PAPAVERACED.  =———C«WALC'-. 
 Commerce.—Purchase by Government. All opium is now 
received by Government on the challdn or pass. system, 
the assamiwdr, which we have noticed above, having been 
_ abolished. On craic at ‘the factory it is submitted to. 
4 pesttioationes 
The points that an Sean Examiner keeps ators bis. 
and that intuitively pass through his mind, in the physical _ 
examination of the drug ate :— 
*. (a) Sawtneces: 
(b) colour, 
.(c) texture, 
‘(d) aroma. — 
Each one of the above points gives him-some indication as 
‘the quality of the drug and its ultimate Sys Siar iter and 
o to its cs lag for —— uses, 
af Chasistrnte: —By this term we mean the actual percentage of 
solid and non-volatile matter in any given’ sample of the drug, 
if it were subjected to evaporation and reduced to —— 
ta temperature of 200° Fahr. 
: Pure opium being paid for by Givevauinnt at a fixed rate 
_ for a certain standard’ of consistence, and being subject to a 
_ pro rata increase or decrease i in price according as it is above 
_ or below that standard, it will be readily seen that the import- - 
ance of arriving at the true consistence of any given parcel of 
. the drug stands second to none of the many duties serie 
on the Opium Examiner. 
By the help of sensitive balances oe metallic tables heated: 
by steam, accurate results i in the estimation of consistence -can- 
sent day has already been mand. Such a delicate’ opera- 
n, however, as the “assaying ” of opium, (as the estimatic a 
the true consistence by steam tables is termed), can be 
