76 Swayne on the Manufacture 



allowed it to migrate from the place of its nativity. But con- 

 sidering the circumstances of the times, at the present juncture, 

 to be favourable to the manufacturing British opium, such as 

 the general want of employment among the lower classes in the 

 country, and particularly of women and children, at the season 

 of collecting poppy-juice ; the late announcement of new me- 

 thods of preparation, ^c, I was unwilling to lose so much time 

 as would be necessary for such decisive experiments, more espe- 

 cially as my advanced age forbids the expectation of my being- 

 able personally to assist in the execution of them. I have 

 therefore adopted what, I have no doubt, will be deemed a 

 much better plan ; that of intrusting the greater part of the seed 

 which I have preserved, with the culture and education of its 

 immediate and future progeny, to the guardianship of the Lon- 

 don and Caledonian Horticultural Societies ; fully satisfied that 

 they will cause the comparative merit of this new poppy, in its 

 intended application, to be properly ascertained. 



There are three points of caution particularly to be attended 

 to, in the preparation of opium. 



1. The first is, to take care that none (if possible) of the 

 juice be wasted. It must not be suffered to drop on the 

 leaves, or the ground. It must not be rubbed off on the clothes 

 of the collectors. To guard against this last cause of waste, 

 the men and boys should work in sleeve-waistcoats, or jackets 

 without skirts ; and the females should have all their garments 

 close and tight about them. But, most effectually to comply 

 with this caution, it is necessary to allot to each person a par- 

 ticular and separate portion of ground, that the operators may 

 not interfere with each other. For this last item of arrangement 

 there is a further reason, viz., that each person's diligence and 

 correctness of operation may be more easily examined. 



2. The second point is, to take care that no time be wasted. 

 But in this, indeed, the former is included. If time be wasted, 

 juice will be wasted ; for, it is to be recollected, that, from the in- 

 stant when the capsules begin to yield their juice, they are every 

 moment drawing nearer to that period, when they will yield no 

 more, and that the intermediate space, short in itself, is still 



