I'APAVKR. OPIUM. 



PAPAVER. OPIUM. 



m weight. i<rdoped in 



toMtMil 

 Whea An 



Ml . erita(i., Jt IMJMHTMi (wUoh T. employed 



the ma*M* cohering to each oUMr whil* th* opium i* toft). 

 Ant imported. the a**** an, *oft, nd of a redduh brown 

 but by keeping ther beoome herd and bbcfckh. and on tliU 



U >(t, 



^MnW 10 drachms of (tone* and gravel 

 cake* leaden I 



annual it u termed by the French ^n Mir. lu 

 at Wt .4 ih. interior. eren WDM the e*erior 



U ray turd. It* 



<*eelrte.a*iV /-. U( thi* then are two tort* : one in Urge 

 imcuhr e*k. which u* mrmod, like the Smyrna opium, Hd of 

 y good Hual.ly ; tbc uther U in null fl.tt.-m-l regular cake*, of a 

 inches in diameter. and oorered with a 



teattniisu form, tram S to 21 inch* in diameter, and covered with a 

 nmijlnr the midrib of which divides the diak into two pert*. It 

 LTan odour similar to the preceding kind, but more feeble ; at firrt 

 U U reddish both without and within, hence celled by the trench 

 rev ; it however blackens and dries in the air, but never 

 i eo hard as Smyrna or Egyptian opium, than which it is more 



jtooue." Th. llartiu* is of opinion that it is a manufactured 



article, prepared at Constantinople, out of Smyrna opium, l>y the 

 wl.uuoa of gum. It U a common article of German, but rarely ..f 

 B-jHA commerce. It is never covered with the Xuntr.r capsules as 

 the Smyrna opium. 



S. Kyffliam at Al'stmdrla* opium " occurs in round flattened cakes 

 of about three inches in diameter, covered externally with the vestiges 

 i.f the eauie leaf, which are in too mutilated a state to be determined. 

 It i* distinguished from the preceding varieties by its reddish colour, 

 analogous to eucootrine or hepatic aloes, which dons not by time or 

 exposure to the air beoome darker ; the odour is fainter and somewhat 

 musty." Though the cakes are all of the sorts much the hardest, so 

 that blow with a hammer will cause one to split into fragments, yet 

 by exposure to the air it becomes soft. 



4. " Tnbi:od or Prrtiau a/tin m occurs in the form of cylindrical 

 sticks, which by pressure have become somewhat angular. Their 

 length i* about six inches ; their diameter about six inches. Each one 

 i* enveloped in a smooth ahiney paper, and tied with cotton. The 

 colour of opium is similar to that of soocotrine aloes. It possesses a 

 stronger odour than the Egyptian kind, but fainter than that of 

 Smyrna, united with a musty one. The taste is intensely bitter." 



5. l*diam opium, of which there are several varieties, as already 

 described. [Oi-irji TBADE.] 



(t. A.WuA npium " is in flat cakes or balls enveloped in leaves. It 

 IHennlilie th* Egyptian more than any other kind ; its colour is that 

 ol hepatic aloes, with a moderately strong opiate odour." 



Before offering a summary of the points of difference, in chemical 

 composition and other respects, of these various sorts, it is necessary 

 to enumerate the general constituents of opium : 1, morphia ; '2, 

 codeia; 3, pararaorphia or thebaine; 4, pseudomorphia; 5, narcotina 

 or opianum ; 6, narceine ; 7, meconine ; 8, meconic acid ; 9, an oily 

 acid; 10, gum; 11, resin; 1 2, extractive ; 13, a fixed oil; 14, caout- 

 chouc; 15, a volatile odorous principle ; 16, ligneous matter with inor- 

 ganic ealU, such as sulphate of lime and potass, and in some kinds 

 upiania, papaverine, and porphyroxine, the hitter principle only in 

 Bengal and Smyrna opium (according to Merck, its discoverer, ' Pharm. 

 Central Blatt,' June, 1837). There are also various accidental but 

 more intentional impurities, such as sand, of which even the best 

 Smyrna opium contain* a huge portion, 10 ounces of opium frequently 



In -the interior of the 



_ bullets are often discovered. The cake* should always bo 

 cut through the centre in order to detect this fraud. 



The relative proportion " f these numerous ingredients varies very 

 much, not only in the samples from different countries, but in those of 

 the aunt* country. Thm. Smyrna opium, though the average quantity 

 of morphia which it yields may be stated to be 10 per cent, in five 

 specimens examined by Mulder gave 10 per cent in the best and little 

 more than 2 in the wont 



I'rofeajtor Ciuibourt states Constantinople opium to yield only one- 

 half the quantity f morphia procurable from Smyrna opium : while 

 Mr. Duncan of 'Edinburgh has obtained even 14 per cant Uiiibourt 

 also affirms that Egyptian opium yields only .V7tli* of the nmri>hi.i 

 I'litiinable from Smyrna opium ; while Dr. Christisou procured 10J per 

 cent from it. Of the Indi.-in kinds. Dr. Smyttan procured only 8 or 5 

 per cent, of morphia, while Dr. Christison obtained 94 from the Malwa 

 opium ; and from Bengal opium Dr. Smyttan obtained 2 or 34 per 

 cent, while Mr. Macfarlane of Edinburgh procured 7 per cent. 



From English opium 5 per cent may be obtained. From German 

 opium Blitz procured 164 * 2" l >er cent. From some French opium 

 Petit obtained 16 to 18 per cent, and Caventou the large amount of 

 22 to 28 per cent 



The extreme discrepancy of these results may be explained nt 

 merely by the varying seasons when the specimens were produced. :md 

 the different degrees of skill and dexterity in the chemists, but by the fact 

 that the morphia is more easily and effectually separated when the opium 

 is fresh : hence the large proportion found in European opium, \vhu-h 

 was not only cultivated with great care, but was analysed soon after it 

 had been collected. It is not at all improbable that the morphia under- 

 goes a change by age, and entirely eva|H>rates from old specimens, in 

 the same way as conia disappears from hemlock. [CONK .M, in NAT. 

 HIST. Div.] 



It is always proper to institute an examination into each new purchase 

 of opium, to ascertain the presence and amount of morphia. Some 

 specimens of opium, which to the eye present all the physical characters 

 of the best Smyrna opium, even some of those deemed hitherto inimi- 

 table, Buch as the transparent agglutinated tears seen on cutting it 

 across, are found on analysis devoid of the smallest trace of morphia. 

 (' Journal de I'harmacie,' torn, xxiv., pp. 325, 446.) 



The following test is proposed in the ' New Edinburgh Pharma- 

 copoeia,' and though not absolutely certain, is sufficiently so for 

 common use : "A solution from 100 grains, macerated 24 hours in 

 two fluid ounces of water, filtered and strongly squeezed in a cloth, it' 

 precipitated by a cold solution of half an ounce of carbonate of soda in 

 two waters, and heated till the precipitate shrinks and fuses, will yield 

 a solid mass on cooling, which weighs, when dry, at least 11 grains; 

 and if pulverised, dissolves entirely in solution of oxalic acid." 



More morphia would appear to be present iu the specimens of 

 European opium, which are obtained from the variety of poppy with 

 violet-coloured petals, than in the Turkey opium ; while that from the 

 European white variety contains more narcotine than the Turkey. In 

 Smyrna opium the morphia seems to be united with meconic acid, and 

 to be riot only more abundant, but more easily separated, and more 

 completely purified from the narcotine and colouring matter, than 

 that of Egypt, in which the morphia is united to sulphuric acid. 



The following table, by Dr. Pereira, will show at one view the 

 ; principal characters of the crystalline constituents of opium : 



Tun I.AC VlKW OP THE PRINCIPAL ClIARACTEM OP THE CRYSTALLINE PRINCIPLES OP OpIfM. 



