug with a wooden i)es_t 

 into larger masses which they envelope in poppy leaves and P''^'^_'^. 



mou 



um 



at oJ\c^ 



o — 



to another account, the o^ 

 packed in bags together with a quantity of the little chaffy l^'^^'^^ JgJ 

 dock {Rumex sp.) to prevent the lumps from sticking together, ana 

 brought in baskets to Smyrna, or ports farther north. ^^ 



The opium remains in the baskets (placed in cool warehouses ,^ 

 avoid loss of weight) till sold, and it is only on reaching the bu} ^^ 

 warehouse that the seals are broken and the contents of the o^o^yj^, 

 posed. This is done in the presence of the buyer, seller, and a PJ;^^|j^ 

 examiner, the last of whom goes through the process of inspecting^^^ 

 drug piece by piece, throwing aside any of suspicious quality. . 

 of Smyrna asserts that the drug is divided into three qualities, V'^^ 



ime 



or 



ch iq 



some esteemed districts, — the current, which is the mercantile q^^^^ 

 and constitutes the great bulk of the crop,— and lastly the mten ^^ 

 chiqinti} The opium of very bad quality or wholly ^V^^^^^^-ji 

 would place in a fourth category. Maltass applies the name '"'"" 

 (or chicantee) to opium of every degree of badness. .^j in 



The examination of opium by the official expert is not ^^^^^^ i^ur, 

 any scientific method. His opinion of the drug is based on co 

 odour, appearance and weight, and appears to be generally ^^^^7,^^.^ 



more certain method 

 In Asia Minor the k 



commended 



gnifying refuse, — that which comes ovt. 



