110 APPENDIX. 



Indian Opium. 



In regard to opium, it has recently been suggested that India 

 might be made the source of supply in place of Turkey, In a paper 

 read at the Conference Meeting at Cardiff, Mr. E. M. Holmes 

 expressed the opinion that there is no reason why India, instead of 

 Turkey, should not supply the whole world with medicinal 'opium. 

 This assumption appears to be rather premature and scarcely to he 

 warranted by such knowledge as we possess of Indian opium. There 

 seem to be several questions to be solved before the substitution of 

 Indian for Turkey opium can be looked upon as feasible. 



In the first place, it is necessary to ascertain whether opium can 

 be produced in India of a quality equal to that of Turkey opium. 

 Dr. Warden^s statement that native oj>ium is used for medicinal pur- 

 poses in India does not sufficiently settle that point, but as he has 

 sent over a sample of the Patna opium issued by the Medical Store 

 Department of Bengal for medicinal use, we have examined it with 

 a view to ascertaining the amount of morphine it contains and its 

 applicability for pharmaceutical purposes. 



The sample sent by Dr. Warden was in the state of powder, and 

 fts received it contained 3'2 per cent, of moisture. In the dried 

 opium the amount of morphine was found to be 8-55 per ceut. 



A tincture was made with the dried opium, according to the 

 directions of the British Phannacopceia, and on examination it was 

 found to yield on evaporation to dryness a residue of extract 

 amounting to 21-3 grains per fluid ounce. The amount of morphine 

 contained in the tincture was 2-74 grains per fluid ounce. 



For the sake of comparison, another tincture was prepared with a 

 good sample of Turkey opium that was found to contain, in the dry 

 state, 10-84 per cent, of morphine. The extract yielded by this tinc- 

 ture on evaporation amounted to 19-8 grains per fluid ounce. The 

 amount of morphine in it was 3-4 grains per fluid ounce. 



It may be pointed out that in both the abovementioned instances 

 the extraction of morphine from the opium in making the tinctures 

 by the method of the British Pharmacopoeia was practically com- 

 plete, as wiU be seen from the following comparison of the quantities 

 of morphine actually found by experiment : 



Found. Calculated. 



T J- . ,. , ■ Grrs, per fld. oz. Grs. per fld. oz 



Jiidian opium tincture .,, ,_ 2*74 2-80 



'^^^^y >' >, 340 3-5 



5 



